Human resource management and its impact on strategic business-IT alignment: A literature review and avenues for future research

Abstract From an information systems perspective, organizations striving to leverage a strategic alignment between Information Technology (IT) and business areas often underestimate the role of human resource management in creating business value. This literature review analyzes 71 scholarly articles to assess the role of human resource management in supporting the strategic alignment between business and IT. We identify the organizational role of individual human resources in strategic alignment, their contribution to more effective strategic alignment, and how human resource management supports such contribution. Based on these insights, we formulate propositions and identify avenues for future research.

[1]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  How Information Technology Governance Mechanisms and Strategic Alignment Influence Organizational Performance: Insights from a Matched Survey of Business and IT Managers , 2015, MIS Q..

[2]  Rajiv Sabherwal,et al.  Strategic Alignment Between Business and Information Technology: A Knowledge-Based View of Behaviors, Outcome, and Consequences , 2006, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Daniel Beimborn,et al.  Achieving social alignment between business and IT – an empirical evaluation of the efficacy of IT governance mechanisms , 2015, J. Inf. Technol..

[4]  S. Jackson,et al.  An Aspirational Framework for Strategic Human Resource Management , 2014 .

[5]  Elena Karahanna,et al.  The Effect of Social Capital of the Relationship Between the CIO and Top Management Team on Firm Performance , 2013, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[6]  Jason Bennett Thatcher,et al.  Alignment's nomological network: Theory and evaluation , 2016, Inf. Manag..

[7]  Lesley Willcoxson,et al.  Progress in the IT/business relationship: a longitudinal assessment , 2004, J. Inf. Technol..

[8]  Carol V. Brown,et al.  Reconceptualizing the Context-Design Issue for the Information Systems Function , 1998 .

[9]  Dennis F. Galletta,et al.  Evaluating Journal Quality and the Association for Information Systems Senior Scholars' Journal Basket Via Bibliometric Measures: Do Expert Journal Assessments Add Value? , 2013, MIS Q..

[10]  Gerald C. Kane,et al.  Centrality-IS Proficiency Alignment and Workgroup Performancw , 2011, MIS Q..

[11]  Michael Armstrong,et al.  Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice , 2020 .

[12]  Armin Heinzl,et al.  Achieving IT‐based synergies through regulation‐oriented and consensus‐oriented IT governance capabilities , 2018, Inf. Syst. J..

[13]  Ann Brown.  Getting value from an integrated IS strategy , 1993, ECIS.

[14]  Kenneth L. Kraemer,et al.  Review: Information Technology and Organizational Performance: An Integrative Model of IT Business Value , 2004, MIS Q..

[15]  Jason Bennett Thatcher,et al.  Looking Toward the Future of IT-Business Strategic Alignment through the Past: A Meta-Analysis , 2014, MIS Q..

[16]  Peter Weill,et al.  alignment: Learning , 2022 .

[17]  Tim Weitzel,et al.  How to Achieve Operational Business-IT Alignment: Insights from a Global Aerospace Firm , 2012, MIS Q. Executive.

[18]  Daniel Robey,et al.  Strategic Alignment and Misalignment of Knowledge Management Systems: A Social Representation Perspective , 2013, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[19]  Abby Ghobadian,et al.  e-Leadership through strategic alignment: an empirical study of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the digital age , 2016, J. Inf. Technol..

[20]  Shan Ling Pan,et al.  Examining the Strategic Alignment and Implementation Success of a KMS: A Subculture-Based Multilevel Analysis , 2011, Inf. Syst. Res..

[21]  Fred Niederman,et al.  Integrating the IS functions after mergers and acquisitions: Analyzing business-IT alignment , 2014, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[22]  Soon Ang,et al.  Work Outcomes and Job Design for Contract Versus Permanent Information Systems Professionals on Software Development Teams , 2001, MIS Q..

[23]  Carol V. Brown,et al.  Alignment of the IS Functions With the Enterprise: Toward a Model of Antecedents , 1994, MIS Q..

[24]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  The Influence of Business Managers' IT Competence on Championing IT , 2003, Inf. Syst. Res..

[25]  Hind Benbya,et al.  Using coevolutionary and complexity theories to improve IS alignment: a multi-level approach , 2006, J. Inf. Technol..

[26]  Raymond A. Noe,et al.  Fundamentals of Human Resource Management , 2005 .

