Comparing alignment factors in SMEs and large organizations: a planning integration perspective

Measurement of the alignment between business strategies and information systems (IS) has demonstrated positive impact for the organizational performance. The factors that have proved relevant when assessing the maturity level of alignment are: communication, competency/value measurement, governance, partnership, architecture & scope, and skills. Existing research, however, has focused on the assessment of these factors on large organizations and has barely explored their impact on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This paper uses the data provided by 127 participants from large and SMEs in order to identify whether the aforementioned factors are also relevant for assessing the level of alignment maturity in SMEs. The results from this research suggest that there are not significant differences between large organizations and SMEs when assessing those factors. In addition, this research also explored the relation between different planning integration of alignment (independent, sequential and simultaneous) in order to measure the perceived relevance of the factors. The results suggest that the planning integration identified on SMEs and large organizations has a positive correlation on how these factors are ranked. For both SMEs and large organizations where the formulation is simultaneous, the relevance of the factors is higher perceived than it is for those where the formulation is independent or sequential

The moderating roles of digital marketing and e- commerce on the relationship between it business alignment factors and smes performance in Baghdad City of Iraq

The IT-business alignment factor has been getting increased amounts of attention from researchers and practitioners due to its potential positive impact on digital marketing and e-commerce performances of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to propose IT-business alignment factors to enhance SME's performances by evaluating the moderating role of digital marketing and e-commerce in the association between IT-business alignment factors and SME's performances sector in Baghdad city of Iraq. To meet these objectives, 18 hypotheses tailored by the resource-based view (RBV) theoretical lenses were proposed to test the theorized relationship of IT business alignment factors, Digital marketing, e-commerce, and SMEs performance. A quantitative method is applied in which data is collected from a customized survey with 65 SMEs functioning in most industries such as communication, investment, and cosmetics sectors in Iraq. The data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS 3.2.9. The data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS 3.2.9. The findings of the path analysis of partial least squares (PLS) support variables in the hypothesized direct relationships with SME's performances. The relationships between IT-business alignment factors (human factors, communication, governance, partnership, competency, IT investment) and SMEs performance (SP) have been supported. Poor of IT business alignment factors, digital marketing, and e-commerce in Iraqi SMEs performance. The finding of digital marketing and E-commerce moderators were supported. The study advances several recommendations that could be beneficial for researchers to conduct further studies in this area as well for the representatives of organizations in their efforts to enhance the SME's performances in the future. Lastly, this research presents theoretical, empirical, and practical implications as well as limitations and recommendations for future investigation

IS Alignment Factors: Dynamic Relationships At Strategic, Tactical and Operational Level

The dynamic nature of IS alignment has been recognised in literature, nevertheless most empirical studies still focus on the relationships between business and IS at strategic level. Building on previously identified IS alignment factors (IT governance, IT value, communication, partnership, scope and architecture, human resources skills) this study incorporates an empirical investigation in a large insurance organisation that examines the relationships between business and IS across different organisational levels. By measuring the level of IS alignment of five strategic projects the impact of the factors affecting IS alignment is analysed. As previously reported IT governance was found to be the most relevant factor when high levels of IS alignment are obtained. However, by examining the variations of IS alignment for each project common areas of low IS alignment were identified: understanding of IT by business, balance metrics, budgetary control and share goals, risk and rewards. Findings reveal organisational structure and the business perception of IT value as the root causes behind low levels of IS alignment within those areas. Additionally, results exhibit a bigger IS alignment gap between the perceptions across strategic, tactical and operational levels than the traditional gap between business and IS

Antecedents of IT-Business Alignment Factors in Influencing Sustainable Competitive Advantage

