Business Alignment Research Articles

Product-IT Inclusive Enterprise Architecture Management: An Approach Based on Ecosystems, Customer Journey and Data-Driven Business Opportunities

Products have evolved from being solely composed of mechanical and electrical parts to complex systems that are connected to the Internet and form the basis for new kinds of functionalities and services. Such smart connected products include a substantial amount of software and information technology which can be called the “product-IT”. Enterprise architecture (EA) management is an established function in enterprises providing methods and tools for a systematic alignment of business and IT in an organization. However, EA models capture the details of business, information and technology architecture of an enterprise (i.e., the enterprise-IT) but usually do not include the product-IT. When value creation and delivery in an enterprise’s business model also includes the product-IT, a product-IT inclusive view on EA urgently is required. The focus of this article is the methodical support for integration of product-IT and enterprise-IT using enterprise architectures. The main contributions in this article are the conceptual expansion of EA management to become product-IT inclusive that is manifested in a proposal for an extended EA meta-model, and an approach and method components to handle product-IT inclusive EAM.

A Methodology for IT Governance by Viable System Modeling (VSM): an Action Research in Designing a Data Center

This paper attempts to introduce a methodology as a tool for designing and diagnosing IT governance by the VSM approach. The viable IT governance can guarantee a dynamic alignment of the business strategy with IT business value in today’s complex situations. Organizations are becoming more and more dependent on IT and capital investment in IT has been increased in recent years. To create business value from IT, business and IT should be aligned. On the other hand, because of the complexity of the business environment, organizations should be adaptable to this uncertainty to guarantee their viability. Dynamic business and IT alignment can be achieved by viable IT governance in the ever-changing environment by the VSM approach. A methodology as a tool for the design and diagnosis (IT projects and IT operations) of viable IT governance has been proposed and action research in the real environment did in this study. Systematic action research did in the private sector in Iran which is responsible for designing and implementing data centers. A methodology for designing and diagnosing the viable IT governance is proposed based on VIPLAN method that was customized for IT governance. A methodology for designing and implementing IT governance by VSM is proposed. Dynamic alignment of business and IT is achieved by this approach. Action research did for designing and implementing the data center project by VSM. In a complex and dynamic environment, organizations should be adaptable and flexible in business strategies and operational structures. VSM is a cybernetics approach that can be used for organizational systems to overcome these complexities. At the same time, VSM can be used for IT governance and management to create a dynamic alignment of business and IT. Dynamic alignment can guarantee to achieve business value from IT.

More logistics, less aid: Humanitarian-business partnerships and sustainability in the refugee camp

This article identifies logistics – the science and practice of managing complex operations and moving goods – as an essential yet overlooked dimension of the alignment of global business and global aid in the UN 2030 Agenda era. Focusing on refugee aid, it draws on qualitative fieldwork with practitioners in the field of humanitarian logistics, active in the partnership environment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in five countries (Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda and Sweden). The analysis shows how aid workers see profit and non-profit partnerships for humanitarian logistics as a priority in the context of the so-called humanitarian-development nexus. In particular, logistics is considered essential to bring refugee aid in line with emerging standards of sustainability. The article puts forward a twofold argument. First, it shows how sustainability policies prioritize logistical solutions that are based on the integration of the displaced in local and transnational markets, rather than on the delivery of material goods and infrastructures. Second, in a slight departure from existing literature on humanitarian logistics, it argues that the agency of the humanitarian sector, and not just that of the corporate world, is central in the promotion of humanitarian logistics partnerships. The conclusions discuss the ethical and political implications of a humanitarianism increasingly oriented towards supply-chain rationales, in which more sustainable logistics often equates less material aid.

Business alignment for the “Decade of Action”

The SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement, taken together, constitute the best hope for charting a new course for the world’s politics and economics, to produce “the future we want.” This paper briefly explores the central environmental, social, and economic challenges; the pathways to sustainability; and the central role of companies in achieving our global goals. We are facing four very deep and interconnected global environmental crises: human-induced climate change, unsustainable land use, mega-pollution, and increased frequency and intensity of pandemic zoonotic diseases. At the same time, we face massive social crises, including increasing inequality. There are six necessary SDG Transformations that each requires a major change in the organization of societal, political, and economic activities – which delineates also the critical role of business. The paper specifies four key questions that companies and their stakeholders can ask to effectively align with the "Decade of Action" needed to achieve the SDG ambitions.

