Assessing Strategic Alignment Maturity and Its Effect on Organizational Performance and Mutual Understanding of Objectives

This paper outlines our research-in-progress to develop and validate an instrument to measure strategic alignment maturity. Strategic alignment is defined as the deployment of IT in an appropriate and timely way, in conjunction with business strategies, objectives, and needs. Strategic alignment maturity (SAM) assesses the management practices and strategic choices in place to evolve and maintain alignment. The strategic alignment maturity framework developed by Luftman (2000) is used as a basis for this research. This study proposes further validation of the usefulness of strategic alignment maturity by examining its relationship to organizational performance and the mutual understanding of IT and business objectives. Knowing the maturity of its alignment management practices and strategic choices may enable an organization to see where it stands and how it can evolve to a more mature level whereby it can more effectively implement its IT strategies. Research Problem/Question The key purpose of this research is to further develop an understanding of the process of strategic alignment by testing a