Edinburgh Napier University

  Information Systems/Information Technologies (IS/IT) have become an integral part of modern organisations. However, there are still challenges presented to business leaders on how they may achieve strategic alignment (SA) of business and IS/IT strategies. It is commonly agreed that SA is positively correlated to organisational performance. Achieving sustainable SA is a challenge for many business leaders. The literature reviewed suggests that there is a paucity of studies on SA using a Middle Management (MM) perspective which is the focus of this study. This paper starts by clarifying the distinction between corporate and business strategies before proceeding to look at the strategic role MM plays through sensemaking and issue selling. Crucially, attention is drawn to Luftman’s alignment model because of its claims as focusing on the dynamism of SA rather than conceptualisation of SA as a static end state which does not render very well to operationalisation.