Digital transformation, a form of Information Technology (IT) enabled organisational transformation, is recognised as a phenomenon that has resulted in a business model innovation fundamentally changing how organisations operate. In the public sector, the proliferation of emerging digital technologies has brought about myriads of opportunities. The findings of empirical studies indicate that digital transformation has improved not only the efficiency of business processes but also the variety and quality of public services delivered to citizens. However, success in digital transformation is dependent on various factors. Strategic alignment-the alignment between IT and overall organisational strategy-is considered one of the essential prerequisites for digital transformation. This paper presents an ongoing study exploring the role of strategic alignment on digital transformation. Preliminary results identified various organisational and managerial factors related to strategic alignment, which are critical for digital transformation. Expected contributions and future research directions are proposed.
Digital transformation, defined as “technology-induced change on many levels in the
organisation that includes both the exploitation of digital technologies to improve
processes, and the exploration of digital innovation, which can transform the busines
model” [1, p. 2], is a topic currently debated among Information Systems (IS)
researchers and practitioners. Despite the emergence of new technologies and improved
business models as the result of these technologies in the business processes of today’s
organisations, digital transformation is still a concept not fully understood yet [
On the other hand, researchers argue that previous digital transformation studies
focused on the technical aspects of emerging technologies while the formulation of new
strategies is overlooked [
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. First, a summary of related studies on digital transformation and strategic alignment is presented. Next, the research methodology discusses the strategy adopted as well as the data collection and data analysis methods. The subsequent section presents the contribution of the study for research and practice. 2 2.1
Digital transformation has become a way of improving organisational performance in
many organisations, regardless of sector and industry [
On the other hand, IS researchers recognise digital transformation as an
organisation-wide transformation altering not only the existing business processes but
also human resource allocations, organisational structure as well as IT and business
strategies [
Within the context of public organisations, various internal and external factors
determine the success of digital transformation. For instance, organisational culture
[
Strategic alignment, commonly referred to as “business-IT alignment” remains to be
among the extensively researched areas in the IS and cognate disciplines. Given its
association with the overall organisational performance, the attention it has garnered so
far is justified. However, despite the rich volume of literature and extensive research in
the last four decades, strategic alignment in the public sector has not attracted sufficient
attention among IS researchers [
Even though the rationale for strategic alignment, regardless of sector and industry,
is the fit between IT and business strategies which enables the realisation of
organisational goals, different contextual differences have been recognised to have
influence on the approaches taken to reach and maintain strategic alignment. For
instance, [
The research model in Fig. 1 shows the conceptualisation of the study depicting the
relationship between strategic alignment and digital transformation as well as the seven
constructs. The extant literature on strategic alignment IT alignment, organisational
studies, and digital transformation (for instance, [
This study follows both exploratory and confirmatory research approaches. The choice
of mixed research methodology (systematic literature reviews, and case studies) is to
improve the rigour of the study as recognised among researchers [
This study is conducted in three stages. First, two literature reviews were conducted to
establish a theoretical base and provide the state-of-the-art. The first literature review
identified 94 articles exploring strategic alignment. The aim of this review was to gain
an overview of strategic alignment studies during the digitalisation era. The second
literature review of 13 articles focused on three factors related to strategic alignment
and organisational agility in the public sector—organisational structure, organisational
culture, and stakeholder relationships. The last literature review of 29 relevant articles
explored information security management and strategic alignment. Databases
indexing premier journals and conference proceedings were searched using
combinations of keywords [
Interviews were used to collect data in the second stage of the data collection at multiple organisations. The first ten interviews, lasting between 60 and 85 minutes, were conducted in one municipality. The focus here was on the relationship between organisational structure and IT alignment. The next 17 interviews were with leaders in four public organisations. The interviews, lasting between 85 and 110 minutes, were on information security and organisational agility, focusing on organisational structure, organisational culture, and stakeholder relationships. Purposive sampling strategy was adopted to recruit informants from IT and administration divisions.
Quantitative data is required for the confirmatory part of the study in the third stage. The survey questionnaire will be formulated based on the operationalisation of the constructs and research model. Similar public organisations where the interviews were conducted will be targeted to distribute the questionnaire. Given the the number of contacts we establish during the course of the study, we expect to collect about 500 complete responses. The 26 measurement items will be used to test the seven constructs. Respondents will be asked to score according to a 7-point Likert Scales which will be adopted for the survey questions corresponding to each of the measurement items. The unit of analysis for the study is the public sector. Thus, the questionnaires are formulated to assess how the various organisational and managerial factors influence IT alignment and digital transformation in public organisations. Before the questionnaires are distributed, a sample of experts will test it for comprehension and clarity. 3.2
Since the aim of the study is to explore the organisational and managerial factors that
are relevant for strategic alignment and digital transformation, thematic analysis is
chosen for the qualitative data. The rationale for this choice is that thematic analysis is
not associated with a particular epistemology or theory. Besides, thematic analysis has
been popular among IS researchers [
Prior IS studies indicate that strategic alignment is critical for the success of digital transformation. Thus, it is in the best interest of researchers and practitioners to explore the various factors affecting strategic alignment. To this end, the findings of this study will be an addition to the scarce literature on IT management in the public sector. Given the extensive adoption of new digital technologies in the sector, identifying the various factors influencing strategic alignment will also provide insight to leaders with the responsibility of managing the digital transformation in public organisations. In addition to previous studies focusing on the technical elements of digital transformation, the findings of this study provide an overview of organisational and managerial factors to support public organisations as they configure their resources to succeed in their digital transformation attempts.
The mixed-research method approach chosen will also improve the rigour of the study. Besides, by conducting a confirmatory analysis, the findings would be invaluable for practitioners. For instance, identifying the influence of various organisational and managerial factors on strategic alignment as well as the degree of influence will enable the formulation of an actionable plan. On the other hand, prioritisation of scarce resources might be possible based on the analysis of the degree of influence of the various factors on strategic alignment.