The Role of Internal Business/IT Alignment and IT Governance for Service Quality in IT Outsourcing Arrangements

This paper theoretically argues and empirically evaluates how a firm´s internal alignment and governance processes impact the service quality received from an external IT outsourcing provider. Using data from 154 firms, it is shown that good internal business/IT alignment leads to better and more accurate provider control processes which in turn improve service level agreements. The paper contributes to the literature in linking internal governance with external IT service quality, and by disclosing a largely neglected influence of alignment on governance and control processes.