Strategic alignment: a practitioner's perspective

Aligning information systems with organizational processes, goals and strategies is becoming increasingly important. Prior research has identified two dimensions of strategic alignment the social and intellectual. The former focuses primarily on the people involved in achieving alignment, whilsrihe latter is more likely to be associated with the investigation oj plans and planning methodologies. Until recently most research has concentrated on the intellectual dimension however the importance of the social dimension is being increasingly recognized. In most instances research is conducted on these two dimensions independently without consideration of the affect on the other. The research presented here, involving the creation of a causal-loop diagram by six senior IS/IT managers, presents a systemic view of the development of alignment within a typical organization and emphasizes the relationship between the social and intellectual dimensions. It indicates that practitioners understand that a high level of connection between IS/IT and business planning processes may be dependent on the level of integration between the IS/IT group and other sections of the organization. However, it appears that the culture oj many organizations is impeding the development of this integration.