Exploring the factors in aligning information systems and organizational strategies in tall organizational structures in an uncertain environment

Abstract

Factors affecting the alignment of information systems (ISs) and organizational strategies (i.e., strategic alignment) vary depending on the organizational contexts, comprising both the structural and environmental contexts. Previous studies of strategic alignment were largely focused on organizations with flatter organizational structures and low environmental uncertainty. Therefore, findings from previous studies might not be applicable to organizations with tall organizational structures and in uncertain environments, like Iranian organizations. To this end, we aimed to discover less‐explored factors in achieving strategic alignment based on the contexts of Iranian organizations, using grounded theory. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 29 experts in different organizations to illustrate and substantiate the development of an eightfold framework that specifies the factors for achieving strategic alignment. Specifically, the developed eightfold framework resulted in identification of 8 factors and 51 elements in achieving strategic alignment. Here, we identified five factors in achieving strategic alignment in addition to the factors reported by previous research (i.e., senior management, communication, and partnership), namely IS leadership, IS capabilities, organizational development, human resources, and IT infrastructure. The results indicate that these factors play a prominent role in determining the challenges and discerning the momentous requirements for achieving strategic alignment in organizations with tall structures in uncertain environments.