Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations
Abstract
We have been asked on numerous occasions: “Which alignment perspective is the best?” As researchers and observers of strategic management phenomena, we do not believe that there is one universally superior mode to formulate and implement strategy. If there were, it would not be strategic because all firms would adopt it. The four dominant alignment perspectives that use the two strategies as the driver are equally useful and powerful in thinking about the role of I/T in organizational transformation. Indeed, we urge managers not to consider I/T as a panacea and consequently focus only on those two perspectives with I/T strategy as the starting point (namely, competitive potential and service level). Nor do we want to argue that business strategy should always be the starting point and adopt only the other two perspectives on strategic alignment. The potential for I/T impact is so varied and complex that the executive must consider these perspectives as alternative conceptual lenses and be prepared to continuously make adaptations.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Strategic alignment ensures that key principles like Equity and Sustainability are treated as core business objectives rather than secondary concerns.
“This strategic alignment ensures that key principles like Equity and Sustainability are treated as core business objectives rather than secondary concerns, a concept central to leveraging technology for organizational transformation [82].”
From Addressing Challenges for the Effective Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Sector (2025) · cites this paper as [82]
Cites
Measurement of Business Performance in Strategy Research: A Comparison of Approaches
Venkatraman, N., & Ramanujam, V. (1986) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/258398 · Cited by 3,503 · see citing works
A framework for information systems architecture
Zachman, J. A. (1987) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.263.0276 · Cited by 3,232 · see citing works
Chief executives define their own data needs.
Rockart, J. F. (1979) · PubMed · Cited by 2,830 · see citing works
Information Technology and Organizational Change: Causal Structure in Theory and Research
Markus, M. L., & Robey, D. (1988) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.34.5.583 · Cited by 2,108 · see citing works
The information system as a competitive weapon
Ives, B., & Learmonth, G. P. (1984) · Communications of the ACM · doi:10.1145/2135.2137 · Cited by 897 · see citing works
Social Analyses of Computing: Theoretical Perspectives in Recent Empirical Research
Kling, R. (1980) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/356802.356806 · Cited by 775 · see citing works
Exploring the Concept of “Fit” in Strategic Management
Venkatraman, N. V., & Camillus, J. C. (1984) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1984.4279696 · Cited by 599 · see citing works
Transforming the enterprise: The alignment of business and information technology strategies
Luftman, J. N., Lewis, P. R., & Oldach, S. (1993) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.321.0198 · Cited by 584 · see citing works
The Strategy Concept and Process: A Pragmatic Approach
Hax, A. C., & Majluf, N. S. (1991) · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Strategic Planning for Management Information Systems
King, W. R. (1978) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/249104 · Cited by 476 · see citing works
Information Economics: Linking Business Performance to Information Technology
Parker, M. M., Benson, R. J., & Trainor, H. E. (1988) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 454 · see citing works
In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power
Zuboff, S. (1989) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2073307 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Information Technology Planning in the 1990’s: Directions for Practice and Research
Boynton, A. C., & Zmud, R. W. (1987) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/248826 · Cited by 369 · see citing works
Services under siege--the restructuring imperative.
Roach, S. S. (1991) · PubMed · Cited by 349 · see citing works
Strategic Management: An Integrative Perspective
Hax, A. C., & Majluf, N. S. (1984) · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Improving business and information strategy alignment: Learning from the banking industry
Broadbent, M., & Weill, P. (1993) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.321.0162 · Cited by 309 · see citing works
Linking the MIS Plan with Corporate Strategy: An Exploratory Study
Pyburn, P. J. (1983) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/248909 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Information partnerships--shared data, shared scale.
