ALIGNING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) WITH BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF FIRMS WITHIN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF SINGAPORE: A MACRO-ANALYSIS

Abstract

It is becoming widely recognized that whether or not IT works for a company has less to do with the technology itself, and much more with how IT is being used and managed. IT-business alignment is becoming a perennial business chart-topper on top-ten lists of IT issues. To make IT deliver business values beyond supporting daily operations, management needs to plan and execute, not from the technology end, but based on the business strategies. There have been many international researches on IT-business alignment and their application for industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and finance. However, there is a lack of this topic’s research for the construction industry. This dissertation aims to determine whether firms within the construction industry in Singapore have achieved IT-business alignment. Additionally, the objectives of this dissertation are to determine the extent of IT-business alignment for the firms within the construction industry and the ways in which these levels of IT-business alignment can be improved and sustained. 40 organizations within the construction industry of Singapore were selected to complete a questionnaire survey, which assesses the organization’s IT-business alignment level. A non-parametric one-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used in determining the significance of the results obtained from the data collected. It was concluded that firms within the construction industry of Singapore, have yet to achieve the highest level of IT-business alignment. A case study of a manufacturing company in the United States was cited on their application of balanced scorecards in helping the company to achieve IT-business alignment, and sustain it. This case study can be adopted to be used for companies that are construction-related.