Antecedents Factors Affecting Alignment and Its Impact to Organizational Performance in Universities

Business and Information Technology (IT) alignment involves applying IT in an appropriate and timely way, in harmony with business strategies, goals and needs. Prior research argues that achieving alignment contributes immensely to ensuring that IT investments improve organisational performance. One important issue in business–IT alignment study is the absence of alignment. Findings indicate that there are many factors/variables that consistently enhance business-IT alignment. By identifying factors to achieve business-IT alignment, the problem on the absence of alignment could be addressed. Due to the complexity of business-IT alignment, there is possibility that successful alignment focuses on managing specific alignment dimension by investigating factors that encourage particular dimension. Past studies have shown the relationship between business-IT alignment and organizational performance. However, only few researchers tried to relate between the factors with organizational performance. Literature on alignment discovered that there seems to be confusion in clarifying the business-IT alignment concept. Based on this gap, this paper examines problem and issues on alignment, identify, analyze and discuss factors affecting alignment, then categorize the constructs identified into dimensions and propose a model for alignment in universities. The study contributes to the formation of a theoretical model influencing alignment dimension that has impact on organizational performance. The model is important to provide empirical evidence that confirms the importance of categorizing factors into dimensions in achieving business-IT alignment and their influence on universities’ performance.

Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity at a Colombian University

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.

The impact of managing IT on business-IT alignment and firm performance: an empirical study

Purpose Though prior studies have attempted to explore the various effects of managing information technology (IT) investment on firm performance, the mechanism through which management of IT impact on firm performance rests less clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of managing IT and business-IT alignment on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the resource-based theory and process theory, this study examines how managing IT impacts business-IT alignment and firm performance. The primary survey of 182 responses from IT and business managers from Sri Lanka was empirically examined. Findings The findings reveal that managing IT has a positive and strong impact on business-IT alignment and firm performance. Further, business-IT alignment partially mediates between managing IT investment and firm performance relationships. Research limitations/implications Today, businesses have invested a massive amount of money in IT investment, and the return on this investment is always a serious concern for managers and industry practitioners. This study finding proposes meaningful insights on managing IT, business-IT alignment and firm performance. Originality/value This study opens up the black box on the above nomological linkage and contributes to the literature by extending the theoretical lenses while suggesting insightful and practical implications.

IT governance and IT application orchestration capability role on organization performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: An intervening of business-IT alignment

The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a multi-faceted global crisis with massive challenges for any organization around the world. With lockdowns and other social distancing protocols implemented in countries worldwide, economic activities and social interactions become increasingly reliant on technology. This study aimed to examine the intervention role of business-IT alignment on the influence of IT governance (ITG) and IT application orchestration capability (IT-AOC) on organization performances. The educational sector was chosen as an object of study as this sector will experience a decade of radical technology-driven change due to COVID-19's stimulus and there were limited IT-AOC studies that used this sector as a research object. This study use a survey method and purposive sampling with a total classified sample of 55 higher education institutions (HEIs) and 110 respondents involved represent the samples. Data analysis was conducted using a Variance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (VB-SEM) approach of Partial Least Square (PLS) technique. The results suggest that both ITG and IT-AOC have a positive effect on organization performances. Moreover, this study proved that business-IT alignment can intervene the influence of ITG and IT-AOC on organization performances.