Conceptualizing the Dynamic Strategic Alignment Competency

This essay addresses the question, “How can strategic alignment that is sustained over time be conceptualized and quantified?” We build on the Dynamic Capabilities Framework and suggest that an organization’s ability to achieve a high degree of alignment between its IT strategy and its business strategy is an enduring competency that is a source of competitive advantage. We couple this theoretical understanding of how strategic alignment provides value with extant research to explain an approach to measuring an organization’s dynamic strategic alignment competency. Our measurement approach considers (1) the degree of alignment at a given point in time, (2) the organization’s history of alignment, and (3) the maturity of the business processes that enable IT and business strategies to co-evolve. Our paper contributes to research on strategic alignment in two ways. First, we address a stated need for more substantial theory to undergird strategic alignment research by highlighting and building upon the Dynamic Capabilities Framework. Second, we move beyond static, single-time-period examinations of alignment to explain a dynamic approach to alignment, one that includes an operationalization of the dynamic strategic alignment competency. In sum, we argue that the dynamic strategic alignment competency is an enduring organizational competency built on organizational processes and routines that provides a source of competitive advantage

Towards the Strategic Alignment of Corporate Services with IT, applying Strategic Alignment Model (SAM)

In a context of increasingly demanding and eager users for the use of the technology, the areas of information and communications technology (ICT) acquire a leading role in the organizations due to the support and input that they provide. The constant and innovative growth of ICT generates in the organizations a difficult dynamic to align with their strategic objectives. This causes a gap among the strategy, the corporate objectives of the organization and the administration of IT services. In this article, a conceptual framework is proposed from a heuristic point of view concerning to the alignment of business processes with IT, using and modifying the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) of Henderson and Venkatraman in order to achieve a value chain implemented through requests and services with the aim of aligning the strategies of the Corporate Governance, Enterprise Governance and IT Governance. A case study is presented to display how a corporate request is transformed into an IT request within the framework of the strategic objectives.Facultad de Informátic

The Relationship between Organizational Culture and the Alignment of Business and IT

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 relationship between organizational culture and the maturity of business and IT alignment (BIA). The paper relies on the X-model of organizational culture (Smit et al., 2008) and Luftman’s framework for measuring BIA maturity (Luftman, 2000) to explore the relationships between these concepts A quantitative study was conducted in a middle-sized logistics service provider using a questionnaire that was derived from the afore-mentioned models. The results support the notion that there is a relationship between organizational culture and BIA maturity, especially on the variables ‘governance’, ‘partnership’ and ‘skills’. Further research is required to determine causality in these relationships

A Modeling Framework to Assess Strategies Alignment based on Collaborative Network Emotions

[DE] The Collaborative Networks (CN) discipline has been largely studied in last decades, addressing different problems and proposing solutions for the robust establishment of collaborative processes, within the enterprises willing to collaborate. The main aim of CN research is, therefore, to generate approaches that enable creating effective relationships in the long term, to achieve stable and agile alliances. The concept of alignment among the CN partners has been considered since the beginning of CN research. Nevertheless, novel perspectives of study in CN, such as the consideration of collaborative emotional states, within the CN, have been introduced in recent years. This paper connects the research area of strategies alignment and the CN emotion models. Accordingly, a modelling framework to assess strategies alignment considering the emotional environment within the CN is proposed. The modelling framework allows representing how the enterprises emotions affect in the selection and alignment of formulated enterprises¿ strategiesAndres, B.; Ferrada, F.; Poler, R.; Camarinha-Matos, L. (2018). A Modeling Framework to Assess Strategies Alignment based on Collaborative Network Emotions. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. 534:349-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99127-6_30S349361534Camarinha-Matos, L.M.: Collaborative networks in industry and the role of PRO-VE. Int. J. Prod. Manag. Eng. 2(2), 53–57 (2014)Andres, B., Poler, R.: Models, guidelines and tools for the integration of collaborative processes in non-hierarchical manufacturing networks: a review. Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 2(29), 166–201 (2016)Bititci, U., Martinez, V., Albores, P., Parung, J.: Creating and managing value in collaborative networks. Int. J. Phys. Distrib. Logist. 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