In information systems (IS) research, there is a solid consensus in acknowledging Henderson’s & Vankatraman’s (1993) concept and model of strategy alignment. It provides a rational technical and managerial standard for optimal choice and management of SI. Paradoxically, many IS reconfigurations are failures and entail firms to go into an escalation of commitment. Based on a critical reading of the literature built on the principles of strategy as practice, (SasP), we seek to describe the organizational dynamics behind the success or failure of such projects. Through four cases and a Delphi study, a qualitative analysis was conducted using a Grounded Theory approach. This body of data underwent coding with the assistance of the software NVivo. Through the use of translation theory, data analysis has given rise to an alternative perspective to that advocated by the traditional literature. A state of alignment is the result of the establishment of a 3-pole project stakeholder network, i.e. the managerial pole, the users’ pole and the technical pole. This network does not exist in itself; it is linked to a collective adherence of its members on the basis of the satisfaction of their individual needs through a translation process. We no longer speak of strategic alignment or IS alignment, but of the stakeholders’ alignment of interests around an IS project.
Alignment through translation : a practical analysis of management of information systems reconfigurations projects