Strategic alignment

Abstract: The establishment of strong alignment between information technology (IT) and organizational objectives has consistently been reported as one of the key concerns of information systems managers. This paper presents findings from a study which investigated the influence of several factors on the social dimension of alignment within 10 business units in the Canadian life insurance industry. The social dimension of alignment refers 'Lynda M. Applegate was the accepting senior editor for this paper. to the state in which business and IT executives understand and are committed to the business and IT mission, objectives, and plans. The research model included four factors that would potentially influence alignment: (1) shared domain knowledge between business and IT executives, (2) IT implementation success, (3) communication between business and IT executives, and (4) connections between business and IT planning processes. The outcome, alignment, was operationalized in two ways: the degree of mutual understanding of current objectives (shortterm alignment) and the congruence of IT vision (long-term alignment) between business and IT executives. A total of 57 semi-structured interviews were held with 45 informants. Written business and IT strategic plans, minutes from IT steering committee meetings, and other strategy documents were collected and analyzed from each of the 10 business units. All four factors in the model (shared domain knowledge, IT implementation success, communication between business and IT executives, and connections between business and IT planning) were found to influence short-term alignment. Only shared domain knowledge was found to influence long-term alignment A new factor, strategic business plans, was found to influence both short and long-term alignment. MIS Quarterly Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 81-113/March 2000 81 I~~~~~fl This content downloaded from 207.46.13.115 on Sat, 08 Oct 2016 04:53:48 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Reich & Benbasat/Alignment Between Business and IT Objectives The findings suggest that both practitioners and researchers should direct significant effort toward understanding shared domain knowledge, the factor which had the strongest influence on the alignment between IT and business executives. There is also a call for further research into the creation of an IT vision.

Abstract: This book is about human resource (HR) strategy – the decisions, processes, and choices that organizations make about managing people . It is designed as a primer for students in master of business administration (MBA) or HR programs, as well as for HR and organization leaders and general managers. It aims to provide an overview of the elements of human resource plans at the strategic, operational, unit, and functional levels. It is more than that, however. A unique aspect of this book is that we have incorporated a consistent perspective that human resource or human capital strategy is also about risk optimization and management. It is difficult to consider any arena of management without attention to risk, and this is especially true in the arena of human capital. Integrating risk into human resource strategy is a less traditional way to approach the topic, but an increasingly uncertain world demands such a perspective. Not only is it important to incorporate risk more explicitly into the framework of human capital strategy, but also, we believe, doing so will enhance and extend the paradigms of human capital planning in new and useful directions, producing a unique perspective for leaders inside and outside the HR function. We will have much more to say about risk optimization and management in later chapters. The purpose of this opening chapter is to explore some of the fundamental ideas that underpin organizational strategy in general, because organizational strategy is the foundation of human resource strategy.

Abstract: Information systems strategic alignment—the fit between business strategic orientation and information systems (IS) strategic orientation—is an important concept. This study measured business strategic orientation, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic alignment, and investigated their implications for perceived IS effectiveness and business performance. Analyses of data gathered in a mail survey of North American financial services and manufacturing firms indicated that 1) business strategic orientation, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic alignment are modeled best by utilizing holistic, ‘systems’ approaches instead of dimension-specific, ‘bivariate’ approaches, 2) three generic IS strategic orientations can be detected, 3) user information satisfaction does not capture important strategic aspects of IS effectiveness, 4) IS strategic alignment is a better predictor of IS effectiveness than is strategic orientation, and 5) business strategic orientation, IS strategic alignment, and IS effecti...

Abstract: Strategic information technology alignment remains a top priority for business and IT executives. Yet with a recent rise in environmental volatility, firms are asking how to be more agile in identifying and responding to market-based threats and opportunities. Whether alignment helps or hurts agility is an unresolved issue. This paper presents a variety of arguments from the literature that alternately predict a positive or negative relationship between alignment and agility. This relationship is then tested using a model in which agility mediates the link between alignment and firm performance under varying conditions of IT infrastructure flexibility and environmental volatility. Using data from a matched survey of IT and business executives in 241 firms, we uncover a positive and significant link between alignment and agility and between agility and firm performance. We also show that the effect of alignment on performance is fully mediated by agility, that environmental volatility positively moderates the link between agility and firm performance, and that agility has a greater impact on firm performance in more volatile markets. While IT infrastructure flexibility does not moderate the link between alignment and agility, except in a volatile environment, we reveal that IT infrastructure flexibility has a positive and significant main effect on agility. In fact, the effect of IT infrastructure flexibility on agility is as strong as the effect of alignment on agility. This research extends and integrates the literature on strategic IT alignment and organizational agility at a time when both alignment and agility are recognized as critical and concurrent organizational goals.