Creating a sustainable digital infrastructure: The role of service-oriented architecture

The United Nations’ goal of generating sustainable industry, innovation, and infrastructure is the point of departure for our reflective paper. The paper elaborates on the concepts of digital infrastructure, service-oriented architecture, and microservices. It emphasizes the benefits and challenges of creating a sustainable infrastructure based on a service-oriented environment, in which cloud services constitute an important part. We outline the prerequisites for obtaining a sustainable digital infrastructure based on services. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) and recently, microservice architecture, and cloud services, can provide organizations with the improved agility and flexibility essential for generating sustainability in a market focusing on digitalization. The reuse capability of SOA provides a common pool of information technology (IT) resources and qualifies as a green IT approach that impacts environmental protection. Previous research has identified IT and business alignment together with SOA governance as the most critical criteria when implementing SOA. This paper discusses these issues in-depth to explain sustainability.

An integrated model for formulation, alignment, execution and evaluation of business and IT strategies

New global markets operation strongly depends on information technologies which radically influence the business strategies of enterprises and organisations. Towards this direction, this paper proposes an effective integrated architectural model and framework for the purpose of formulating, aligning, executing and evaluating in a combined way both business strategy and information technology strategy. In order to achieve this goal, key concepts and respective frameworks, such as the strategic alignment, the balanced scorecard, the strategic architecture, and the business architecture are thoroughly investigated. Then, we progressively integrate all of them in one model in order to eliminate the weaknesses of the previous models and provide the enterprises and the organisations with an innovative, useful and applicable tool. The proposed model can lead to high business performance, agility and consistency in decision making, improved resource control, refinement capability via feedback mechanisms, increased coordination, quality of service, and positive financial results.

Securing Cloud Computing Through IT Governance

Lack of alignment between information technology (IT) and the business is a problem facing many organizations. Most organizations, today, fundamentally depend on IT. When IT and the business are aligned in an organization, IT delivers what the business needs and the business is able to deliver what the market needs. IT has become a strategic function for most organizations, and it is imperative that IT and business are aligned. IT governance is one of the most powerful ways to achieve IT to business alignment. Furthermore, as the use of cloud computing for delivering IT functions becomes pervasive, organizations using cloud computing must effectively apply IT governance to it. While cloud computing presents tremendous opportunities, it comes with risks as well. Information security is one of the top risks in cloud computing. Thus, IT governance must be applied to cloud computing information security to help manage the risks associated with cloud computing information security. This study advances knowledge by extending IT governance to cloud computing and information security governance.

He effect of information technology business alignment factors on performance of SMEs

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.

Analysis in the Strategic Formula for Business and Information Technology Alignment of the Research and Development Planning Institution in Batu City

The Batu City Area Research and Development Development Planning Institution (Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengambangan Daerah-Bappelitbangda) is one of the important regional apparatus organizations for the Batu city government. However, in carrying out its performance, Bappelitbangda still faces difficulties in several cases in monitoring the vision and mission achievement, for instance; the reporting that is often not in accordance with the results achieved and not evaluating the achievement of indicators in the regional apparatus organizations that do not reach the target. The difficulty is due to the lack of technology's role in supporting Bappelitbangda's performance so that the objectives to be achieved are not maximal. To resolve this, it is necessary to have strategic planning of the information system that can help Bappelitbangda achieves the goals. The method proposed in this study is by adapting the strategic planning method that starts by analyzing both the internal and external environment in terms of business or term of Information Systems (IS)/Information Technology (IT) and also the SWOT analysis. The results of this study could be the proposals for business IS strategies, IT strategies and IS/IT management strategies. The objectives as well as the new strategic formulas analysis based on SPBE which are expected to help Bappelitbangda harmonize the technology utilization.

Aligning Information Technology and Business: The Differential Effects of Alignment During Investment Planning, Delivery, and Change

Digital transformations often require firms to align and synchronize their information technology (IT) and business initiatives. In this context, one important question that managers face is where they should focus most when aligning IT and business for leveraging IT investment for firm performance. Authors argue that firms that focus on IT–business alignment at the later stages (i.e., IT delivery and IT change) are better able to translate their IT investment into revenue than firms that focus on IT–business alignment at the early stage (i.e., IT investment planning) of the IT lifecycle. They use archival data from more than 120 firms in India and find that the positive relationship between IT investment and firm revenue is stronger for firms that focus on IT delivery–business alignment or IT change–business alignment than for firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment. In addition, they find that at higher levels of IT investment, firms that focus on IT change–business alignment or IT delivery–business alignment have higher revenue than firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment, whereas at low levels of IT investment, firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment outperform firms that focus on IT delivery–business alignment or IT change–business alignment. Taken together, these findings can help managers to improve the success of their digital transformation efforts by tailoring their alignment efforts across planning, delivery, and change stages.

