Unraveling the Alignment Paradox: How Does Business—IT Alignment Shape Organizational Agility?

Huigang Liang (), Nianxin Wang (), Yajiong Xue () and Shilun Ge ()
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Huigang Liang: College of Business, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858
Nianxin Wang: School of Economics and Management, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003 Jiangsu, China
Yajiong Xue: College of Business, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858
Shilun Ge: School of Economics and Management, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003 Jiangsu, China; School of Management, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, 224051 Jiangsu, China

Information Systems Research, 2017, vol. 28, issue 4, 863-879

Abstract: Contradictory views exist regarding whether business–information technology (IT) alignment enhances or reduces organizational agility, and no consensus has been achieved. To disentangle this puzzle, this study takes both the intellectual and social dimensions of IT alignment into account and investigates how they influence agility in opposite directions through distinct mechanisms. Based on survey data from 429 dyads of business and IT executives, we uncover that intellectual alignment impedes agility by increasing organizational inertia, while social alignment facilitates agility by enhancing emergent business–IT coordination. We also find that social alignment weakens the effect of intellectual alignment on organizational inertia. This paper fills a gap in the information systems (IS) literature by providing a theory-driven explanation of the alignment paradox, which makes a significant contribution to both IS research and practice.

Keywords: business value of IT; questionnaire surveys; strategic management of IT; inertia; emergent coordination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:28:y:2017:i:4:p:863-879

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