Unit 2: Organizational Strategy, Business Processes, and Competitive Advantage

This unit explores the critical relationship between organizational strategy, the business processes that execute that strategy, and the role of Information Systems (IS) in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.

Strategy, processes, and information systems alignment Figure 1: The Core Alignment Triangle - Strategy, Process, and IT

flowchart TB
    subgraph ALIGNMENT["Strategy-Process-IS Alignment"]
        STRATEGY["🎯 Organizational\nStrategy"]
        PROCESS["⚙️ Business\nProcesses"]
        IS["💻 Information\nSystems"]
    end

    STRATEGY -->|"Defines"| PROCESS
    PROCESS -->|"Enabled by"| IS
    IS -->|"Supports"| STRATEGY

    ALIGNMENT --> CA["🏆 Competitive Advantage"]

    style CA fill:#2d5016,color:#fff

Figure 1: The Strategic Alignment Triangle

We will examine how businesses operate through a series of interconnected processes and how they must constantly adapt to business pressures from the business environment—including market forces, technological changes, and societal expectations.

Most importantly, we will see how organizations leverage information technology not just to support daily operations, but to create powerful strategic advantages in the marketplace. Understanding this alignment between strategy, process, and technology is the key to using IT for true business transformation.