A Qualitative Study of the Strategic Alignment Perspective of Public-Sector Organisations in Saudi Arabia in the Digital Age

Public-sector organisations face several challenges in their efforts to attain business-IT alignment. Strategic alignment is considered an important construct in the study of business value related to IT projects. This aim of this study is to identify the main factors contributing to business value in IT projects in public-sector organisations in Saudi Arabia (SA) by applying a business/IT strategy alignment perspective. This research utilises a qualitative study design that includes a sample of 15 executives, senior managers and other employees from five case study public-sector organisations. These organisations are all implementing a digital transformation plan in Saudi Arabia, a growing economy aiming at modern digitisation. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo 12 software. The key findings of the study indicate that top management characteristics, IT governance mechanisms, business and IT strategy alignment and the implementation of IT project planning and quality can benefit organisational performance, services innovation, and operational excellence