The Impact Of Business It Alignment On Operational Performance In The Sierra Leone Commercial Bank

The increased adoption of Business-Information Technology(business-IT)alignment by commercial banks has come with a promising prospect while its complexity remains challenging.How a business and information technology(IT)can accurately be aligned to enhance the operational performance of the business call for expertise and novelty if one wants to harness optimal results.This study analyzes the impact of business-IT alignment on the operational performance of the Bank of Sierra Leone(BSL).Two models of the business-IT-alignments on the bank’s financial,operational performance,and the impact of business-IT alignment on bank non-financial operational performance.After collecting the data and selecting the right sample,we analyzed the data using SPSS and Smart PLS software.SPSS was used to compute the Cronbach’s Alpha for pilot testing and demographic information.The Smart PLS software exploited to analyze the measurement and structural results of the two models.The approach to analysis was on the partial least square-structural equation modeling.The results in the first model indicate that governance,competence/ value measurement,skills,partnership,scope,and architecture in business-IT alignment,showing a positive and significant impact on the financial,operational performance on the commercial banks in Sierra Leone.While competence and value measurement is slightly positively substantial,only the communication variable displayed insignificant results.In the second model,except for competence and value measurement,which indicate to have irrelevant results in business-IT alignment.The remaining components have a significant positive association with non-financial operational performance in the banking sector.Governance shows the most substantial impact on bank financial,operational performance followed by skills and scope,and architecture.The variable that indicated the least influence on bank financial,operational performance is competency/ value measurement.In the second model,scope,and architecture have the most substantial impact on bank non-financial operational performance indicators followed by governance,and the partnership variable displays the least impact.Immersed in the world of the information technology era,the banking systems in the developing economies has become accustomed to the importance and application of the concept of Business-IT alignment in their daily endeavors.Even though the extent of its adoption is far from achieving the level of developed economies,the applicability of business-IT-alignment and its challenges is worth scrutiny.It is,therefore,not a new practice when banks in emerging economies speak of aligning new information technologies in their business practices.The move towards the adoption and profitably harnessing the pros of business-IT alignment has never been an easy one.