Strategic Information Systems

Abstract

Certain contingencies of business environment raise the importance of alignment in the explanation of tactics with strategic implications. Alignment is an important aspect that has to be examined in all multivariate and normative models. In this paper, the Information Technology (IT) alignment is examined along with business strategy and structure, while taking into account environmental contingencies. The concept of alignment raises the strategic role of information technology through the integration of business and IT strategy. Most of the firms nowadays cannot capture the strategic role of IT and underestimating its value as persisting only on financial valuation. In this work, an attempt has been made to fill out this lack of strategic estimation by the use of the alignment model. A taxonomy of strategic information technology applications is presented and an integration of IT with business strategy and structure is attempted in order to create competitive advantage.