Strategic alignment, combined to strategic planning, is an important management tool. For this reason new approaches to strategic alignment promotion could help high-level management decisions and affect the organizational performance. This study of exploratory nature aims to develop an operational model of strategic alignment between business strategies and goals and information technology strategies and goals. To this model converge elements from classical strategic alignment models, studies about methodologies of strategic planning implementation, methodologies of integrated information systems implementation and findings from multiple case studies. The main results show that organizations always promote strategic alignment, with more or less intensity, even in an empirical and partial way. The most important alignment promoters to the implementation phase of strategic planning are the elements methodology and management tools, which can influence the commitment of the personnel involved in the planning process and positively affect achievement of goals.
strategic alignment; strategic planning; information technology; implementation
