IT-business Strategic Alignment Research Articles

Green IT/IS adoption and environmental performance: The synergistic roles of IT–business strategic alignment and environmental motivation

Drawing on the resource-based view, this study investigates the interactive effects of green information technologies/systems (IT/IS) adoption, environmental motivation, and IT–business strategic alignment on organizations’ perceived relative environmental performance. We use data from a field study of 587 firms in China to test our hypotheses. The results confirm that green IT/IS positively affects the perceived relative environmental performance of organizations and that the interaction of IT–business strategic alignment and environmental motivation positively moderates the relationship between green IT/IS adoption and organizations’ perceived relative environmental performance. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are also discussed.

The impact of IT–business strategic alignment on firm performance: The evolving role of IT in industries

This study proposes and validates a new industry taxonomy to understand the use of IT that generates superior economic returns based on the specific economic and competitive characteristics of four different industry types and the strategic role of IT in each of these industry environments. Our findings extend the well-established industry taxonomy on the strategic role of IT (Automate, Informate, Transform) by considering how IT is changing the nature of the product/service in industries where transformational logics prevail. We found that in industries where the product/service is digital in nature, the firms that achieve higher economic returns are those where IT is used to support dual strategies based on the integration of cost leadership and differentiation. Conversely, in other industries – with the exception of those producing commodities – the firms that achieve superior returns are those that use IT to support differentiation. The results of this study can help managers make intelligent decisions about competitive strategies and IT investments, depending on the business environment of the sector in which the firm operates and the generative potential of emerging technologies to do new things.

The Impact of Business IT Strategic Alignment on Corporate Performance

Information technology's role is vital for a company's progress in its business management. Companies must implement differentiation and cost-reduction strategies to gain a competitive advantage in intense competition, especially among electrical appliance distributors. The implementation of cost reduction cuts business processes by streamlining IT/IS. However, business processes still have not implemented information systems, such as stock data collection, transaction problem reporting, and much more. Therefore, companies need to move dynamically with the flow of technological changes by planning the right technology strategy. Based on the problems that arise, this research is only limited to strategic planning of information systems and application portfolios using the Ward and Peppard approach because it focuses on mapping the company's internal-external factors regarding business and technology. This research hypothesizes that the determination of the strategy can be successful in realizing the application's application within five years in an electrical appliance distributor company. The research stage begins with collecting data from the literature, interviews, and direct observation. Next, analyze the internal and external environment using the help of the Ward and Peppard method. The environmental analysis results become the basis for mapping the Critical Success Factors (CSF) that need to be evaluated using the IT Balanced Scorecard. The results of this research are in the form of a proposed strategy for business, management, and information technology systems in the form of an application portfolio. The direction of application implementation is through product roadmap and master plan planning. This study aims to build the right business strategy and technology to help companies realize application implementation in the short and long term.

The level of IT-business strategic alignment and its impact on achieving a sustainable competitive advantage as mediated by the net benefits of information systems

This study aims to identify the direct impact of IT-business strategic alignment on achieving a sustainable competitive advantage within the context of Jordanian mining sector (JMS). In addition, it aims to investigate the impact of IT-business strategic alignment on achieving a competitive advantage in the case of involving net benefits of information systems as a mediator variable. The study uses a descriptive-analytical approach to collect data via an online survey. Analysis of data was made using SPSS and AMOS software packages (version 26). The study sample includes 462 employees from the JMS companies. Results confirm the high level of IT-business strategic alignment in JMS. In addition, results show a significant impact of IT-business strategic alignment on achieving a sustainable competitive advantage and a partial effect of the net benefits of information systems on the correlation between IT-business strategic alignment and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.

The effect of IT flexibility and IT governance on business-IT strategic alignment

The effect of IT flexibility and IT governance on business-IT strategic alignment

Enterprise resource planning success in Jordan from the perspective of IT-Business strategic alignment

Enterprise resource planning success in Jordan from the perspective of IT-Business strategic alignment

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) In Information Systems Research: Status Quo, Guidelines, and Future Directions

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) allows researchers to study how configurations of conditions lead to outcomes and, thereby, richly explain the dynamics of complex digital phenomena. To advance discussion on QCA in the information systems (IS) discipline, we introduce its fundamental concepts and offer guidelines for authors on how to apply QCA to advance IS research. We also provide checklists for reviewers of QCA papers. We illustrate how to apply our guidelines through two exemplar studies. In the first exemplar study, we focus on IT-business strategic alignment to study the influence that different forms of alignment have on firm performance. In the second exemplar study, we use the perspective of the integrated technology acceptance model to explain an individual’s intention to use a digital assistant. The contrasting results from both studies highlight how to use QCA to derive robust and reproducible results. By doing so, we contribute to encouraging IS scholars to use QCA to develop sophisticated models that accurately depict real-world IS phenomena.

