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.

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.

An Organizational Culture Perspective in Business-IT Alignment

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed El-Mekawy ◽  
Ehsan Kaboudvand ◽  
Lazar Rusu
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Strategic Alignment ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
The Impact

Business-IT alignment (BITA) has gained attention during the last decade. As a result, a number of theoretical models that can be applied as supportive tools for assessing different components of BITA have been developed. However, most of these efforts have been produced in different countries and they ignore the factor that’s subjected to change due to cultural contexts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organizational culture on achieving BITA and influences its maturity. The research method and process follows the design science research and is done in three phases. First, an in-depth literature survey followed by a survey was carried out to identify and classify limitations of BITA attributes (based on Luftman’s strategic alignment maturity (SAM)) model and then, hypothesize the potential impact of organizational culture element (based on the Smit et al. model) on BITA attributes. Second, an empirical study is carried out to test the hypotheses in order to identify the limited BITA attributes based on organizational culture context. These attributes are further classified for proposing an extended version to the SAM model. Finally, the extended-SAM model is evaluated in 6 Swedish large and medium organizations to test its practicality for comparing its assessment with the assessment of the original SAM model.

Business-IT Alignment Literature Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Jia ◽  
Nianxin Wang ◽  
Shilun Ge
Keyword(s):  
Citation Analysis ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Intellectual Structure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
New Perspective

The purpose of this article is to portray the knowledge evolution paths of business-IT alignment (BITA) research and identify a set of important papers in the development of BITA, and elucidate the intellectual structure of this field. This study collected 309 papers published during the period 1983-2015 from the Web of Science (WOS) database. Using a variety of bibliometric and visualization analytic techniques such as citation analysis, co-citation analysis and main path analysis, this article (1) delineates the significant knowledge flows of BITA research and identifies 15 important papers in this field; (2) graphically maps the influential countries, institutions, and journals of BITA research; (3) identifies four major research themes: BITA model, measurement, antecedents, and dynamics, and visualizing the relationships among them. Based on these findings, recommendations for the future research directions have suggested. This article provides IT practitioners, executives, and scholars with a new perspective to get a better understanding of BITA.

What Neuroscience Can Tell about Intuitive Processes in the Context of Perceptual Discovery

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 2077-2087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten G. Volz ◽  
D. Yves von Cramon
Keyword(s):  
Initial Guess ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Direct Contrast ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
Lateral Portion ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Conscious Attention ◽  
Potential Content

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, intuition is “the ability to understand or know something immediately, without conscious reasoning.” Most people would agree that intuitive responses appear as ideas or feelings that subsequently guide our thoughts and behaviors. It is proposed that people continuously, without conscious attention, recognize patterns in the stream of sensations that impinge upon them. What exactly is being recognized is not clear yet, but we assume that people detect potential content based on only a few aspects of the input (i.e., the gist). The result is a vague perception of coherence which is not explicitly describable but instead embodied in a “gut feeling” or an initial guess, which subsequently biases thought and inquiry. To approach the nature of intuitive processes, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging when participants were working at a modified version of the Waterloo Gestalt Closure Task. Starting from our conceptualization that intuition involves an informed judgment in the context of discovery, we expected activation within the median orbito-frontal cortex (OFC), as this area receives input from all sensory modalities and has been shown to be crucially involved in emotionally driven decisions. Results from a direct contrast between intuitive and nonintuitive judgments, as well as from a parametric analysis, revealed the median OFC, the lateral portion of the amygdala, anterior insula, and ventral occipito-temporal regions to be activated. Based on these findings, we suggest our definition of intuition to be promising and a good starting point for future research on intuitive processes.

