Contingent dynamics of IS strategic alignment in small and medium-sized enterprises

Purpose – This paper seeks to understand how strategic information systems (IS) alignment takes place in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a qualitative and quantitative analysis of data from 27 cases.Findings – A contingent model allows re‐interpretation of earlier findings that appear to be inconsistent. First, benefit realisation depends on alignment between IS and business strategies. Second, IS investment is frequently limited to supporting operations and transactions. Third, organizations with more sophisticated IS tend to perform less successfully than those with less complex systems, the greatest alignment and highest performance are reported for systems to improve efficiency, and organizations that adopt a low‐cost approach are unlikely to use IS strategically.Research limitations/implications – The paper extends understanding of the contingent nature of SMEs' investment in, and use of, IS, and of the effect of market position on IS manageme...

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

[2]  Shoshana Zuboff.  In the Age of the Smart Machine , 1988 .

[3]  Nigel J. Lockett,et al.  Title: the Potential of Critical E-applications for Engaging Smes in E Business: a Provider Perspective the Potential of Critical E-applications for Engaging Smes in E-business: a Provider Perspective , 2022 .

[4]  Philip Yetton,et al.  Strategic Payoff from EDI as a Function of EDI Embeddedness , 2000, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[5]  L. Raymond,et al.  FIT IN STRATEGIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARISON OF PERSPECTIVES , 2001 .

[6]  Kenneth L. Kraemer,et al.  Executives’ Perceptions of the Business Value of Information Technology: A Process-Oriented Approach , 2000, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[7]  François Bergeron,et al.  An information technology trilogy: business strategy, technological deployment and organizational performance , 2001, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[8]  G. Premkumar,et al.  Adoption of new information technologies in rural small businesses , 1999 .

[9]  Philip Yetton,et al.  Moderating effect of EDI embeddedness on time-based strategic capabilities , 1998, ECIS.

[10]  S. Foong.  Effect of End-User Personal and Systems Attributes on Computer-Based Information System Success in Malaysian SMEs , 1999 .

[11]  Dusan Lesjak,et al.  Small Slovene Firms and (Strategic) Information Technology Usage , 2000, ECIS.

[12]  Richard J. Ormerod,et al.  A new perspective on the dynamics of information technology‐enabled strategic change , 1998, Inf. Syst. J..

[13]  M. Hashmi,et al.  Strategic Initiatives for Introducing CIM Technologies in Irish SME’s , 1990 .

[14]  Philip Powell,et al.  Assessing the value of information systems planning at Heath Springs , 1997 .

[15]  Philip Yetton,et al.  Computer-aided architects: A case study of IT and strategic change , 1994 .

[16]  Sue Holwell,et al.  Information, Systems and Information Systems: Making Sense of the Field , 1998 .

[17]  Husnayati Hussin,et al.  IT Alignment and Organisational Performance in Small Firms , 2000, ECIS.

[18]  Jose L. Salmeron,et al.  An information technologies and information systems industry-based classification in small and medium-sized enterprises: An institutional view , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[19]  R. E. Maes,et al.  Redefining business: IT alignment through a unified framework , 2000 .

[20]  P. Yetton,et al.  The Dynamics of SME Information Systems , 2002 .

[21]  Husnayati Hussin,et al.  IT alignment and firm performance in small manufacturing firms , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[22]  P. Powell,et al.  SME Flexibility and the Role of Information Systems , 1998 .

[23]  SabherwalRajiv,et al.  Alignment Between Business and IS Strategies , 2001 .

[24]  Nigel Martin,et al.  Enterprise architectures: enablers of business strategy and IS/IT alignment in government , 2007, Inf. Technol. People.

[25]  J. B. Naylor,et al.  The successful use of IT in SMEs on Merseyside , 1994 .

[26]  Rajiv Sabherwal,et al.  Alignment Between Business and IS Strategies: A Study of Prospectors, Analyzers, and Defenders , 2001, Inf. Syst. Res..

[27]  Leiser Silva,et al.  Interpreting IS alignment: A multiple case study in professional organizations , 2007, Inf. Organ..

[28]  Michael Kyobe,et al.  The influence of strategy-making types on IT alignment in SMEs , 2008, J. Syst. Inf. Technol..

[29]  M. Hay,et al.  Small Firm Growth: Intentions, Implementation and Impediments , 1994 .

[30]  Philip Powell,et al.  SMEs, co-opetition and knowledge sharing: the role of information systems , 2003, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[31]  Tomasz Smaczny.  Is an alignment between business and information technology the appropriate paradigm to manage IT in today’s organisations? , 2001 .

[32]  Paul Burns,et al.  Entrepreneurship and Small Business , 2002 .

[33]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[34]  Margi Levy,et al.  Information systems strategy for small and medium sized enterprises: an organisational perspective , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[35]  Angeliki Poulymenakou,et al.  The relationship between information and communication technologies adoption and management , 2002, Inf. Manag..

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

[37]  Jason Bennett Thatcher,et al.  Antecedents and outcomes of strategic IS alignment: an empirical investigation , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[38]  Paul P. Tallon.  A Process-Oriented Perspective on the Alignment of Information Technology and Business Strategy , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[39]  Husnayati Hussin,et al.  IT alignment in small firms , 2002, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[40]  Darren B. Meister,et al.  Small Business Growth and Internal Transparency: The Role of Information Systems , 2004, MIS Q..

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

[42]  Louis Raymond,et al.  Enabling the business strategy of SMEs through e-business capabilities: A strategic alignment perspective , 2008, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[43]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.