Impact of enterprise architecture management on business benefits through information technology benefits in companies in Indonesia

This research aims to study the relationship between components of enterprise architecture management (EAM) and its impact towards IT benefits and business benefits. This research was conducted using quantitative approach involving 92 samples of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. The data were processed using partial least square (PLS). The results showed that the EAM was proven to have positive correlations on the IT benefits especially towards IT efficiency and IT-business strategic alignment. Subsequently, IT benefits were proven to have positive correlations towards business benefits especially towards customer closeness and product leadership. It was also found that EAM has positive correlations on business benefits through IT benefits, especially towards operational excellence and strategic intelligence. Thus, it can be concluded that EAM can improve business performance through improved IT performance.

The Effects of Business-IT Strategic Alignment and IT Governance on Firm Performance: A Moderated Polynomial Regression Analysis

Organizations use IT to navigate uncertain, rapidly changing, and competitive environments. To achieve this, understanding the implications of the interplay among firm strategy, information technology (IT), and IT governance is critical to understanding

The dynamics of IT-business strategic alignment: evidence from healthcare information systems implementation

PurposeThis study intends to reveal how to manage the dynamic process of information technology business (IT-business) strategic alignment; managing this alignment is an unknown yet critical issue that must be addressed by any firm trying to unleash the business value of their IT investments.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents our case study of a healthcare organization after healthcare information systems (HIS) implementation and investigates the strategic alignment between the implemented HIS and the organizational strategy from a dynamic perspective.FindingsTwo different patterns of alignment (i.e. an IT-strategy–driven pattern and a business-strategy–driven pattern) are identified, and a process model of the IT-business strategic alignment is developed. Moreover, this study focuses on the social dimension of strategic alignment and examines the role of this dimension, which is critical and fundamental with respect to other dimensions, in achieving strategic alignment.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper makes important theoretical contributions to the understanding of strategic alignment by taking a dynamic view of alignment, identifying different patterns of alignment, emphasizing the role of social alignment and developing a comprehensive process model.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial perspective, managers should periodically scrutinize the IT-business alignment patterns of their organizations and develop dynamic capabilities for strategic alignment.Originality/valueWhile most of the literature on the dynamics of strategic alignment have focused on confirming the dynamics of strategic alignment and identifying the factors that create dynamics in alignment, this study examines IT-business alignment as a continuous process over time, thus providing a novel perspective. Moreover, while the role of social alignment and its impact on downstream performance remain unclear in the current literature, this study incorporates the social dimension of alignment to investigate the role of this dimension in achieving IT-business strategic alignment.

Collaboration in demand-driven supply chain: Based on a perspective of governance and IT-business strategic alignment

In today’s marketplace, firms participating in a supply chain are required to work collaboratively to quickly respond to market and consumer demands. To understand how firms may effectively achieve supply chain collaboration, this paper presents an empirical study using a moderated mediation model that explores the effects of formal contract, e-business strategic alignment (including intellectual and operational alignment) and the degree of competition on collaboration in demand-driven supply chain. Using data from a survey of IT and business executives in 209 firms, we discover that formal contract has a positive effect on supply chain collaboration through intellectual and operational alignment. In addition, the positive mediating effect of operational alignment is stronger under a higher degree of competition. Although there is no moderated mediation effect in the path of formal contract-intellectual alignment-supply chain collaboration, the degree of competition shows a negative moderated effect on the relationship between formal contract and intellectual alignment, and a positive moderated effect on the relationship between intellectual alignment and supply chain collaboration. Learnings from this study contribute to supply chain management literature, and provide a comprehensive view of the governance and strategic antecedents of supply chain collaboration under various environmental circumstances.

The Level of IT-Business Strategic Alignment and Its Impact on Achieving a Sustainable Competitive Advantage as Mediated by The Net Benefits of Information Systems

The Level of IT-Business Strategic Alignment and Its Impact on Achieving a Sustainable Competitive Advantage as Mediated by The Net Benefits of Information Systems

Modeling the Impact of Information System on Organizational Culture and Business-IT Strategic Alignment

This paper proposes a model which explores how enterprises in Lebanon recognize the role of information system in fostering the quality of knowledge and information shared among its organizational members. Principally, it seeks to investigate the significance of organizational culture in promoting the main attributes of information, the impact of cultural factors and info system factors on the level of info sharing, and the leading enablers of Business-IT Strategic Alignment in SMEs compared to Large Enterprises.

Factors influencing it-business strategic alignment in the context of business process re-engineering

Factors influencing it-business strategic alignment in the context of business process re-engineering

How does business-IT strategic alignment dimension impact on organizational performance measures

PurposeDespite the conceptual, empirical and theoretical advances in alignment–performance relationship, there is a limited research on the alignment dimensions and organizational performance measures. Though strategic alignment is believed to improve organizational performance, the purpose of this paper is to develop conjectures for understanding how different alignment dimensions influence organizational performance measures.Design/methodology/approachThe data were acquired from 161 senior IT and business managers paired responses in China and were analyzed by using a structural equation modeling technique.FindingsThe hypothesized relationships are largely supported. Thus, quality-oriented strategic alignment dimension has a significant relationship with all performance measures. Contrary to expectations, both product and marketing-oriented strategic alignment dimensions do not show a significant impact on financial return. The marketing-oriented strategic alignment dimension also has an insignificant relationship with operational excellence.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that the business–IT alignment can be dimensioned to better combine business strategy and IT strategy. Hence, managers can focus specific alignment dimension instead of entire strategies of a firm for a better decision making.Originality/valueFindings suggest guidance for formulating combined business and IT strategic alignment into dimensions and proposing insightful and practical implications.

