Business-Technology Alignments in e-Government: A Large-Scale Taiwan Government Electronic Record Management Systems Study

Advances in information technology are bringing about fundamental changes in the way governments work, share information, and deliver services. For e-government to succeed, government agencies must manage records and archives, but the sheer volume and diversity of such documents/archives necessitate the use of electronic record management systems (ERMS). Using an established business–technology alignment model, we analyze an agency’s strategic alignment choice and examine the agency performance outcomes associated with that alignment. The specific research questions addressed in the study are as follows: (1) Do strategic alignment choices vary among agencies that differ in purpose, geographic location, or position within the overall government hierarchy? (2) Do agencies’ alignment choices lead to different outcomes? and (3) Does performance in implementing, operating, and using ERMS vary among agencies that follow different alignment choices? We conducted a largescale survey study of 3,319 government agencies in Taiwan. Our data support the propositions tested. Based on our findings, we discuss their implications for digital government research and practice.