Difficulties in achieving business and IT alignment- A qualitative study drawing upon coordination theory to explore the complexities and tensions between business and IT

Abstract

Organizations today are facing changing demands in the business environment at the same time as the rate of technological change is increasing. This may impose implications on the relationship between business and IT, and in turn affect the achievement of business and IT alignment. Addressing this issue, this paper explores the relationship between business and IT in a manufacturing company embarking on a digital transformation journey. By conducting a qualitative single case study this paper answers how the relationship between business and IT is organized in practice and what tensions, challenges, and ambiguities might arise. The empirical data is essentially gathered through 19 interviews with both IT and business representatives and is thereafter analyzed through coordination theory. The purpose of this study is to scrutinize a large organization on a transformation journey and explore the relationship between business and IT. The study presents three main findings. First of all, we identify that the organizational structure acts as the foundation in determining the static coordination mechanisms as it provides a description of what practices, routines and activities are at hand. Secondly, we find that the different cultures and practices characterizing business and IT interfere in establishing mutual understanding between the departments. Thirdly, we find that inefficient communication prevents an organization from overcoming coordination challenges in an ambiguous and uncertain environment. The study revealed that these findings affect the relationship between business and IT and result in the emergence of different tensions and challenges. The paper contributes theoretically by reconciling two streams of research, specifically understanding business and IT alignment through the lens of coordination. Empirically, our paper contributes by exploring the relationship between business and IT, thus providing nuanced insights into the difficulties of achieving business and IT alignment.