Why Haven't We Mastered Alignment? The Importance of the Informal Organization Structure

Authors

Yolande E. Chan, Queen's UniversityFollow

Abstract

A long-running challenge in both large and small enterprises has been aligning the information systems (IS) function/department with the enterprise as a whole. This study examines the techniques that eight organizations have used to both monitor and improve the alignment and performance of their IS functions. We found that aligning IS and business strategies did, indeed, improve IS performance. However, the eight cases call into question the value of the business and IS aligning their formal organization structures; this type of alignment did not always improve IS performance. On the other hand, we found that informal organization structures played a far more important role than expected in improving IS performance.

Recommended Citation

Chan, Yolande E. (2008) "Why Haven't We Mastered Alignment? The Importance of the Informal Organization Structure," MIS Quarterly Executive: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/misqe/vol1/iss2/2