Identify factors affecting strategic alignment of IT and business

Purpose- Due to dynamic business strategies and permanence of technologies' evolution, companies deeply need to connect IT to business, so alignment becomes more and more important every day. The present research aims at determining the effective dimensions of IT and business strategic alignment. 170 professional managers in the 8 different deputies of Isfahan municipality were identified to participate in this research. The required data is collected through stratified random sampling method using a researcher-made questionnaire with a 0.9585 Cronbach alpha coefficient. The analyses included structural equation modeling using Structural Equations Modeling applying Amos Graphics. The result reveals that four dimensions including Management and leadership, Business, Technical infrastructure and Human resources, Culture and Training have influence on the alignment between IT strategies and the business strategies in Isfahan municipality. Furthermore, it indicates that the dimension of business infrastructure with the path coefficient of 1.21 has the most influence on the strategic alignment. The limitations of this study are mostly related to the research model (which has a multitude of variables and dimensions). Further research is needed to develop the strategic alignment system in accordance with IT and organizational infrastructures. Further research is also needed to study larger and longitudinal samples in order to discover new parameters. The study identifies four main dimensions to measure and improve the degree of maturity of strategic alignment between IT and business strategies.

Keywords:

Strategic alignment , Business strategies , IT strategies