Alignment of Information Systems ’ projects with business strategy : Evolution of thinking and practice

Despite numerous efforts to integrate business and IS strategic plans, organisations are not delivering the expected benefits from IS investment. IS alignment research has recognised that IS alignment at strategic level is not sufficient and therefore a continue process of reconciliation between strategy formulation and strategy implementation is required. Strategy implementation is realised through IS projects mainly using a traditional project management approach which again proved to be insufficient. IS projects are significantly impacted by the rapid change of technology, the organisational changes that its use produce and their complexity. Therefore, given the current literature in IS alignment, strategic management and IS project management, this research analyses the management thinking and practices when implementing IS projects. By assessing the level of alignment on five strategic IS projects in a large insurance organisation this study maps the key reasons for high or low alignment with the new principles of mind-set that managers need to cope with complex IS projects. Findings show that low levels of alignment can be overcome to produce a successful project when managers evolve their mind-set approach to IS projects.