The Impact of Strategic IT-Business Alignment: Evidence from Saudi Private Small and Midsize Enterprises
Dr. Waleed Afandi

Abstract
Strategic IT-business alignment is getting an increased attention from both researchers and practitioners because of its potential positive impact on firm’s performance. The Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) developed by Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) is a holistic framework that combines different alignment perspectives to provide a unified view on IT-business alignment. While SAM has been widely applied by theoreticians and practitioners in the Western IT research, its applicability in the Middle East is not clear with very few studies available. Aiming to fill this gap in knowledge, this study tested the impact of six alignment types described within SAM on financial performance of small and midsize enterprises (SME) in Saudi Arabia. Based on a sample of 454 IT directors and managers, the results of the study confirmed a positive impact of all types of alignment except for IT alignment, although the latter still showed an indirect positive impact through other forms of alignment. Implications for theory and practice are discussed and directions for further research are proposed.

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