Twentieth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

This study investigates the mediating role of business and information technology (IT) alignment in the association between organizational culture and the use of information systems (IS). Specifically, it argues that organizations with cultures that focus on orientation to change, open structure of decision making, orientation to process, orientation to collaboration, strong motivation, orientation to internal, hard data based system, and long-term time horizon create organizational members with a common understanding in aligning business strategy with the IT domain which may facilitate the use of IS. Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from 228 managers in Indonesian manufacturing companies. This study uses Structural Equation Model (SEM) to examine the association between the variables. The findings suggest that the influence of specific organizational culture dimensions (orientation to change, centralized decision making, processes orientation, internal orientation, external orientation, and personal experience) on the use of IS is enacted through business/IT alignment. Furthermore, we found a direct positive association between the short-term time horizon and the use of IS. The study contributes to extend the literature by considering the complexity of organizational culture from developed and developing countries. The findings also provide managers with guidelines in respect to shape their organizational culture in a way which facilitates the alignment of business and IT strategy to enhance the use of IS within organisations. In addition, achieving business/IT alignment has been considered as a significant source of sustainable competitive advantage in dealing with dynamic business strategies and continuously evolving technologies.