Abstract
Business-IT alignment (BITA) has been recognised as an essential but challenging endeavour for researchers and practitioners. In fact, BITA has become even more challenging when organisations articulate and implement the necessary changes—strategic, tactical and operational planning, and structural and cultural adaptations—for a successful digital transformation. To reveal BITA’s and the related factors that are important for digital transformation, a systematic literature review of studies published between the years 2016 and 2020 were conducted. The results confirm that BITA improves the value derived from IT and digital technologies, enables organisational agility, and the integration of new digital technologies. Moreover, the study has identified the organisational and managerial factors that are BITA related and are essential for digital transformation—organisational structure, organisational culture, external domain alignment, and leadership skills. Finally, the study provides a future research agenda as well as the implications for research and practice.
Paper Type
Full Paper
Business-IT Alignment and Digital Transformation: Setting a Research Agenda
Business-IT alignment (BITA) has been recognised as an essential but challenging endeavour for researchers and practitioners. In fact, BITA has become even more challenging when organisations articulate and implement the necessary changes—strategic, tactical and operational planning, and structural and cultural adaptations—for a successful digital transformation. To reveal BITA’s and the related factors that are important for digital transformation, a systematic literature review of studies published between the years 2016 and 2020 were conducted. The results confirm that BITA improves the value derived from IT and digital technologies, enables organisational agility, and the integration of new digital technologies. Moreover, the study has identified the organisational and managerial factors that are BITA related and are essential for digital transformation—organisational structure, organisational culture, external domain alignment, and leadership skills. Finally, the study provides a future research agenda as well as the implications for research and practice.
Recommended Citation
Jonathan, G. M., Rusu, L., & Van Grembergen, W. (2021). Business-IT Alignment and Digital Transformation: Setting a Research Agenda. In E. Insfran, F. González, S. Abrahão, M. Fernández, C. Barry, H. Linger, M. Lang, & C. Schneider (Eds.), Information Systems Development: Crossing Boundaries between Development and Operations (DevOps) in Information Systems (ISD2021 Proceedings). Valencia, Spain: Universitat Politècnica de València.