Progress in the IT/Business Relationship: A Longitudinal Assessment

Abstract

This paper investigates perceptions of the IT/business relationship held by 653 IT managers and their staff and 503 of their business counterparts. On the basis of data collected over a 3-year period using a survey instrument, the paper highlights areas of perceived difficulty in the IT/business relationship and seeks evidence of trends in the business/IT relationship. The data reveal significant differences in the perceptions of business managers and those of IT professionals, especially with respect to issues of IT system efficacy and communication efficacy. Both cohorts demonstrate increasing awareness of the importance of IT as a driver of business activity, as well as comparable upward or downward trends in response on issues relating to IT's alignment with business strategy and communication efficacy, but only the first mentioned issue is identified as a statistically significant trend.

Keywords

IT/business relationship information systems information technology relationship management

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