ICT Strategy in an ICT User Perspective: Exploring Alignment between ICT Users and Managers

Introduction Although researchers have given a lot of attention to information and communication technology (ICT) strategy (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993, 1999; Reich & Benbasat, 2000), they have mainly focused on the managerial perspectives, which leaves unanswered questions concerning 1) the ICT strategy's consequence for the users, 2) users' ability to do ICT strategic considerations, 3) user involvement in ICT strategy processes and 4) users' actions influence on ICT strategy quality. This study adds to the body of knowledge by exploring the relevance of alignment between ICT users and managers responsible for the ICT strategy and project processes. Well formulated ICT strategies make it possible to identify and define the right ICT projects, however defining the right projects do not imply that the projects will be successful. Studies suggests there are several reasons for ICT project failure (Aladwani, 2002; Oz & Sosik, 2000). Research that contributes to identify factors to improve ICT strategy and project processes can have normative as well as economic implications for organizations. This study aims to make a contribution to this research domain, and hence to have normative as well as academic implications. Alignment research is usually conducted at an organizational analytical level, but this study explores alignment between individuals and including both organizational and individual perspectives. Many modern organizations consist of employees with high competence and expertise within their area, and exploiting this expertise should be of interest for most organizations. Although ICT strategy literature often addresses the issue of user participation, especially in defining system specifications, the role of users' in ICT strategy processes remains ambiguous. It is unlikely that this issue holds one solution; however, it is likely that some general principles may be developed. Organizations striving to improve the ICT strategy creation and implementation processes will find this research relevant. Prior alignment research holds the notion that a firm's ICT strategy should be aligned with its other strategies. Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) developed the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM), which describes different approaches to alignment between business and ICT strategies. Broadbent and Weill (1993) investigated organizational change in the banking industry to improve alignment between information and firm strategies, and Grover and Malhotra (1999) link information systems to manufacturing operations. Sabherwal and Chan (2001) study the impact alignment between business and IT strategy has on firm performance. Although these and other studies have contributed to increased understanding of the various components of alignment between ICT and business strategies, they have had a macro focus; alignment in regards to structure of the ICT organization, information systems, ICT architecture or overall ICT strategy. As far as this author knows, there are few studies that have examined alignment between individuals or groups of individuals in organizational issues. Cross-level analysis is rarely conducted between the organizational and individual level in ICT research. However, we must investigate and develop knowledge about how organizational and individual factors interrelate and influence each other to better understand the processes concerning ICTs in organizations. Reich and Benbasat (2000) investigated the social dimension of strategic alignment, and their results indicate that the individual level should be included when studying ICT strategic phenomena. Including the ICT user perspective in this research domain will strengthen our knowledge on the mechanisms that gives better use if ICTs as well as identifying factors leading to alignment between ICT users and ICT managers. Especially interesting is the linkage between ICT strategy, ICT projects and ICT use, as it is a prerequisite that the technologies and information systems organizations try to implement are used in a proper way. …