Exploring the development of social alignment within an innovation context

There has been increasing attention in IS literature around the technology-business relationship and the concept of social alignment. However, little attention has been given to how or why social alignment should be developed. Further examining the concept this paper explores the development of social alignment within an innovation context. Using canonical action research the study is based within an innovation network. Primarily focusing on four organisations, a lack of social alignment was diagnosed. In particular, it was found the business executives did not fully understand the potential of the new technologies available. An intervention was then planned to facilitate the organisations in utilising a business model framework for developing social alignment by creating a common understanding between the business-technology executives. The study which took 24 months to complete involved over 110 hours of primary data. The results highlight the positive impact of the business model framework in developing social alignment. However, it was found that the business model framework alone is not enough to develop social alignment within an innovation setting. Careful thought should be put into who facilitates the development of social alignment and a shared understanding, as CTO’s are often too caught up in day-to-day operations to fulfill the role.