Albert L. Lederer

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

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.

The effect of strategic alignment on the use of IS-based resources for competitive advantage.

Abstract Persuasive evidence has described the strategic use of information resources in organizations. As a result, IS researchers have sought empirically to link that use to improved organizational performance. However, this alignment-performance relationship has been difficult to confirm. The current study contributes by distinguishing the alignment of the information systems plan with the business plan (ISP–BP) and the reciprocal alignment (BP–ISP). The study used 107 matched pairs of IS executives and other senior executives. Analysis showed that for IS executives both ISP–BP and BP–ISP alignment predicted the use of IS-based resources for competitive advantage. However, for other senior executives, only ISP–BP alignment predicted it. Study results suggest both groups of subjects share an understanding of the role of ISP–BP in creating competitive advantage from their information systems investments. However, the lack of a shared understanding of BP–ISP alignment may prevent organizations from achieving that advantage.

Toward a theory of strategic information systems planning

Abstract Strategic information systems planning is the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals. Carrying it out is a critical challenge for many information systems and business executives. Despite its importance to them, the absence of a theory of strategic information systems planning impedes research in the area. An input-process-output model provides the initial basis for such a theory. Constructs in the final version of a theory are: (1) the external environment, (2) the internal environment, (3) planning resources, (4) the planning process, (5) the information plan, (6) the implementation of the information plan, and (7) the alignment of the information plan with the organizations business plan. The constructs exhibit causal relationships among each other. Hypotheses illustrate the relationships. The theory has value for both researchers and practitioners.

Key prescriptions for strategic information systems planning

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) has been defined as the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals. SISP is an important activity for helping information executives and top management identify strategic applications and align IT with business needs. Previous researchers and practitioner observers have identified measures of successful SISP and have recommended many prescriptions for achieving success.In this research, the SISP experiences of 105 planners contribute a new perspective on these prescriptions and the success of SISP. Planners extensively follow the prescriptions that promote the efficient management of the SISP study. Although they also extensively follow those prescriptions that lead to their own greater satisfaction, they do not so rigorously follow those that meet SISP objectives. However, the fit between information technology capabilities and the needs of the organization is important to them. Furthermore, plan implementation remains critical to meeting SISP objectives.Combined, these generalizations suggest the central contribution of this research-planners paradox: The planner must complete the SISP study rapidly to facilitate its implementation but in doing so risks compromising its fit to the organization and therefore reduces its chances of implementation. The planner must thus plan rapidly enough to produce the plan quickly but carefully enough to produce a relevant one.

Coordination of information systems plans with business plans

Abstract:Recent research has shown that the challenge of coordinating information systems plans with business plans impedes effective information systems planning. Interviews with twenty top information systems executives employed by medium to large organizations in diverse industries revealed four general reasons for the difficulty of this coordination. The interviews also uncovered four general actions that the executives take to attempt to meet the challenge. The results suggest that the presence of a top management mandate for coordinating the plans distinguishes IS executives who did not report the difficulty from IS executives who did.

The impact of industry contextual factors on IT focus and the use of IT for competitive advantage

Only limited empirical evidence has confirmed the effectiveness of strategic information systems planning (SISP)and there is no evidence that investment in mission-critical systems leads to improved performance under conditions of environmental uncertainty and information intensity. This study tests the extent to which such contextual factors impact business dependence on IT and two SISP practices: IT participation in business planning and the alignment between the IT and the business plans. It also examines the influence of IT dependence and SISP on the use of IT for competitive advantage. Using structural equation modeling on postal survey data from 161 firms, it found a positive and significant impact of the contextual factors on business dependence on IT and the two SISP practices and between these factors and the use of IT for competitive advantage. Data also revealed significant differences between industry types and environmental uncertainty but not information intensity. Implications are discussed.

A meta-analysis of the role of environmentbased voluntariness in information technology acceptance

The technology acceptance model (TAM) asserts that ease of use and usefulness are two primary determinants of behavioral intention and usage. A parallel research stream emphasizes voluntariness, a key social influence and contextual variable, as a critical factor in information technology (IT) adoption, but pays little attention to its role in TAM. This paper addresses this particular absence by investigating the impact of environment-based voluntariness on the relationships among the four primary TAM constructs. A meta-analysis of 71 empirical studies provides strong support for the hypotheses that environment-based voluntariness moderates the effects of ease of use and usefulness on behavioral intention, but not the effect of ease of use on usefulness. Moreover, inconsistent with our expectations, environment-based voluntariness does not moderate the effects of ease of use and usefulness on usage. By further analyzing the data set, we suggest this may be because of the relatively small sample size, the presence of other factors, or the inappropriate measurement of usage in previous studies. The current study contributes not only to the distinction between user-based and environment-based voluntariness but also to a more complete understanding of user acceptance of IT across system-use environments.

The impact of organizational commitment, senior management involvement, and team involvement on strategic information systems planning

Organizational commitment, senior management involvement, and team involvement are typically expected to have a positive impact on the achievement of strategic information systems planning (SISP) objectives. That is, more commitment and involvement should produce greater success. However, they might also have a quadratic impact, specifically an inverted-U relationship such that after they reach an optimum, the achievement of the objectives diminishes.A postal survey about planning practices and objectives produced usable data from 105 corporate information systems planners. Senior management involvement predicted the achievement of the objectives in a positive manner whereas organizational commitment predicted it in an inverted-U relationship. Future research should look more closely at these relationships. Planners should be more aware of the possibly detrimental effects of excessive planning.

The effectiveness of strategic information systems planning under environmental uncertainty

Researchers have suggested that more extensive strategic information systems planning (SISP) in an uncertain environment produces greater planning success. Managers must decide whether, and if so when, to perform such SISP. Our study tested the effect of SISP phases on planning success in more and less uncertain environments.A questionnaire assessed SISP in terms of strategic awareness, situation analysis, strategy conception, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation planning phases. It inquired about environmental uncertainty as dynamism, heterogeneity, and hostility. Finally, it measured SISP success as a composite of alignment, analysis, cooperation, and capabilities. One hundred and sixty-one IS executives provided data in a postal survey.More extensive strategy formulation uniformly predicted successful planning in more uncertain environments, whereas strategic awareness generally predicted it in less uncertain ones. Strategy conception predicted it in neither more nor less uncertain environments. More extensive planning is thus not uniformly successful in either environment but depends on the nature of the uncertainty.

Information resource planning: overcoming difficulties in identifying top management's objectives

Twenty information resource managers employed by medium to large organizations in diverse industries were interviewed to discover their difficulties in learning top managements objectives and their techniques for overcoming these difficulties. The thirteen difficulties can be viewed as strategic formulation or strategy communication problems. The sixteen techniques can likewise be viewed as facilitating strategy formulation or strategy communication. The research revealed that participants in strategy formulation have no problem understanding top managements objectives while information resource managers who do not participate in strategy formulation do experience that problem.