Business-Aligned IT Strategy Case Example

Abstract

This chapter is about the “know-how” part of IT strategy and management best practices. This case example aims to illustrate a successful practical application of IT strategy principles and concepts by using a proven best practice from the industry. It can therefore be used as a guiding example of how to effectively develop and execute a business-aligned IT strategy. Kaplan and Norton’s (2004) strategy maps approach (described in Chapter V) has been chosen as the methodology for formulating the business–IT alignment strategy. To that end, the case study requires an in-depth study of the selected company’s business and IT strategies, from which a strategy map of the espoused business and IT strategies are “reconstructed” using the strategy maps principles. The reconstruction process follows the strategy maps methodology (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). The readers can thus adopt a similar approach to help them formulate or “reconstruct” their company’s business–IT alignment process and the resulting business-aligned IT strategy.