[27]  Walter Baets,et al.  Aligning information systems with business strategy , 1992, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[28]  Paul Benjamin Lowry,et al.  Global Journal Prestige and Supporting Disciplines: A Scientometric Study of Information Systems Journals , 2004, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[29]  Blaize Horner Reich,et al.  Creating social and intellectual capital through IT career transitions , 2003, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[30]  Monique Snoeck,et al.  Inferring comprehensible business/ICT alignment rules , 2009, Inf. Manag..

[31]  Eileen M. Trauth,et al.  Critical Skills and Knowledge Requirements of IS Professionals: A Joint Academic/Industry Investigation , 1995, MIS Q..

[32]  Jennifer A. Chatman,et al.  Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy , 2005 .

[33]  Anne D. O'Connor,et al.  Successful strategic information systems planning , 1993, Inf. Syst. J..

[34]  Elena Karahanna,et al.  How to Develop a Shared Vision: The Key to IS Strategic Alignment , 2009, MIS Q. Executive.

[35]  Elfi Furtmueller,et al.  Using grounded theory as a method for rigorously reviewing literature , 2013, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[36]  Ernest Jordan,et al.  Information strategy and organization structure , 1994, Inf. Syst. J..

[37]  Jerry N. Luftman,et al.  Transforming the Enterprise: The Alignment of Business and Information Technology Strategies , 1993, IBM Syst. J..

[38]  Blaize Horner Reich,et al.  IT alignment: what have we learned? , 2007, J. Inf. Technol..

[39]  Jerry N. Luftman,et al.  An Update on Business-IT Alignment: "A Line" Has Been Drawn , 2007, MIS Q. Executive.

[40]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Key Issues in Information Systems Management: An International Perspective , 1997, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[41]  Philip Yetton,et al.  Integrating information technology divisions in a bank merger Fit, compatibility and models of change , 1996, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[42]  Lior Fink,et al.  Exploring the perceived business value of the flexibility enabled by information technology infrastructure , 2009, Inf. Manag..

[43]  Kevin G. Corley,et al.  Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research , 2013 .

[44]  Rennie Naidoo,et al.  A communicative-tension model of change-induced collective voluntary turnover in IT , 2016, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[45]  David Boddy,et al.  Maintaining alignment over the long-term: lessons from the evolution of an electronic point of sale system , 2005, J. Inf. Technol..

[46]  Isabelle Walsh,et al.  Is SAM still alive? A bibliometric and interpretive mapping of the strategic alignment research field , 2016, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[47]  John C. Henderson,et al.  Strategic Alignment: Leveraging Information Technology for Transforming Organizations , 1999, IBM Syst. J..

[48]  Nancy Bogucki Duncan,et al.  Capturing Flexibility of Information Technology Infrastructure: A Study of Resource Characteristics and their Measure , 1995, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[49]  Paul H. J. Hendriks,et al.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , 2006 .

[50]  Zhongsheng Hua,et al.  Understanding employee competence, operational IS alignment, and organizational agility - An ambidexterity perspective , 2018, Inf. Manag..

[51]  R. Kaplan,et al.  Measuring the strategic readiness of intangible assets. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[52]  Michael Milovich.  Keeping Up with IT Strategy in a World of Constant Business Change , 2015, MIS Q. Executive.

[53]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  An extended platform logic perspective of IT governance: managing perceptions and activities of IT , 2003, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[54]  Alexander Benlian,et al.  Effect Mechanisms of Perceptual Congruence Between Information Systems Professionals and Users on Satisfaction with Service , 2013, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[55]  David E. Avison,et al.  Using and validating the strategic alignment model , 2004, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[56]  Carol V. Brown.  Examining the Emergence of Hybrid IS Governance Solutions: Evidence From a Single Case Site , 1997, Inf. Syst. Res..

[57]  Alain Yee-Loong Chong,et al.  A two-stage analysis of the influences of employee alignment on effecting business-IT alignment , 2012, Decis. Support Syst..

[58]  Jason Bennett Thatcher,et al.  Six types of IT-business strategic alignment: an investigation of the constructs and their measurement , 2015, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[59]  Elena Karahanna,et al.  Antecedents of IS Strategic Alignment: A Nomological Network , 2009, Inf. Syst. Res..

[60]  Lakshmi S. Iyer,et al.  An Ideology of IT Occupational Culture: The ASPIRE Values , 2018, DATB.

