Explorative Study on the Influence of National Cultures on Business/IT Alignment Maturity

2012 ◽  
pp. 102-122
Author(s):  
A. J. Gilbert Silvius ◽  
Steven De Haes ◽  
Wim Van Grembergen
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
It Executives ◽  
Area Of Concern

A key success factor for a successful company in a dynamic environment is effective and efficient information technology (IT) supporting business strategies and processes. Organizations that successfully align their business strategy and their IT strategy outperform their non-aligned peers (Chan et al., 1997). In recent surveys IT executives consistently name IT to Business alignment their top-concern. The alignment between business needs and IT capabilities is therefore still a prominent area of concern. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the alignment challenge by exploring the impact of (national) cultures on the maturity of business / IT alignment (BIA).The paper relies on Hofstede’s framework of cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980) to understand the concept of national culture. After a brief introduction on BIA and Luftman’s framework for measuring BIA maturity (Luftman, 2000), the authors analyze the influence of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the variables of BIA maturity. This conceptual exercise is than tested in a small-scale empirical exploration by comparing BIA maturity scores of Belgium and Dutch financial institutions. The results support a potential effect of national cultures on BIA maturity, especially in ‘governance maturity’ and ‘skills maturity’, but not all expected results are confirmed.

Explorative Study on the Influence of National Cultures on Business/IT Alignment Maturity

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J.Gilbert Silvius ◽  
Steven De Haes ◽  
Wim Van Grembergen
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
The Impact

A key success factor for a successful company in a dynamic environment is effective and efficient information technology (IT) supporting business strategies and processes. Organizations that successfully align their business strategy and their IT strategy outperform their non-aligned peers (Chan et al., 1997). In recent surveys IT executives consistently name IT to Business alignment their top-concern. The alignment between business needs and IT capabilities is therefore still a prominent area of concern. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the alignment challenge by exploring the impact of (national) cultures on the maturity of business / IT alignment (BIA).The paper relies on Hofstede’s framework of cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980) to understand the concept of national culture. After a brief introduction on BIA and Luftman’s framework for measuring BIA maturity (Luftman, 2000), the authors analyze the influence of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the variables of BIA maturity. This conceptual exercise is than tested in a small-scale empirical exploration by comparing BIA maturity scores of Belgium and Dutch financial institutions. The results support a potential effect of national cultures on BIA maturity, especially in ‘governance maturity’ and ‘skills maturity’, but not all expected results are confirmed.

Reviewing Business-IT Alignment Instruments Under SAM Dimensions

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Belfo ◽  
Rui Dinis Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Work ◽  
Strategic Alignment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
It Executives ◽  
Validated Instrument

Business-IT alignment has been on the top of the concerns of IT executives for many years and how to assess it has been under research. Among many proposals, one of the best known and cited in the literature, showing some relevant empirical work, is the Luftman’s Strategic Alignment Maturity (SAM) categories assessment. Taking it as a framework, seven other proposals are examined using SAM categories as dimensions of business-IT alignment: communications, competency/value measurements, governance, partnership, technology scope and skills. Except for one proposal revealing a tactical level approach, this review shows that business-IT alignment assessment has been studied essentially at the strategic level. Among the examined dimensions across the several proposals, governance is the best covered one while the human resource skills dimension is considerably neglected. Having still room for improvements, either in the governance or the technology scope dimensions, the SAM assessment seems a well balanced instrument. The empirical work already found on SAM provides a good starting point to get an acceptable validated instrument. However, if in terms of content validity, SAM is one of the most promising instruments, there is still much work to do on what concerns its operationalization. Future research should strive for a rigorous, strong instrument on every component of construct validity, namely, the convergent, discriminant and nomological components.

scholarly journals Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity at a Colombian University

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Miguel Eduardo Torres-Moreno ◽  
Jairo Hernán Aponte-Melo
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
It Department ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
Almost All

Over the last decades, the role of the IT department within an organization has gradually gained importance. Technology has permeated all areas within organizations and nowadays is the cornerstone of almost all business processes. Thus, business-IT alignment (BITA) is considered an essential success factor for almost any organization. Consequently, the evaluation and improvement of this alignment have been a growing concern among researchers and organizations. This study assessed the BITA maturity in a Colombian university, applying Luftman’s SAM (Strategic Alignment Maturity) model. The conducted assessment collected, analyzed, and contrasted perceptions of business and IT personnel. Similarly, we investigated the personnel’s perceptions at the strategic, functional, and operational levels regarding the SAM factors. Furthermore, we compared our results with other BITA assessments in educational institutions, Latin American organizations, and worldwide results. Finally, we drew some conclusions that can be useful for practitioners who seek to apply Luftman’s assessment.

scholarly journals An Intangible-Asset Approach to Strategic Business-IT Alignment

Systems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Tejada-Malaspina ◽  
Alberto Jan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Issue ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Intangible Asset ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Network Characteristics ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
It Executives

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.

scholarly journals Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity

2001 ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry N. Luftman
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Business Alignment ◽  
Manufacturing Organizations ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
Relationship Of

Business and IT practitioners, researchers, and consultants have been asking for an effective tool to assess IT-business alignment. Until now, none was available. This chapter introduces the strategic alignment maturity assessment. This assessment tool is based on the authors’ research and consulting experience that identified the major enablers and inhibitors in the achievement of business-IT alignment and the methodology that leverages the most important enablers and inhibitors. Alignment focuses on the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT (information technology) and other functional (e.g., finance, marketing, H/R, manufacturing) organizations. Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should/could be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves to a relationship where IT and business adapt their strategies together. Achieving alignment is evolutionary and dynamic. IT requires strong support from senior management, good working relationships, strong leadership, appropriate prioritization, trust, and effective communication, as well as a thorough understanding of the business and technical environments. Achieving and sustaining alignment demands focusing on maximizing the enablers and minimizing the inhibitors. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss an approach for assessing the maturity of the business-IT alignment. Once the maturity is understood, an organization can identify opportunities for enhancing the harmonious relationship of business and IT.

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