Abstract

The current study represents an exploratory research in the area of strategic alignment of information systems. It examines the concept of strategic alignment from the perspective of Porter's generic strategies and Ansoff's strategic grid. Porter's generic strategies were found to exist in the form of principal components, while Ansoff's quadrants exist in the form of strategic groups. The results indicate that fit between technology and strategy use can be identified in the form of mediation, with differentiation strategy being a mediating variable between IS factors and business performance and in terms of gestalts, that represent a special form of fit between industry type, strategy, technology use and business performance. Further confirmatory research in this area is in order to validate these exploratory findings.