Investigation of How IT Leadership Impacts IT-Business Alignment through Shared Domain Knowledge and Knowledge Integration

Using full range leadership model and the knowledge-based view of organizations, we develop and test a model linking Information Technology (IT) leadership to IT-business alignment. Specifically, we examine how transformational IT leadership behaviors influence IT-business alignment through mechanisms that develop shared domain knowledge between IT and business personnel and mechanisms that integrate specialized IT and business knowledge. We also examine how the former mechanisms influence the efficiency of the latter. This study contributes to the existing literature by suggesting transformational leadership and mechanisms related to knowledge integration as key factors in IT-business alignment