An integrated model for formulation, alignment, execution and evaluation of business and IT strategies

New global markets operation strongly depends on information technologies which radically influence the business strategies of enterprises and organisations. Towards this direction, this paper proposes an effective integrated architectural model and framework for the purpose of formulating, aligning, executing and evaluating in a combined way both business strategy and information technology strategy. In order to achieve this goal, key concepts and respective frameworks, such as the strategic alignment, the balanced scorecard, the strategic architecture, and the business architecture are thoroughly investigated. Then, we progressively integrate all of them in one model in order to eliminate the weaknesses of the previous models and provide the enterprises and the organisations with an innovative, useful and applicable tool. The proposed model can lead to high business performance, agility and consistency in decision making, improved resource control, refinement capability via feedback mechanisms, increased coordination, quality of service, and positive financial results.

Digital orientation: Conceptualization and operationalization of a new strategic orientation

Although there is ample evidence that digital technologies are strategically important for value creation, extant literature lacks holistic concepts that capture an organization’s strategic orientation concerning digital innovation and transformation initiatives. This study integrates recent digitalization themes with IT business alignment research to conceptualize a new strategic orientation construct: digital orientation. The construct is manifested in four dimensions which we operationalize for computer-aided text analysis. We validate the construct based on 6498 shareholder letters from large US firms over 16 years. Building upon the resource-based view, we validate the digital orientation construct by linking it to firm performance. Our findings advance the literature on strategic orientations and bring the domains of strategy and information systems closer together. The novel digital orientation construct and the validated measurement instrument lead to many new research opportunities.

Investigating the Strategic Alignment of Business and Information Technology Using the Luftman Model and ITIL Best Practice

این پژوهش با هدف بررسی میزان همسویی راهبردی کسب‌وکار و فناوری اطلاعات با بهره‌گیری از مدل لوفتمن و بهروش ITIL صورت گرفته است و ازآنجاکه بررسی این همسویی، نیازمند بررسی عمیق یک صنعت یا یک سازمان است، یکی از سازمان‌‌های دفاعی ایران (فعال در حوزه استانداردسازی و فناوری اطلاعات) به­عنوان مورد مطالعه انتخاب شد. در مرحله نخست وجود راهبرد فناوری اطلاعات موردبررسی قرار گرفت و در مرحله دوم، میزان همسویی راهبرد فناوری اطلاعات با راهبرد کسب­وکار ارزیابی شد. با توجه به نتایج ابتدا مشخص شد که راهبرد فناوری اطلاعات در سازمان مورد­مطالعه به­صورت میانگین به میزان 26/66 درصد تعریف شده است که نمایانگر توانمندی نسبی و قابل‌قبول سازمان در تعریف راهبرد فناوری اطلاعات است. در مرحله بعد و پس از تحلیل میزان همسویی راهبردی فناوری اطلاعات و سازمان، مشخص شد که میزان همسویی این سازمان‌ها در کل کمی بالاتر از متوسط است. این نتایج در ناحیه رابطه راهبرد کسب‌وکار با زیرساخت کسب‌وکار نسبت به سایر نواحی میانگین کمتر و در ناحیه زیرساخت کسب‌وکار، بیشترین میانگین را دارد. پیشنهاد می‌شود که سازمان‌های مشابه از بهروش کتابخانه زیرساخت فناوری اطلاعات نسخه ۴ (ITIL V4) برای ارزیابی و همسو­کردن راهبرد‌های سازمان با راهبرد‌های فناوری اطلاعات استفاده کنند.

Promoting SMEs effectiveness through innovative communication strategies and business-IT alignment

The firm’s effective alignment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities with the SME’s business process to achieve agile communication strategies will distinguish profitable and failing firms in this global market milieu. The paper examined SMEs’ communication strategies in South Africa and Nigeria by evaluating their ability to align business and IT to promote innovation and competitive edge in their operations. Quantitative data from 230 SMEs in Nigeria and South Africa were presented. The findings indicated that the business manager’s knowledge of IT understanding is limited (= .29), the effectiveness of IT and business liaison and cooperation (= .30), and the dynamic of IT-based decision-making (= .33), and the SME’s knowledge sharing experiences through organization learning (= –.07). These findings showed a lack of communication effectiveness due to the inability to align ICT capabilities with the SME’s communications strategies. Similarly, an inverse correlation between communication and ICT infrastructure (–.26); between communication and skill (–.32); between communication and business and IT governance (–.71); between communication and ICT value that the SMEs derived from their use of information communication technology (–.78) due to lack of business and IT alignment. The paper recommends that SMEs must not rely on the acquisition of ICT infrastructure but must ensure its integration with their business processes. AcknowledgmentThe financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences- Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (NIHSS-CODESRIA) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS- CODESRIA.

