Ideal patterns of strategic alignment and business performance

  • Authors:

  • François Bergeron;Louis Raymond;Suzanne Rivard

  • Affiliations:

  • Département des systèmes d'information organisationnels, Faculté des sciences de l'administration, Université Laval, Québec, Que, Canada, G1K 7P4;Département des sciences de la gestion, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Que, Canada;Département des technologies de l'information, HEC-Montréal, Côte Ste-Catherine, Montréal, Que, Canada

  • Venue:
  • Information and Management
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

Strategic alignment or "fit" is a notion that is deemed crucial in understanding how organizations can translate their deployment of information technology (IT) into actual increases in performance. While previous theoretical and methodological works have provided foundations for identifying the dimensions and performance impacts of the strategic alignment between IT, strategy, and structure, few attempts have been made to test the proposed theory empirically and operationalize fit systemically. Based on a gestalt perspective of fit and theory-based ideal coalignment patterns, an operational model of strategic alignment is proposed and empirically validated through a mail survey of 110 small firms. Using cluster analysis, it was found that low-performance firms exhibited a conflictual coalignment pattern of business strategy, business structure, IT strategy, and IT structure that distinguished them from other firms.