Content area
Abstract
Due to the rise of the technology-driven knowledge age, top managers are directly involved with decision-making regarding IT investment. In order to strategically utilize competitive advantage that information technology (IT) can provide, managers must understand how the entire spectrum of IT-driven business values leveraged by business-IT alignment are created and transferred to business performance.
The primary research question addressed in this study was; “What is the spectrum or framework that explains the business-IT alignment in an organization?” More specifically, (1) what are the factors (antecedents) that influence business-IT alignment in an organization, (2) what is the consequence of business-IT alignment, and (3) what is its potential impact on business performance?
The proposed integrative framework of business-IT alignment could fill the theoretical gap in previous business-IT alignment research. The research model is based on the socio-technical system framework that explains how the business-IT alignment can be accomplished socially and materially through strategic decisions and technical arrangements among people in an organization.
Contemporary statistical techniques, especially the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, were employed to test the proposed hypotheses and the research models. The results indicated that business-IT alignment includes socio-technical managerial activities such as business-IT partnership, shared vision, and functional integration, which result increased IS effectiveness and business performance directly or indirectly.
