The information system as a competitive weapon
Communications of the ACM - Special section on management of information systems
Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology
Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology
Impact of electronic data interchange technology on JIT shipments
Management Science
Productivity and information technology: the elusive connection
Management Science
Leveraging the new infrastructure: how market leaders capitalize on information technology
Leveraging the new infrastructure: how market leaders capitalize on information technology
The substitution of information technology for other factors of production: a Firm Level Analysis
Management Science - Special issue: Frontier research on information systems and economics
The impact of information technology on coordination costs: implications for firm productivity
ICIS '97 Proceedings of the eighteenth international conference on Information systems
Information technology and economic performance: A critical review of the empirical evidence
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)
The Performance Impacts of Quick Response and Strategic Alignment in Specialty Retailing
Information Systems Research
The Dynamics of Alignment: Insights from a Punctuated Equilibrium Model
Organization Science
Alignment Between Business and IS Strategies: A Study of Prospectors, Analyzers, and Defenders
Information Systems Research
Real Options and IT Platform Adoption: Implications for Theory and Practice
Information Systems Research
The Economic Incentives for Sharing Security Information
Information Systems Research
Journal of Management Information Systems - Special section: Strategic and competitive information systems
Executives' perceptions of the business value of information technology: a process-oriented approach
Journal of Management Information Systems - Special issue: Impacts of information technology investment on organizational performance
Journal of Management Information Systems - Special issue: Impacts of information technology investment on organizational performance
Business process redesign: tactics for managing radical change
Journal of Management Information Systems - Special section: Toward a theory of business process change management
Journal of Management Information Systems
The Role of Information Systems Resources in ERP Capability Building and Business Process Outcomes
Journal of Management Information Systems
A Process-Oriented Perspective on the Alignment of Information Technology and Business Strategy
Journal of Management Information Systems
Industry Level Supplier-Driven IT Spillovers
Management Science
Antecedents of IS Strategic Alignment: A Nomological Network
Information Systems Research
Understanding the dynamics of information management costs
Communications of the ACM
Information Technology Management Practice: Impacts upon Effectiveness
Journal of Organizational and End User Computing
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The alignment of information technology (IT) and business strategy is a perennial challenge for corporate executives. While earlier studies confirm the value of alignment, there is still some question as to how alignment creates value and the level at which value is created. In this research, we use a series of theoretical arguments based on the interconnected structure of the value chain to consider the extended effects of alignment at the process level. Since processes are often linked to create a complex chain of activities, the absence or presence of alignment in any process could have implications for business performance elsewhere in the value chain. Minimally aligned processes can not only disrupt performance within the focal process, but their effects may also be felt further downstream in the form of bottlenecks and a diminution in the business value of IT. Using a simplified form of the value chain and data from matched surveys of business and IT executives at 317 U.S. and EU firms, we examine how the effects of alignment on a given process spill over into processes further downstream, creating higher IT business value in those downstream processes. We also show that these spillover effects continue along the length of the value chain and do not diminish based on distance from the focal process. Our results reinforce the call for firms to improve the fit between business and IT strategy by showing how efforts to improve alignment in a given process can deliver a stream of benefits along the value chain. This research provides a fresh perspective on the value of alignment, facilitating a deeper understanding and appreciation of the link between strategic IT alignment and firm performance.