More extensive studies on the causal chain between Information Technology (IT) investments and firm performance have been encouraged by scholars. However, the results of empirical studies have been inconclusive. This is partly due to the exclusion of IT - business strategic alignment (known as strategic alignment). In particular, scholars have continuously called for research to address the antecedent factors that lead to the alignment. As a result, this study has successfully developed a causal model illustrating the relationships between strategic alignment antecedents, strategic alignment and sustainable competitive advantage. Specifically, this study has looked into the impact of IT-business strategic alignment antecedents in terms of leadership between business and IT managers, structures and processes between IT plans and business plans and examined IT managerial resources between business and IT managers, service qualities, values and beliefs, and IT implementation success on IT business strategic alignment in terms of alignment gaps. Finally, the impact of IT-business strategic alignment is also tested for its impact on sustainable competitive advantage. In order to explore the above research relationships, this study has utilized the positivism paradigm. Under this method, quantitative data was collected. More specifically, this study has tested the research model by conducting 172 survey questionnaires with public shareholding firms in Jordan. The results obtained from the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique and interviews have offered very valuable insights into the research questions. The results of the main survey questionnaire show strong evidence for the impact of the following variables: leadership, service quality, value and belief, IT managerial resources and IT implementation success, on IT – business strategic alignment. Conversely, SEM has failed to support the link between structure and process on IT business alignment. In addition, the results show strong evidence for the impact of the following: leadership, IT managerial resource and IT implementation success on sustainable competitive advantage. However, SEM failed to support the link between service quality, value and belief, and structure and process on sustainable competitive advantage. Furthermore, the results from the main survey questionnaire show strong evidence for the impact of IT – business strategic alignment on sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, the results of the main survey questionnaire through the SEM show strong evidence for the mediating effect of strategic alignment on the relationships between value and belief, service quality and sustainable competitive advantage. This study has provided a detailed roadmap that researchers and practitioners can use in order to understand the resources required, and to realize the potential values of their IT investments. Future research is clearly needed to reveal better insights into the nature of these relationships

Physics of neutrino flavor transformation through matter-neutrino resonances

In astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star-neutron star or neutron star-black hole mergers where dense neutrino media are present, matter-neutrino resonances (MNRs) can occur when the neutrino propagation potentials due to neutrino-electron and neutrino-neutrino forward scattering nearly cancel each other. We show that neutrino flavor transformation through MNRs can be explained by multiple adiabatic solutions similar to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism. We find that for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy, neutrino flavor evolution through MNRs can be sensitive to the shape of neutrino spectra and the adiabaticity of the system, but such sensitivity is absent for the inverted hierarchy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

The alignment factors of business-IT on enterprise architecture : A systematic literature review

Endi Putro, Meyliana, Achmad Nizar Hidayanto, Harjanto Prabow

Examining Changes In The Strategic Alignment Models Alignment Factors Over Time: A Case Study

The strategic alignment model of Henderson and Venkatraman (1994) views IS alignment as occurring among four factors: business strategy, organization infrastructure and processes, IS strategy, and IS infrastructure and processes. Henderson and Venkatraman view strategic alignment as occurring via simultaneous or concurrent attention to all four domains. A single case study was conducted to examine how changes in the alignment factors actually occur over time. Our findings suggest that while H& V indicated the SAM is a descriptive model, it explains few of the changes that actually occurred in the case and has limited applicability as a descriptive model

Persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada

This article presents analytical findings on the persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada. As these trends cannot be observed from a single data source, a modelling technique to integrate longitudinal data lacking ethno-cultural detail with cross-sectional Census data was developed. First- and second-generation immigrants and/or members of most visible minority groups on average reach higher educational levels than their Canadian-born peers not belonging to a visible minority. This study reveals that the relative educational differences between the studied groups are both important in extent and remarkably stable over birth cohorts. The research presented in this paper was conducted in the context of Statistics Canada’s population projection microsimulation model Demosim. Demosim marks an important milestone in establishing microsimulation for official population projections. It reflects the demand for models which can go beyond age and sex, capturing geographical detail, ethnic diversity, educational attainment and other characteristics.