Strategic Alignment: What Is Really Being Aligned?

Over the years, aligning IT and business strategies has remained an important, but sometimes elusive, challenge for executives. At the same time it has garnered quite an interest among the research community. This paper seeks to provide one explanation why alignment efforts struggle. The paper first addresses the distinction between strategies as plans and strategies as patterns in decisions and actions based on a multiple case study in the financial industry. By separating intended and realized strategies, alignment can then be discussed not only in traditional terms of closing a gap, but also in terms of what is really being aligned? It is argued that alignment efforts and alignment research often are occupied with aligning intended strategies disregarding potential differences between what is intended and what is realized. It is suggested that an increased focus on realized strategies may be beneficial for alignment efforts.