Impact of IS alignment strategies on organizational perceptions of quality

This survey research focused on approaches used to align organizations´ IS application development activities to internal line business unit needs. Relationships between use of alignment approaches and IS product/service quality were examined. Two separate views of quality were measured: that of the IS producer unit, and that of the IS customer unit. Alignment approaches studied included: dispersal of responsibility for IS activities to line business; and use of coordination mechanisms (e.g., JAD´s) to bring customers and producers together in face-to-face project planning and shared action. 34 subunits of US and Canadian organizations participated in the study providing data on actual IS application development/support efforts. IS coordination mechanism use was found to correlate with improvement in Customer, but not Producer, perceptions of IS quality