Date
2005
Dewey
Direction d'entreprises
Sujet
Organizational performance; Co-variation approach; Structural equation modeling; Strategic alignment
JEL code
M10
Conference name
38th Hawaii International Conference in Information Systems
Conference date
01-2005
Conference city
Hawai
Conference country
États-Unis
Author
Kalika, Michel
Kefi, Hajer
Type
Communication / Conférence
Abstract (EN)
The globalization of business reflects the view that
most companies have to compete in a borderless
environment. Challenges and opportunities are
tremendous especially in the European Community,
where profound changes have been experienced
(common currency, restructuring of Eastern
Europe, etc.). The European companies have to
compete in an increasingly competitive global
market. They have to undergo the continuous
threats of new entrants and substitute products and
the strengthening bargaining power of all their
business partners, within or beyond the European
frontiers (Kalika, et al., 2003).
In this context, the achievement of sustainable
competitive advantage requires dramatic business
process changes, moving toward more flexible and
agile structures. Strategic alliances and partnering
can support and enable these transformations, via
joint ventures, knowledge exchange, outsourcing,
etc. Such arrangements can help companies (the
small ones, as well as the giants) to target customers
once beyond their grasp.Historically, the role of IT in the organization has
evolved. It has been treated for a long time as a
“cost center” or an expense rather than a strategic
weapon (Alter, 1995). Since the 1980’s, this role
has been recognized as “strategic” (Porter and
Millar, 1985). It has been considered as an enabler
to achieve competitive advantage. For some 20
years now, the assumption that technology based
information systems (IS/IT) provide a crucial support
to operational and strategic business processes
has been widely accepted (Luftman, 1996;
Ward and Griffiths, 1997). However, empirical
evidence that provides a good correlation between
IS/IT alignment with business strategy and organizational
performance is still needed. As stated by
Sabherwal and Chan (2001): “empirical research
on the performance implications of this alignment
has been sparse and fragmented”.