Global Container Shipping Line Digital Transformation and Enterprise Architecture Modelling

Currently new competitive environment and fundamental changes in the traditional industries are taking place. The digital transformation of companies can be an effective tool to gain a competitive advantage, but its success requires consistent actions, from the strategic vision to implementation. New architectural solutions are needed to ensure a strategic alignment of business and IT architecture for further successful development.The purpose of this research paper is to develop a conceptual approach and method of Enterprise Architecture modeling for global container shipping lines, allowing the companies an effective development in the context of global changes in business forms and methods, reducing negative impacts and taking advantage arising from these changes.

Validating the coevolutionary principles of business and IS alignment via agent-based modeling

ABSTRACT This paper provides theoretical and practical implications for the application of agent-based models (ABMs) to address the issue of coevolutionary business-IS alignment. The implications stem from the following arguments: (a) the alignment issue can be modelled by an ABM to describe the features of complex adaptive systems (CAS); (b) the coevolutionary principles of business and IS alignment stipulate individual behaviours and guide organisational order; (c) ABM development and experimentation offer guidance to better explain how organisations control the alignment trajectory with coevolutionary principles. To extend the extant coevolutionary research on alignment, this paper develops an ABM for a hierarchical organisational structure and validates three coevolutionary principles.

Discussing Relations Between Dynamic Business Environments and Big Data Analytics

Big data attracts researchers and practitioners around the globe in their desire to effectively manage the data deluge resulting from the ongoing evolution of the information systems domain. Consequently, many decision makers attempt to harness the potentials arising with the use of those modern technologies in a multitude of application scenarios. As a result, big data has gained an important role for many businesses. However, as of today, the developed solutions are oftentimes perceived as completed products, without considering that the application in highly dynamic environments might benefit from a deviation of this approach. Relevant data sources as well as the questions that are supposed to be answered by their analysis may change rapidly and so do subsequently the requirements regarding the functionalities of the system. To our knowledge, while big data itself is a prominent topic, fields of application that are likely to evolve in a short period of time and the resulting consequences were not specifically investigated until now. Therefore, this research aims to overcome this paucity by clarifying the relation between dynamic business environments and big data analytics (BDA), sensitizing researchers and practitioners for future big data engineering activities. Apart from a thorough literature review, expert interviews are conducted that evaluate the made inferences regarding dynamic and stable influencing factors, the influence of dynamic environments on BDA applications as well as possible countermeasures. The ascertained insights are condensed into a proposal for decision making, facilitating the alignment of BDA and business needs in dynamic business environments.

Integration of TOGAF 9.1 ADM in Enterprise Architecture Smart City Design in the Tourism Domain with ISO 27001

The purpose of this research is to create an enterprise architecture design smart city that has a high-security system in the tourism domain that includes smart experiences, smart destinations, and smart business ecosystems. The method used in this research was integrating ISO 27001 as an international information security standard on the TOGAF 9.1 ADM used as a framework for designing enterprise architecture. The result of design can improve Quality Assurance (QA) of the IT information security system, increase IT and business alignment and increase security awareness among government, tourists, industries, and the local community. Business Architecture focuses on centralized coordination by the board and evaluation of the performance of tourism stakeholders; Analysis results of data collection into information and useful on architecture or stakeholders; while application architecture has a focus on developing applications for tourists, business entities, and government monitoring; The technology architecture as the supports to the implementation of research with a data center, cloud service, and transaction interface that is given NFC technology. The result of this research is a smart city enterprise architecture design with a tourism domain that can be implemented in a smart city area and has a security system architecture after phase D of Requirements Management TOGAF 9.1 ADM with a higher security level.

Adoption of enterprise architecture for healthcare in AeHIN member countries

BackgroundHealthcare organisations are undergoing a major transformational shift in the use of information and digital health technologies. Enterprise architecture (EA) has been incrementally adopted in many healthcare organisations globally to...

Enterprise Architecture Artifacts Enablers for IT Strategy and Business Alignment in Forwarding Services

The development of information technology in this era has grown rapidly and made information technology important in running a company's business. The need for information technology that is fast and reliable becomes the main thing for users of information technology. Therefore, supporting information technology is needed in the current era of globalization is needed in developing information systems. Freight Forwarding Services is a company engaged in the field of land transportation services that is aware of the role of information technology in achieving business goals because it is related, the development of the information technology world demands all that is efficient and effective. FFS Company have several applications to support corporate processes, but there are still a number of business activities that have not used applications to support the process. The application used by the company must be able to match the company's objectives so that the application used can help the company reach an agreement. To create applications that fit business objectives, company architecture is used in making applications. This research will use The Open Group Architecture Framework to help request useful assistance for company. The final results of this study are in the form of a proposed application model that is tailored to the business processes and business needs of the company.