Strategic It Alignment: Twenty-Five Years On, Article Review Example

The strategic implementation of information technology has been an issue of fundamental concern for the success of a business organization. The use of information technology in strategic alignment of a business bears the potentials of transforming the nature of the business. For information technology to serve its purpose efficiently as well as effectively, a strategic alignment of the IT strategies must be properly aligned with the strategies of the business. This is what was lacking in traditional approaches of doing business that was a norm of the past (Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, 2015).

The basis of such a successful alignment is attributed to a type of fit that exists between the information technology strategies, the business strategies, the processes as well as the infrastructures of the business as well as the processes along with the infrastructures of information technology which in essence have been marred difficulties of measurement and operationalization. On consideration of disparities between realized and planned strategies, strategic information technology alignments are perceived from two different perspectives.

The first one involves the role of information technology with regard to the support it offers to the actual strategy of the business which is conventionally the function of the existing portfolio of the applications of information technology instead of the written plans. Yayla & Hu, (2012) have conseptualized information technology alignment on the basis of divergent information technology application portfolios requisite for propping up the actual strategies of the business. Secondly, according to the arguments postulated by researchers, the deployment of information technology is anticipated to prop up certain processes as well as activities, consequently, information technology impact in that cases must be evaluated in which case effects of the first order are the anticipated results (Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, 2015).

In that regard, research has made significant contribution in the exploration of performance effects that are attributed to alignment of information technology and the strategies of business in consideration of the process level. In that regard therefore, Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, (2015), has postulated that, the organization that have succeeded in strategies of operational excellence put more pressure on the alignment of supplier relations to operations or demand relations. On the contrary, the organizations advocating for strategies of client intimacy puts their emphasis on sales, marketing as well as customer relations. Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, (2015) continues to indicate that, the effects associated with a particular strategic alignment on a particular process are most likely to spill over in supplementary process along the value chain.

There are some indirect metrics of fit that have been suggested and applicable in information technology research for the purpose of computation of the echelon of alignment between the business and the information technology strategy.  According to Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, (2015), fit operationalization can be accomplished with the application of a framework that is a composite of six divergent perspectives. They include the following:

• Moderation
• Mediation
• profile deviation

These three engrosses the criterion-specific approaches and they are the most commonly applicable approaches in evaluation of the information technology alignment that can be incorporated in information system research (Tim, Paul, Rajeev & Magno, 2015).

• matching
• covariation
• gestalts

These three are specified devoid of reference to the criterion or the dependent variable for example, business performance.

References

Tim, C., Paul, T., Rajeev, S. & Magno, Q,. (2015). Strategic IT alignment: twenty-five years on. Journal of Information Technology doi: 10.1057/jit.2014.35

Yayla, A.A.  & Hu, Q. (2012). The Impact of IT-Business Strategic Alignment on Firm Performance in a Developing Country Setting: Exploring moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and strategic orientation, European Journal of Information    Systems 21(4): 373–387.