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Exploration of the Misalignment Between Business and IT Strategic Objectives in Public-Sector Organisations: An Empirical Study in Saudi Arabia

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Digital Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities (WEB 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 328))

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Abstract

Understanding business-IT strategy misalignment is an increasingly important area of research in digitalisation of different business sectors. However, there is currently a dearth of research investigations of misalignment between business and IT strategic objectives in public-sector organisations. Considering the nature of business, the structure of organisation, and the organisational resources of public-sector organisations, the investigation of business-IT misalignment can significantly enrich our theoretical exemplification of the relationship between business and IT in the public sector. Moreover, it provides some insights for managers to identify and avoid the possible pitfalls during the IT implementation process. Anchoring on the strategic alignment model, this research aims to identify and analyse the factors that contribute to business/IT strategy misalignment in Saudi Arabian public-sector organisations. Using a qualitative study design that included semi-structured interviews in five public-sector organisations in Saudi Arabia, our findings indicate that the human, operational, and IT system factors lead to business-IT strategy misalignment. This study also finds that those practical approaches for avoiding the misalignment in Saudi public-sector organisations sometimes lack structure and consistency.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Participant anonymity and data were achieved by assigning codes rather than names during the duration of the study to ensure the privacy of any given information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    Abulaziz AlGhazi, Tingru Cui & Jun Shen

  2. Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Mengxiang Li

  3. Toulouse Business School, Toulouse, France

    Samuel Fosso

Authors
  1. Abulaziz AlGhazi
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  2. Mengxiang Li
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  3. Tingru Cui
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  4. Samuel Fosso
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  5. Jun Shen
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Abulaziz AlGhazi , Mengxiang Li , Tingru Cui , Samuel Fosso or Jun Shen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Seoul, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Wooje Cho

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Ming Fan

  3. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

    Michael J. Shaw

  4. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Byungjoon Yoo

  5. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Han Zhang

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AlGhazi, A., Li, M., Cui, T., Fosso, S., Shen, J. (2018). Exploration of the Misalignment Between Business and IT Strategic Objectives in Public-Sector Organisations: An Empirical Study in Saudi Arabia. In: Cho, W., Fan, M., Shaw, M., Yoo, B., Zhang, H. (eds) Digital Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities. WEB 2017. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 328. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99936-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99936-4_2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99936-4

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