Business-IT alignment as a coevolution process: An empirical study

In this paper, we provide a detailed insight into the complex coevolution dynamics that shape the alignment process by analyzing how different mechanisms and factors are mutually related in complex networks of feedback loops. We combine insights from the literature on alignment as a (coevolution) process with literature on alignment as a state to identify the different components of the organization’s socio-technical system that influence alignment, the relationships between these components, and the role that different factors play. In our empirical analysis (based multiple case studies) we then focus on the actual interplay between relevant factors. Using a causal loop diagramming approach - based on system dynamics – we analyze how these factors mutually influence each other through various feedback loops and thus shape the alignment process. We extend previous literature on the alignment process by identifying the way that the complex interplay between different factors shapes this process. By identifying the feedback loops between relevant factors, we also provide more insight into the complex bottom-up and top-down dynamics that shape the process, and that provide explanations for why this process is characterized by transitions between alignment and misalignment. For practice, our paper provides a deeper understanding of the alignment process, which is a precondition for improving alignment practices in organisations.