Title: The evolution of the business-IT strategic alignment process: key insights and emergent views from a 40-year period (1975-2014)

Authors: Manuel Mora; Fen Wang; Mahesh S. Raisinghani; Ovsei Gelman-Muravchik

Addresses: Information Systems Department, Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Ave. Universidad 904, Aguascalientes, Ags. 20131, Mexico ' Information Technology and Administrative Management Department, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA ' School of Management, Texas Woman's University, 304 Administration Dr, Denton, TX 76204, USA ' CCADET, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Coyacán, Universitaria, 04510, D.F, México

Abstract: The process of business-information technology strategic alignment (BITSA) has been consistently ranked as a top priority by chief information officers (CIOs) and extensively studied for over three decades. Constructs on the BITSA process, frameworks for understanding its main components, models for predicting its successful occurrence, and methods for guiding toward a successful BITSA process have been reported. However, the BITSA literature appears as contrasted and fragmented for researchers, and copious and ambiguous for CIOs. Thus, in this paper we conduct a selective yet intensive literature review on the BITSA process with the aim to provide a summary of core concepts, an evolution model, and an account of theoretical and practical implications. Through this literature review, a four-stage evolution model of BITSA emerges and an updated view of the BITSA process as a complex adaptive system is supported.

Keywords: business-IT strategic alignment; IT strategy; business strategy; IT strategic planning; complex adaptive systems; CAS; Chief Information Officer; CIO; information technology; literature review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2017.083279

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2017 Vol.25 No.1, pp.118 - 143

Received: 10 Oct 2015
Accepted: 25 Oct 2015

Published online: 23 Mar 2017 *

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