Strategic alignment and IT projects in public sector organization: Challenges and solutions

Strategic alignment (SA) has become a challenging task for the public sector. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of strategic alignment perspectives on government IT projects in Australian local government. The subject frames the general contribution of this paper. The methodology of this research is based on two approaches. Firstly, a review of archival records was examined. Secondly, participatory observation was completed in a pilot study. As a result, a rich history of the process involved in IT projects over time was obtained. These data provide us with an insight to enable us to understand and explain SA in the real context of a local government. The data was analyzed according to our research design and questions. One of the major findings of this study is that simply introducing formal standards and mechanisms into the process cannot guarantee the success of IT projects. It is important that SA perspectives be practically deployed to contribute to the success of IT projects. In this regard, we propose a reference model which will achieve better linkage between business and IT strategies and generate public value. The model is simple but effective, consisting of a maturity level of strategic alignment perspectives and implemented criteria called attributes for each of these perspectives. Since the success of IT projects depends on the existence of a high maturity level of SA perspectives, the findings reveal that attributes affecting SA need to be taken into account throughout the entire process of project implementation. This contribution advances an understanding of how government policy-makers can optimize the value of their IT projects.