Enabling IT/Business Strategic Alignment: (An Empirical Study on the Telecommunications Sector in Jordan)

This study investigates the relationship between the six main enablers of IT/Business strategic alignment on the one hand (senior executive support for IT, IT involvement in strategy development, IT understanding of the business, Business/IT partnership, well-prioritized IT projects, IT demonstrated leadership) and IT/Business strategic alignment enablement on the other hand. A suggested model was developed based on Luftman and his colleagues six IT/Business strategic alignment enablers model. The main hypothesis and other six sub hypotheses were derived to investigate the supposed relationship. An organization-wide assessment was adopted in this study to provide a macro objective view of the current IT/Business strategic alignment enablers within the researched companies. Therefore; a structured quantitative survey in the form of a questionnaire was developed and delivered to companies' members from all managerial levels within mobile and fixed telecommunications organizations in Jordan. Based on the perceptions of respondents, the six IT/Business enablers were explored throughout the study. The results of the study indicated that there is a significant relationship at (5) percent level between each of the independent variables (senior executive support for IT, IT involvement in strategy development, IT understanding of the business, Business/IT partnership, well-prioritized IT projects, IT demonstrated leadership) and the dependent variable (IT/Business strategic alignment enablement). Based on the results of this study, a set of recommendations were proposed. Some of them are: • Senior management should be concerned with supplementing IT department with highly qualified human resources and financial resources. • Forming a team of senior decision makers from the corporate IT and business unit is recommended to be the dominant style in strategy development. Cross-functional coordination and joint task force are also recommended to enhance partnership efforts. • To enhance their leadership skills, IT leaders should be encouraged to attend training sessions regarding leadership skills.