Konsynski, B. R., & McFarlan, F. W. (1990) · PubMed · Cited by 281 · see citing works
Peters, M. H., McLean, E. R., & Soden, J. V. (1978) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/257596 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Information technology and the management difference: A fusion map
Keen, P. G. W. (1993) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.321.0017 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Strategic control in the extended enterprise
Konsynski, B. R. (1993) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.321.0111 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
New competitive strategies: Challenges to organizations and information technology
Boynton, A. C., Victor, B. I., & Pine, B. J. (1993) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.321.0040 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
The Value Added of Strategic Is Planning: Understanding Consistency, Validity, and Is Markets
Henderson, J. C., & Sifonis, J. G. (2011) · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Self-citationBeyond re-engineering: The three phases of business transformation
Davidson, W. H. (1999) · IBM Systems Journal · doi:10.1147/sj.1999.5387091 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Service Support Levels: An Organized Approach to End-User Computing
Leitheiser, R. L., & Wetherbe, J. C. (1986) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/249187 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
The information economy: A new perspective for effective information systems management
Zmud, R. W., Boynton, A. C., & Jacobs, G. C. (1986) · ACM SIGMIS Database the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems · doi:10.1145/20724.20726 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Alloway, R. M., & Quillard, J. A. (1983) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/248911 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Integrating Management Support Systems into Strategic Information Systems Planning
Henderson, J. C., Rockart, J. F., & Sifonis, J. G. (1987) · Journal of Management Information Systems · doi:10.1080/07421222.1987.11517783 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bharadwaj, A. S. (2000) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3250983 · Cited by 5,042 · see citing works
Digital Business Strategy: Toward a Next Generation of Insights
Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O. A., Pavlou, P. A., & Venkatraman, N. (2013) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.25300/misq/2013/37:2.3 · Cited by 4,392 · see citing works
Wade, M., & Hulland, J. (2004) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.2307/25148626 · Cited by 2,822 · see citing works
Wamba-Taguimdje, S.-L., Fosso Wamba, S., Kala Kamdjoug, J. R., & Tchatchouang Wanko, C. E. (2020) · Business Process Management Journal · doi:10.1108/bpmj-10-2019-0411 · Cited by 1,280 · see citing works
Big data analytics capabilities: A systematic literature review and research agenda
Mikalef, P., Pappas, I. O., Krogstie, J., & Giannakos, M. (2018) · Information Systems and e-Business Management · doi:10.1007/s10257-017-0362-y · Cited by 888 · see citing works
Borges, A. F. S., Laurindo, F. J. B., Spínola, M. M., Gonçalves, R. F., & Mattos, C. A. (2021) · International Journal of Information Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102225 · Cited by 760 · see citing works
A Taxonomy of Evaluation Methods for Information Systems Artifacts
Prat, N., Comyn-Wattiau, I., & Akoka, J. (2015) · Journal of Management Information Systems · doi:10.1080/07421222.2015.1099390 · Cited by 278 · see citing works
Looking Toward the Future of IT–Business Strategic Alignment Through the Past: A Meta-Analysis1
Gerow, J. E., Grover, V., Thatcher, J., & Roth, P. L. (2014) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.25300/misq/2014/38.4.10 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
Issa, A., Hatiboglu, B., Bildstein, A., & Bauernhansl, T. (2018) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.151 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Beyond the organizational ‘container’: Conceptualizing 21st century sociotechnical work
Winter, S., Berente, N., Howison, J., & Butler, B. (2014) · Information and Organization · doi:10.1016/j.infoandorg.2014.10.003 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Chatfield, A. T., & Reddick, C. G. (2018) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2017.11.002 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
The alignment of information systems with organizational objectives and strategies in health care
Bush, M., Lederer, A. L., Li, X., Palmisano, J., & Rao, S. (2009) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2009.02.004 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Process for the development of a digital strategy
Lipsmeier, A., Kühn, A., Joppen, R., & Dumitrescu, R. (2020) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2020.05.031 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Aligning IT components to achieve agility in globally distributed system development
Lee, O.-K. (., Banerjee, P., Lim, K. H., Kumar, K., Hillegersberg, J. V., & Wei, K. K. (2006) · Communications of the ACM · doi:10.1145/1164394.1164419 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
van de Wetering, R., Batenburg, R., Versendaal, J., Lederman, R., & Firth, L. (2006) · Journal of Digital Imaging · doi:10.1007/s10278-006-0628-2 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Kashan, A. J., & Mohannak, K. (2019) · Journal of Management & Organization · doi:10.1017/jmo.2017.28 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Henderson, J. C., & Venkatraman, H.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- IBM Systems Journal
- Publisher
- IBM
- Published
- 1999
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 2.3
- Pages
- 472-484
- ISSN
- 0018-8670 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2107604945
- Cited by
- 3,498
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 108 · 2020: 155 · 2019: 117 · 2018: 136 · 2017: 185 · 2016: 130 · 2015: 222 · 2014: 222 · 2013: 224 · 2012: 209
- FWCI
- 109.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- IBM Systems Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Information Technology Governance and Strategy
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Governance and Management
- Keywords
- strategic alignment, IT strategy, organizational change, business strategy, competitive potential, level of service, business-IT relationship, strategic management
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
