IT governance practices make a difference
The relationship between business and IT has been a persistent topic of discussion both in academia and among practitioners in the past decades. The alignment of business and IT, or strategic alignment, is viewed as an important factor and driver of business value of IT. While the importance of alignment is acknowledged, organizations continue to struggle in achieving it. IT governance has been identified as one of the key factors in achieving strategic alignment. In order to effectively apply IT governance practices, it is important to understand the relationship and impact of IT governance on strategic alignment.
In his dissertation Kari Hiekkanen from Aalto University explores the extent to which strategic alignment is impacted by IT governance practices. Hiekkanen’s research suggests that IT governance practices have a significant contribution to strategic alignment on operational and tactical level. On strategic level, however, the findings suggest that the implementation of IT governance practices is dependent on how strategic IT is seen in the organization.
Kari Hiekkanen offers a new construct, a set of eight key IT governance practices found to have a positive impact on strategic alignment. These practices include e.g. project and portfolio management, IT project steering committee, and the role of CIO in the organizational hierarchy.
- IT governance should be seen also as a value adding activity contributing to business value of IT, not just mandatory framework focused to cost containment and risk management. Without understanding the multifaceted, cross-organizational nature of many IT capabilities, there is a risk that IT is more focused on management of IT assets and resources instead of capability building, says Hiekkanen.
Kari Hiekkanen defended his dissertation Exploring the relationship between IT Governance and Strategic Alignment on 8 June, 2016.
Kari Hiekkanen’s research contributes to the that studies the impacts of digitalization to the Finnish society through the lens of the industry.
Read more news
The exhibition "Our land, for all" explores personal and national identity
The 20th anniversary exhibition of the Association of Finnish Fine Arts Foundations, opened at Kunsthalle Helsinki, asks: whose stories is Finland built from? The exhibition has been curated by PhD, docent Annamari Vänskä.
Decoding the chemistry of space with machine learning
Astronomers can detect complex chemical fingerprints in stardust – but many of them remain unidentified. The SpaceML project combines machine learning and computational chemistry to simulate how molecules form and evolve in space, helping researchers decode these signals.
Catalysis in a new light: Microscale interactions could enhance clean energy technologies
A new study provides a more detailed view of how catalysts function during chemical reactions. The discovery could help develop more efficient materials for applications such as green hydrogen production and a more sustainable chemical industry.