Factors that influence strategic alignment of Information Technology for Supply Chain Integration: Perceptions of Nigerian Medium-sized Manufacturing Enterprises and their suppliers.

Abstract

Strategic alignment has been considered a crucial area in the IS field of study in the over three decades. A lot of studies have been conducted to explore how strategic alignment supports business processes and strategies in organisations. However, there are still issues to be addressed in medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry to achieve supply chain integration. There are factors which can pose threats to the success of supply chain integration and lead to alignment failure. Therefore, if and how medium-sized enterprises can achieve alignment to realise supply chain integration is a concern, this research aims to investigate the influence of strategic alignment factors, if any, on strategic alignment and supply chain integration and how medium-sized enterprises achieve alignment. The study adopts the qualitative research strategy to achieve an in depth understanding of strategic alignment factors, the impact on strategic alignment and supply chain integration. An interpretive approach was carried across 15 medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Purposive sampling was used to select the enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. 54 participants across the firms were interviewed. 45 of the 54 semi-structured interviews were analysed in relation to the research objectives. This study provides a comprehensive review of existing literature and proposed a framework built on the co-evolutionary IS Model and Strategic Alignment Model perspective which examines alignment at strategic, operational and individual levels. The findings of the research showed unrealised supply chain integration as a result of lack of alignment and describes how strategic alignment can be affected by internal factors (IT sophistication, management’s knowledge and commitment to strategic alignment and IT expertise) and external factors (political, economic, infrastructural and external influences on IS). This study identified and described challenges that affect strategic alignment (financial constraints, limited management knowledge and commitment to IT/IS and perception of staff to IT/IS).