The strategic alignment of information technology with academic strategy: A content analysis of university Web sites

The strategic alignment of information technology and academic strategy was the focus of this research. This was accomplished through the content analysis of a random sample of Web sites belonging to 78 research universities. Private and public institutions were compared in terms of (a) the content of academic and information technology strategies; (b) the integration of academic and information technology strategies; (c) the strategic uses of information technology in teaching, research, and administration, and (d) the relationship between the content of academic and information technology strategies and the strategic uses of information technology. Web pages relevant to the operational constructs and variables were downloaded as text and condensed using an emergent coding scheme. The Chi-square test of independence was used to test the null hypotheses of no difference between public and private institutions or of no relation between variables. Differences between public and private institutions were statistically significant in the use of CourseInfo as Web courseware software and the use of Web sites for (a) graduate online applications; (b) in-house online undergraduate applications; (c) in-house use graduate online applications, and (d) online undergraduate applications submitted via Embark.com. Public institutions outnumbered private institutions across categories of use of information technology. The only exceptions were the use of two proprietary applications: Embark online applications for undergraduate admissions and CourseInfo Web courseware, where private institutions outnumbered public institutions in use. The results of this investigation confirmed that the use of electronic inquiries and online inquiries for graduate admissions is related to its use for undergraduate admissions. On the other hand, the relationship between alignment and the strategic uses of Web sites in teaching and research were not statistically significant. However, alignment was only related to the use of downloadable applications for graduate admissions. The findings overwhelmingly suggest that universities are using the Web strategically and beginning to realize the need to align their institutional missions and technology plans.