Business IT alignment of Chinese SMEs

Business IT alignment (BI alignment) has been consistently regarded as the most important concern by IT and business executives. Achieving and sustaining a high level of Business IT alignment enable companies to enhance business performance, perceive high value of IT and improve IT strategic planning. In the past few decades, the rapid economic growth in China has incubated numerous small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which created great needs of IT. Nevertheless, there are rarely studies about Business IT alignment in Chinese SMEs. The purpose of this study is to investigate current state and develop a model to measure the maturity level concerned with Business IT alignment in Chinese SMEs. This research was first considered from a theoretical perspective. The related theories and best practices of Business IT alignment were examined. By synthesizing relevant theories for a conceptual research model, the theoretical framework was developed to measure the Business IT alignment from six dimensions: communication, competency, governance, partnership, scope and skills. It was validated by using data collected from eighty-three responses including employees, IT and business executives from 12 Chinese SMEs (2 of them outsourced IT). It was found that Business IT alignment had a positive influence on the performance of Chinese SMEs and the overall alignment level of Chinese SMEs was low. In addition, it was found that insourcing Chinese SMEs' alignment level was more likely to be influenced by factor governance, partnership, scope and skills, instead of factor communication and competency. Unexpected finding was that the risks of outsourcing IT impeded Chinese SMEs pursuing or achieving Business IT alignment. Additionally, due to the centralized management culture in China, Chinese SMEs' Business IT alignment was likely to be influenced by their managers' perceptions