BUSINESS STRATEGIC ORIENTATION, INFORMATION-SYSTEMS STRATEGIC ORIENTATION, AND STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

Information systems strategic alignment-the fit between business strat egic orientation and information systems (IS) strategic orientation-is an important concept. This study measured business strategic orientat ion, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic alignment, and investi gated their implications for perceived IS effectiveness and business p erformance. Analyses of data gathered in a mail survey of North Americ an financial services and manufacturing firms indicated that 1) busine ss strategic orientation, IS strategic orientation, and IS strategic a lignment are modeled best by utilizing holistic, 'systems' approaches instead of dimension-specific, 'bivariate' approaches, 2) three generi c IS strategic orientations can be detected, 3) user information satis faction does not capture important strategic aspects of IS effectivene ss, 4) IS strategic alignment is a better predictor of IS effectivenes s than is strategic orientation, and 5) business strategic orientation , IS strategic alignment, and IS effectiveness have positive impacts o n business performance.