Mastering the Downward-Facing Dog: IT Flexibility and Business-IT Alignment

Abstract

With a rising quest to leverage information technologies (IT) for attaining strategic objectives, enterprises require sufficient flexibility to cope with dynamic business environments. The flexibility of IT infrastructure is investigated in this study as a mechanism to induce more aligned business and IT activities in large organizations. To complement earlier findings of IT flexibility’s influence on alignment, this study operationalizes three models. Using standardized survey responses from 130 organizations from around the globe, structural equation modeling is applied. Investigating the impact of IT flexibility on alignment, we find a positive and meaningful effect of IT flexibility on alignment. Moreover, positive effects on several alignment practices are found. Although no moderating effect of cloud adoption rates is found, this study concluded with several meaningful implications to understand the strategic relevance of a flexible IT.