A case of 'non strategic' alignment - An IT and business unit liaison role

The nature of higher-level interactions in facilitating strategic alignment has received much attention in the past decade. The study sets out to explore the nature of the interactions between business and IT units through the investigation of an intermediary role called a liaison role. This was achieved by understanding the organisational context, identifying the information flows, and the processes and tasks embedded within these interactions. The research provides an in depth case study of a liaison role for a core investment administration system. It suggests that intermediary roles have a large part to play in facilitating alignment between business and IT units. This case study establishes that the investigated liaison role promotes communication and the collaboration of lower level organisational actors, by formalising the relationship between business and IT areas. Some of the key findings were that the liaison role facilitates horizontal information flows, it promotes underst...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ECIS
• Authors: Owen Harte Barry, Brian O'Flaherty
• Keywords: ECIS 2003, Information Technology, Intermediary Roles, Liaison Role, Strategic Alignment