Alignment in an inter-organisational network: the case of ARC transistance

Figures & data

Figure 1 The strategic alignment model. Source: Henderson & Venkatraman, 1999.

Table 1 Documentary evidence for the case study

Organizational documents

6 club advertising fliers

Project documents

4 strategy documents

3 project plans

6 project management/structure reports

4 business process analysis/specification reports

2 risk assessment and measurement reports

5 evaluation reports

2 min from review meetings

9 progress reports from the project to funding agencies

Table 2 Timeline of key events in the ARC IP development project

Date	Event
01/12/96	ARC IP Project launched
19/02/97	Software development delayed; project board approves a high risk ‘prototyping approach’
24/03/97	Project board reviews final version of prototype with users and agrees on implementation plan with developers
03/06/97	Project board endorses decision to suspend implementation and notify ARC Board of Directors of the impact
25/09/97	ARC Board of Directors decides to delay work on Phase 2 until after Phase 1 implementation
18/12/97	Approval given to start Phase 2 scoping exercise in Q1 98
24/02/98	Senior technical representative of the clubs met and identified a strategy for Phase II with three stages:
	(IIa) Separation of Front and Back office implemented for ACTA (F) only
	(IIb) The further development of the generic solution
	(IIc) The implementation of the AA/RACE link
01/99	Technical Audit by AA and ADAC led to a technical architecture paper; Phase 2 put on hold until Q4/99
09/99	Phase 1 pilot at ACTA (F)
11/99	Presentation made at annual network meeting in Amsterdam
	Clubs invited to register their interest in use
	Project relaunched as ARC-TIME
08/00	Business processes agreement
02/01	Completion of system architecture
04/02	Pilot of Phase 2 at ADAC

Table 3 ARC management expectation of ARC IP system benefits

• Increase speed to market with rapid introduction of new products, because development can be shared

• Support higher service-level standards across Europe for all club members

• Provide standard management information

• Reduce system costs

• Provide potential revenue for future development via licensing fees

• Provide an ARCARC-wide system and data communication framework with potential for further innovation

• Provide economies of scale with common development and maintenance

• Create a common system at Lyon with an integrated Back Office, potentially improving operational efficiency

Source: Club documentation

Table 4 Large club management expectations of ARC IP system benefits

• Interface to home club patrol deployment system

• Support for complex, low volume roadside assistance products

• Piloting of new roadside assistance products

• Foreign traveller support for both home and foreign members

Source: club documentation

Table 5 Smaller club management expectation of ARC IP system benefits

• Off-the-shelf package system supporting both domestic and foreign business

• Low level of local IS support required

• Ability to implement Front and Back office independently

Source: Club documentation

Table 6 Club IS service management expectations of ARC IP system benefits

• Language-independent system able to translate data via comprehensive lists of incidents, actions, vehicle data and so on.

• The use of ARCARC codes rather then free format text to facilitate management information

• Common and easy-to-use system to shorten training

• Real-time entitlement checking to reduce fraudulent usage and service abuse

Source: Club documentation

Figure 2 The inter-organizational network strategic alignment model. Lines between the network and the clubs represent ‘accordance’ between the corresponding domains of the SAM.

Figure 3 Stages of the case positioned in the network strategic alignment model. Arrows represent drivers of changes in the corresponding domains during the phases of the project. Dashed lines depict a resulting lack of accordance.

HendersonJCVenkatramanNStrategic alignment: leveraging information technology for transforming organizationsIBM Systems Journal1999382-347248410.1147/SJ.1999.5387096

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