Abstract
Strategic IT-business alignment is being expanded by researchers and professionals owing to its beneficial effect on the performance of SMEs. Luftman (2000) [Luftman, J. (2000). Assessing business-IT alignment maturity. Communications of the Association of Information Systems, 4(14), 1–50.] created the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM), which integrates various alignment viewpoints to offer a cohesive perspective on IT-business alignment. While SAM was widely implemented for western IT studies by theoreticians and practitioners, its adoption is not evident in the Middle East with few available studies. The goal of this gap is to examine the effect of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq of three alignment styles (communication, governance and competency) listed in SAM. The findings of the current study verified the beneficial effect of all sorts of IT alignment centered on a survey of 228 owners, IT managers, but the latter has also shown a strong positive influence across various types of alignment. Theory and implementation implications are addressed, and more research recommendations are suggested.
Highlights
For many years the strategic IT-business alignment is known as one of the critical management concerns (Gerow et al, 2015; Luftman & Ben-Zvi, 2011; Orozco et al, 2015)
Findings of the study revealed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance is influenced by IT business alignment factors (Communication, Governance, Competency, Partnership), and as such should be considered by SMEs as a useful marketing tool in Iraqi SMEs
The result showed that ITBA factors (Communication, Governance, Competency, Partnership) have a positive impact on the performance of SMEs towards a product or a business
Summary
The strategic IT-business alignment is known as one of the critical management concerns (Gerow et al, 2015; Luftman & Ben-Zvi, 2011; Orozco et al, 2015). At the same time, failing to align will contribute to adverse results like a waste of resources, worse financial efficiency, and organizational results (Alaceva & Rusu, 2015; Chen et al, 2010; Ravishankar et al, 2011). Precise alignment suggests that in all cases, the organization implements sufficient IT, and these steps stay consistent with the company's strategic plans, priorities and demands (Liang et al, 2017). The very close alignment of IT and business strategies contributed to lower competitive stability and a reluctance to adapt in an appropriate way to environmental changes, according to Benbya and McKelvey (2006). The applicability of SAM to Middle East organizations is little known (for a rare example of research, see Alyahya and Suhaimi (2015)
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