A Resource‐Based View of Strategic IT Alignment: How Knowledge Sharing Creates Competitive Advantage

Abstract

A critical decision problem for top management, and the focus of this study, is whether the CEO (chief executive officer) and CIO (chief information officer) should commit their time to formal planning with the expectation of producing an information technology (IT)-based competitive advantage. Using the perspective of the resource-based view, a model is presented that examines how strategic IT alignment can produce enhanced organizational strategies that yield competitive advantage. One hundred sixty-one CIOs provided data using a postal survey. Results supported seven of the eight hypotheses. They showed that information intensity is an important antecedent to strategic IT alignment, that strategic IT alignment is best explained by multiple constructs which operationalize both process and content measures, and that alignment between the IT plan and the business plan is significantly related to the use of IT for competitive advantage. Study results raise questions about the effect of CEO participation, which appears to be the weak link in the process, and also about the perception of the CIO on the importance of CEO involvement. The paper contributes to our understanding of how knowledge sharing in the alignment process contributes to the creation of superior organizational strategies, provides a framework of the alignment-performance relationship, and furnishes several new constructs.

IT Alignment: What Have We Learned?

“…Chan et al, 1997;de Leede et al, 2002;Irani, 2002;Kearns and Lederer, 2003). Simply put, the findings support the hypothesis that those organizations that successfully align their business strategy with their IT strategy will outperform those that do not.…”

“…While this can be helpful as a single indicator of overall alignment, more detailed scales provide greater reliability and validity. Kearns and Lederer (2003) developed a 12-item measure of alignment. This scale measures the alignment of the IT plan with the business plan (six items) and the alignment of the business plan with the IT plan (six items).…”

“…The authors see the value of both streams and consider both alignment perspectives to be necessary. Future research that examines alignment should build on the appropriate literature (Kearns and Lederer, 2003). Work that links these two perspectives is likely to be the most difficult but the most beneficial.…”

Maturity Level at University Academic Information System Linking it Goals and Business Goal Based on Cobit 4.1

“…In the year of 1981, IBM provide a motivation of the perspective that the emphasis of the alignment process is to focus on the Strategic Plan for Business and IT long-term plan of the organization. Empirically in (Chan 1997;Irani 2002;Kearns & Lederer 2003), found the findings that support the hypothesis, that people who succeed to align their business strategy with IT strategy will be superior to those who do not apply.…”

Impact of IS Strategy and Technological Innovation Strategic Alignment on FirmPerformance

“…Some of these factors include organizational learning [89], firm-wide involvement in strategic planning [90], organizational structure and culture [91], purposeful and strategically focused communication [64], collaboration to share knowledge and skills among business staff and IT staff [53], management skill and commitment to strategic alignment process [90], and well-prioritized strategic IT projects [92].…”