Enabling and inhibiting factors of the strategic alignment between information technology strategy and entrepreneurial strategy in a situation of fusion of companies in a retail environment

This study identifies both enabler and inhibitor factors to the strategic alignment of information technology with existing entrepreneurial strategy in a takeover environment, i.e., the merger of two companies within a retail environment. The characteristics of the enabler and inhibitor factors for alignment were identified by means of an analysis of managerial team perceptions. The results suggest the presence of factors that are associated with those considered classic found in the literature review. The occurrence of these factors was recorded both prior to and during the initial merger process and they have been denominated, therefore, as recurrent elements. New characteristics, however, were also discovered in the takeover scenario that only appeared after the merger as formulated. Both IT managers and division heads from the post-merger business structure were interviewed. The link of each respondent to his original company was recorded so as to produce an effective set of factors that could be identified by both specific division and company. The uniqueness of the case study has to do with the fact that, although the organizational structure of the acquiring company was much larger than that of the acquired one, the profile of the IT management team of the latter was much more structured than that of the former. This provided a very interesting research scenario.