Antecedent Relationships in Business and Information Technology (IT) Alignment

Abstract

The literature suggests that the solution to business and IT alignment may lie in the antecedents of alignment. This study attempts to establish the role, mode of operation and sourcing option of the IT department as antecedents to alignment and show how they are related to one another. A survey was deployed within a case organization to demonstrate the measurement, analysis and interpretation of the alignment antecedents and the plausibility of the IT department being in an anomalous state with respect to alignment. The main contribution of this research is to create awareness of the antecedent variables of alignment by defining them, showing the relationships between them, and showing how they can be measured. Finally, the research aims to propose a framework to analyse the current role-mode state and sourcing options of an IT department and to use this information to determine the viable strategic options for an IT department.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p391