Integration vs Alignment

The purpose of this article is to illuminate the need for any organization to have its IT strategy and business strategy properly aligned. While many organizations view IT and business alignment as an event – it is actually an on-going process, or continuous journey. Therefore, the main problem is that many organizations of today still hold these two principles (business mission & IT strategy) as two separate entities. However, in the Information Age – collaboration is key to capturing and retaining market penetration. To not have alignment with the IT and business strategy together is not a matter of want it is a matter of survival. This report will expand upon the need for business and IT strategic alignment as well as examine what happens in lack of a comprehensive plan. This will be done by examining the Vermont Teddy Bear company prior to and after the arrival of Bob Stetzel, the Vice President of Information Technology. This document will view it findings and make recommendations on the immediate and future operations of the company.

Business Plan Alignment: aligning plans of the use of the software with the organizations business plans.

The original business strategy, which is still not fully implemented or thought out, is still intact and being somewhat utilized. Part of getting from where we are now to where we want to go, is to put together a comprehensive business and growth strategy plan that, brings about the most results. The original business strategy resembled that of a small business that had the most growth with the least risk. With little risk also means little or no technology. The company has changed, the competition is more intense and the economy is weakened. A new strategy that aligns with technology is essential in order to be successful. As business and technology have become increasingly intertwined, the strategic alignment of the two has emerged as a major corporate issue. With the emergence of IT from the back room to the forefront of business brings the alignment issue under the spotlight like never before. And as

Henderson, J., & Venkatraman, N. (1993). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1), 472-484.

The increased number of IT investment is applied in organization. It is clear that information technology has become the competitive fact in world business. Collaboration is the new trend in business world. No one can deny the importance of information technology application. Besides the profits outcome, the impacts of information technology deployment also create commitment, trust and value. Advanced information system can improve each steps of business process. It enables people to share information, performance task simultaneously and making decision efficiently. IT companies designed different products to satisfy each step of business operation in terms of manufacturing and human resources. Seminole should apply this new IT infrastructure to business operation. Firstly, company can use the transaction processing systems (IPS) to keep track of all business activities and transaction of the organization such as payroll and employee record keeping. IPS also shows all information from internal and external operation. Secondly, Business intelligence systems are designed for decision-making support. Management information system (MIS) is a system that helps managers to keep track of company performance status, which purposed for decision-making and evaluation. Decision-support system (DSS) is purposed for future business decision-making. Thirdly, Enterprise application systems are designed for integrating business process from different functions, such as supply chain

Several internal and external drivers have pushed Synergetic Solutions Inc., (SSI) in a direction to implement organizational change. To begin with there has been a stagnation of the systems integration market, industry standards for system building, selling and reselling and system networking solutions have made significant process improvements, and finally productivity and absenteeism are declining (Organizational Structure Simulation, 2004.) In application of the Lewin's three-phase model because of these drivers of change, it is now time to unfreeze the current processes (McShane, S. 2002.) In the Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change theory, the application process has begun with the strategic initiatives by Harold Redd (CFO), implementation of growth targets, employee involvement in productivity and absenteeism and forays to networking solutions (George, H. 1992.) In application of Tichy Strategic Alignment Process model

In the market today, business is showing growing interest to partner with IT to make sure they get the value for investing huge in technology. But, still there is a gap between the two departments and the IT folks think that they do not have enough support from the business to ensure the value is realized for the organization. A good example of deep integration of IT and business is the recent firing of the Apple maps chief. The ill-fated Apple maps was the failure of both the IT folks who couldn’t develop an efficient app for maps and also the business who couldn’t gather all the requirements and couldn’t manage the project to achieve the desired output. As a result, the Apple exec Richard Williamson was blamed and fired for the disastrous project and humiliation for the organization.

IT by itself does not provide any value, however, the alignment of IT to strategic, operational, and cultural objectives provides business value. Thus, the CIO must ensure that any new investment in IT is for the sake of business objectives and not for “IT for ITs sake”. Ensuring business alignment against IT project delivery is critical, must be undertaken for any investment and is the key component of IT value.

Business–information technology alignment is the tight integration of the IT function with the organization’s strategy, mission, and goals. That is, the IT function directly supports the business objectives of the organization. Such an alignment enables firms to adhere to business objectives, and to maximize the value from investments. An excellent alignment will reduce costs, standardize processes, enhance productivity, improve workflow and communications, sustain repeatable service levels, improve Risk control mechanisms, implement new business strategies, facilitate growth, facilitate competitive advantage by exploiting new technology, enable IT driven projects to meet time and budget requirements, help to optimize the IT budget utilization. As more and more new business opportunities are created, IT plays an

Alignment of an enterprise’s goals with its IT1 and IS1 systems has been a challenge ever since IT became a business enabler. Proposing an IT alignment requires a thorough understanding of the business goals of the enterprise and the knowledge that alignment is an iterative process which requires constant measurement and honing (Chan, 2002). Enterprises often face the problem of balance of priorities between IT and Business objectives. This report deals with one such case that faced alignment and prioritization hardships resulting in an unclear approach to achieve a corporate strategy.

It will involve identification of processes for change, analysis of existing processes, design of the new process, implementation of the new processes, and constant measurement. The process will allow Great World Enterprises to achieve effective alignment between in-house and outsourced IT systems. The alignment will be critical to the success of the firm’s IT systems.

Achieving business and IT alignment is a difficult task. To accomplish this, IT strategy should closely support business goals. According to Schiller (2015), the misalignment of business and IT strategy results from issues in one of these 5 areas of IT alignment; Strategy-Driven, Operational, Calendar, Economic or Cultural alignment. Breaking down the IT alignment process into these 5 parts can make business and IT strategy alignment easier to accomplish. Priority should be given to business and IT alignment in the overall strategic plan of a

Previous research works, dating as early as 1970s, demonstrate that achieving alignment between IT and business has been a critical issue; researchers, IT and business

Frenzel (2004) claimed that to be successful, a firm’s IT management team must take action on the following critical areas: business management issues; strategic and competitive issues; planning and implementation concerns; and operational items. If for any reason, the organisation experiences difficulties in the above areas, the manager will need to set goals and objectives to overcome and prevent these issues.

Companies over the last decade, has recognized that their survival to a lesser or greater extent, depends either entirely or partially to appropriate information system. It is established, based on lesson learned from both failed and successful organizations, that an information system strategy are to support or aligned with, business strategy. Similarly the business strategy can influences the choice of Information System used in the organization. A business strategy entails futuristic organizational planning that result in companies gaining competitive advantage. It is direct linked to supporting area such as marketing, procurement, and information system. The case of Comair airline, even after acquisition by Delta