An Intangible-Asset Approach to Strategic Business-IT Alignment

The correct use of information technology (IT) in business is a longstanding critical issue due to the competitive advantages and performance that IT generates when it is managed strategically and correctly aligned with a business’ strategies and processes. A conceptual model is presented to investigate the effects of intangible assets and organizational capabilities on business-IT strategic alignment. Social networks between business and IT executives conform to relational capital that permits the creation of combinative capabilities; these capabilities encourage the transfer, integration, learning, and strategic use of business and IT executives’ knowledge, and affect the level of strategic business-IT alignment. This combination of social-network characteristics and organizational capabilities in order to generate strategic business-IT alignment is new.

Impact of Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) on Business Benefits through Information Technology Benefits in Companies in Indonesia

This research aims to study the relationship between components of enterprise architecture management (EAM) and its impact towards IT benefits and business benefits. This research was conducted using quantitative approach involving 92 samples of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. The data were processed using partial least square (PLS). The results showed that the EAM was proven to have positive correlations on the IT benefits especially towards IT efficiency and IT-business strategic alignment. Subsequently, IT benefits were proven to have positive correlations towards business benefits especially towards customer closeness and product leadership. It was also found that EAM has positive correlations on business benefits through IT benefits, especially towards operational excellence and strategic intelligence. Thus, it can be concluded that EAM can improve business performance through improved IT performance.

BUSINESS–IT STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT MATURITY:
 PREDICTING THE IMPACT ON TRANSFORMATIONAL STRATEGY
 AND BUSINESS RESULTS

Academic and management literature hypothesize that organizations that adopt organizational and management practices (“complementary factors”) that improve IT-business communications and partnership are better able to transform their business models. This implies that these firms obtain higher productivity and profitability from IT investments than organizations with comparable levels of IT investment. This study employs a stage-growth model (the “strategic alignment maturity model”) that focuses on the evolution of a bilateral and ideally co-adaptive relationship between business and information technology functions to empirically test that hypothesis. Employing the results of a survey of pharmaceutical industry business and IT executives, this research provides new insights into the relationship between IT-business strategic alignment maturity and firm-level productivity and profitability. This study also helps to quantify important “complementary factors” that provide transformational impact on a firm’s production function by its investments in IT.

Leveraging CIO Power to Enhance the Relationship Between Social Alignment and IT-Business Strategic Alignment

To give Information Technology (IT) a more central role in an organization and avoid disrupting the existing executive team power balance, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) should only leverage their power in certain situations. We propose CIOs can leverage their expert, prestige, and structural power attributes to influence the social–intellectual alignment relationship versus the social–operational alignment relationship in unique ways. Analyzing data collected from 140 CIOs, the results suggest IT knowledge strengthens the social-strategic alignment relationship, business knowledge and structural power weaken the social–intellectual alignment relationship, and prestige power has no impact on the social-strategic alignment relationship. Implications of these findings are discussed.

IT Factors Influencing Organizational Excellence as Mediated by the Level of IT-Business Alignment: A Study of the Mining Sector in Jordan

This study aims to investigate intentionally selection of Information Technology (IT) factors influencing the organizational excellence. Moreover, the study measures the level of IT-business strategic alignment and its impact on organizational excellence as perceived by employees of Jordanian mining sector working in managerial positions. It is a quantitative study based on the use of a questionnaire designed to fulfill the key purpose of this study. A comprehensive sampling strategy is used to select the participants due to the limited population size (managerial positions). 150 questionnaires were personally distributed out of which 117 were analyzed. SPSS.22 and AMOS.23 were used to analyze the data and to test the study hypotheses. The study revealed the levels of IT-business strategic alignment, as well as the level of organizational excellence within the context of JMS, are medium as perceived by employees. Moreover, it is revealed that IT-business related factors (namely: IT capabilities, perceived value of IT, and senior executive support for IT) have a direct significant statistical impact on organizational excellence within the context of JMS as perceived by employees. The study also found that the level of IT-Business strategic alignment has a direct significant statistical impact on the organizational excellence of JMS as perceived by employees. Nonetheless, only two IT factor. IT capabilities and perceived value of IT were found to have an indirect impact on the organizational excellence in JMS as mediated by the level of IT-business strategic alignment of JMS as perceived by employees. In addition, more concern should be directed toward IT capabilities and perceived value of IT as the most influential factors on both strategic alignment level as well as organizational excellence.