Alignment processes in public organizations: An interpretive approach

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Vander Elst, Simon^{a; *} | De Rynck, Filip^a

Affiliations: [a] Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Simon Vander Elst, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: simon.vanderelst@ugent.be

Abstract: How should we adapt the concept of Business – IT alignment to grasp the complexity of public organizations? To answer this question, we theorize that understanding the variation in alignment in public organizations, implies that we take into account the political and institutional context, and consider the interaction between IT and the organization as a continuous process on different levels. Those amendments on the alignment literature are integrated in an interpretive alignment approach. Case study results illustrate the value of this approach.

Keywords: Strategic Alignment Model, public organizations, interpretive alignment approach

DOI: 10.3233/IP-140342

Journal: Information Polity, vol. 19, no. 3-4, pp. 195-206, 2014