[61]  Jasbir Singh Dhaliwal,et al.  Alignment within the corporate IT unit: an analysis of software testing and development , 2011, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[62]  Leida Chen,et al.  Business-IT alignment maturity of companies in China , 2010, Inf. Manag..

[63]  Carol Saunders,et al.  Making an Impact in a Publish-or-Perish World , 2017, ECIS.

[64]  J. Rockart,et al.  EIGHT IMPERATIVES FOR THE NEW IT ORGANIZATION , 1996 .

[65]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Measuring the Linkage Between Business and Information Technology Objectives , 1996, MIS Q..

[66]  C. Francalanci,et al.  Aligning IT investments and workforce composition: the impact of diversification in life insurance companies , 1998 .

[67]  L. V. Dyne,et al.  Helping and Voice Extra-Role Behaviors: Evidence of Construct and Predictive Validity , 1998 .

[68]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Business Competence of Information Technology Professionals: Conceptual Development and Influence on IT-Business Partnerships , 2004, MIS Q..

[69]  GroverVarun,et al.  Alignment's nomological network , 2016 .

[70]  Yajiong Xue,et al.  Unraveling the Alignment Paradox: How Does Business - IT Alignment Shape Organizational Agility? , 2017, Inf. Syst. Res..

[71]  Jerry N. Luftman,et al.  Achieving and Sustaining Business-IT Alignment , 1999 .

[72]  Guy Paré,et al.  Toward a New Theory of the Contribution of the IT Function in Organizations , 2012, MIS Q..

[73]  Sven Laumer,et al.  On the Untapped Value of e-HRM: A Literature Review , 2016, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[74]  Jeff Baker,et al.  Strategic Alignment in SMEs: Strengthening Theoretical Foundations , 2017, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[75]  Sinan Aral,et al.  I.T. Assets, Organizational Capabilities and Firm Performance: Do Resource Allocations and Organizational Differences Explain Performance Variation? , 2007 .

[76]  Philip Powell,et al.  SMEs: aligning IS and the strategic context , 2001, J. Inf. Technol..

[77]  Carl Stephen Guynes,et al.  Information Technology Alignment Planning - a case study , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[78]  T. C. Powell,et al.  Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of human , 1997 .

[79]  Daniel Beimborn,et al.  How Social Capital Among Information Technology and Business Units Drives Operational Alignment and IT Business Value , 2014, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[80]  Janis R. Evink.  Human Resource Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results , 1997 .

[81]  Mikko Valorinta,et al.  IT alignment and the boundaries of the IT function , 2011, J. Inf. Technol..

[82]  Qing Hu,et al.  The impact of IT-business strategic alignment on firm performance in a developing country setting: exploring moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and strategic orientation , 2012, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[83]  Yolande E. Chan.  Why Haven't We Mastered Alignment? The Importance of the Informal Organization Structure , 2002, MIS Q. Executive.

[84]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Factors That Influence the Social Dimension of Alignment Between Business and Information Technology Objectives , 2000, MIS Q..

[85]  John M. Ward,et al.  Beyond strategic information systems: towards an IS capability , 2004, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[86]  John R. Beaumont,et al.  Information management in service industries: towards a strategic framework , 1991, Inf. Syst. J..

[87]  L. Willcocks,et al.  Core IS Capabilities for Exploiting Information Technology , 1998 .

[88]  Carol V. Brown,et al.  IT Human Resource Management Configurations and IT Turnover: Theoretical Synthesis and Empirical Analysis , 2005, Inf. Syst. Res..

[89]  Leon A. Kappelman,et al.  A study of information systems issues, practices, and leadership in Europe , 2018, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[90]  K. Jansen,et al.  Employee alignment with strategic change: A study of strategy-supportive behavior among blue-collar employees , 2008 .

[91]  Louis Raymond,et al.  Ideal patterns of strategic alignment and business performance , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[92]  Robert D. Galliers,et al.  Aligning in practice: from current cases to a new agenda , 2015, J. Inf. Technol..

[93]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Aligning the IT Human Resource with Business Vision: The Leadership Initiative at 3M , 2000, MIS Q..

[94]  R. Hirschheim,et al.  Detours in the Path toward Strategic Information Systems Alignment , 2001 .

[95]  Eric T. G. Wang,et al.  A study of IS assets, IS ambidexterity, and IS alignment: the dynamic managerial capability perspective , 2019, Inf. Manag..

[96]  Dale Goodhue,et al.  Develop Long-Term Competitiveness through IT Assets , 1996 .