This book grew out of work done by the IBM Consulting Group in its efforts to assist businesses to use information technology effectively. The work of the group combines academic research programs and on-site consulting and resulted in formulation of the strategic alignment model. This model holds that an organization’s business and information systems strategies and its organizational and information technology infrastructures must all be in alignment for it to benefit fully from "[its] investments in information technology." Each of this book’s 12 chapters or appendixes addresses a particular aspect of the model; its 23 contributors, all academic researchers or IBM consultants, begin the alignment process by minimizing the technical aspect of their work and emphasizing instead its practical application.(BookList - David Rouse)