Aligning Practices in a Pluralistic Healthcare Context using a Performance Improvement System

In this short paper we reconsider information technology (IT)-business alignment and explore the aligning of activities at the micro-level in a pluralistic healthcare context. This research-in-progress is based on the limited number of interviews undertaken thus far. More specifically, we investigate aligning in the activities associated with a performance improvement system at Northeast Care, a public healthcare network in the US. We build on Karpovsky and Galliers’ (2015) framework in order to examine current aligning practices and identify new practices. Our preliminary findings outline the t activities adopted in different stages of aligning, along with the benefits and challenges organizational actors face. We provide empirical evidence that aligning occurs dynamically and that it is thus important to focus on the interplay between the aligning stages and the approach undertaken at each stage. We, therefore, contribute to the literature on strategic alignment and IT, and extend Karpovsky and Galliers’ (2015) framework by incorporating additional activities and providing dynamic content.