Assessing Business-IT Allignment Maturity

2011 ◽  
pp. 99-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Luftman
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Strategic Alignment ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Business Functions ◽  
Alignment Maturity ◽  
Relationship Of

Strategic alignment focuses on the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT (Information Technology) and other functional organizations (e.g., finance, marketing, H/R, R&D, manufacturing). Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should, or could, be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves into a relationship where the function of IT and other business functions 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. The strategic alignment maturity assessment provides organizations with a vehicle to evaluate these activities. Knowing the maturity of its strategic choices and alignment practices make it possible for a firm to see where it stands and how it can improve. This chapter discusses an approach for assessing the maturity of the business-IT alignment. Once maturity is understood, an organization can identify opportunities for enhancing the harmonious relationship of business and IT.

Institutional Theory and E-Government Research

2008 ◽  
pp. 349-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahidul Hassan ◽  
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
Current State ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
Government Research

Recent developments in institutional theory are highly promising for the study of e-government. Scholars in various disciplines, such as economics (North, 1999; Rutherford, 1999), sociology (Brinton & Nee, 1998), and political science (March & Olsen, 1989; Peters, 2001), have used institutional approaches to understand diverse social and organizational phenomena. Insights gained from these studies can be valuable for guiding research in e-government. In fact, there are some initial efforts in information systems and e-government research that have applied institutional theory and proved useful in generating new insights about how information technologies are adopted (Teo, Wei, & Benbasat, 2003; Tingling & Parent, 2002), designed and developed (Butler, 2003; Klein, 2000; Laudon, 1985), implemented (Robey & Holmstrom, 2001), and used (Fountain, 2001) in organizations. In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of some of these initial studies to highlight the usefulness of institutional theory in e-government research. We also suggest some opportunities for future research in e-government using institutional theory. This chapter does not capture all the essential theoretical and empirical issues related to using institutional theory in information systems and e-government research. Instead, it is a brief review and a good starting point to explore the potential of institutional theory. We hope that e-government scholars find it interesting and useful. The chapter is organized in five sections, including this introduction. The second section provides a brief overview of institutional theory in various disciplinary traditions, with an emphasis on institutional theory in sociology. Then the chapter identifies various patterns of the use of institutional theory in information systems and e-government research. Based on our analysis of the current state of the art, the fourth section suggests some opportunities for future research. Finally, the fifth section provides some final comments.

A Context and Content Reflection on Business-IT Alignment Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Joe Parappallil ◽  
Novica Zarvic ◽  
Oliver Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Information Systems Research ◽  
Metadata Analysis ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Business It Alignment ◽  
Research Domain

In this paper, the authors present the results of a recently performed literature analysis on the topic of Business-IT Alignment. They have thereby investigated 270 articles from the period 1993-2011 in a structured way. The articles were selected on the basis of three well-known ranking lists of publications in the Information Systems research domain. In the authors’ analysis they distinguish a context and a content point of view. The former one focuses on metadata analysis of the articles under consideration whereas the latter one uses text mining techniques to dive into the articles´ body of content. Finally, they discuss their results and present conceivable future research directions that should be tackled by alignment researchers and conclude their paper.

Economic Perspective on the Value of Cats and Dogs

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 595-613
Author(s):  
Ruben Hoffmann ◽  
Carl-Johan Lagerkvist ◽  
Malin Hagberg Gustavsson ◽  
Bodil Ström Holst
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Economic Values ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Use Values ◽  
Good Starting Point

AbstractAlthough various benefits of cats and dogs have been extensively studied, their fundamental economic value is poorly understood. Economic values are, in contrast to monetary values, determined subjectively and guide individuals in their decisions. This study presents a conceptual economic model of the value of cats and dogs which provides a basis for future research. Benefits of cats and dogs identified in the literature are categorized in relation to the model. The multidimensional value of these nonhuman animals includes different use and non-use values, for caretakers and other humans. Data from an online survey on the salience (importance of attributes in memory) of cats and dogs in Sweden provide support for the proposed model. It is argued that the subjective well-being approach developed in psychology provides a good starting point for estimating many of the economic values of these animals, but that different types of values may require different approaches.

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.

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