Title: Three Approaches to Align Business Direction and Information Systems and Processes in an Australian Organisation

Year of Publication: Oct - 2015
Page Numbers: 24-39
Authors: Mona Gabriel-Seow, Jocelyn Armarego
Conference Name: The International Conference on Organizational Strategy, Business Models, and Risk Management (OSBMRM2015)
- United Arab Emirates

Abstract:


Alignment of an organisation’s business direction and its information systems and processes is important to its business success. This study investigated three alignment approaches within the same organisation: One-Off Alignment; Continuous Alignment and Project Management. Using an interpretivist, qualitative approach, with the researcher embedded in the each of the case study engagements, it was determined that One-Off Alignment was an effective approach for business diversification while Continuous Alignment was effective for evaluating business driven IT initiatives. The Project Management discipline and the establishment of a project office supported continuous alignment to business strategies. The study concluded that there was strong evidence for expected Defender and Prospector organisational characteristics and that different alignment approaches can be successful depending on the context. This was confirmed by the success of three different alignment approaches within the same organisation during the same time period.