Enablers and Inhibitors of IT Alignment in Indian Petroleum Industry

The main purpose of this paper is to understand the important enablers and inhibitors that promote or hinder the Information Technology (IT) adoption, its assimilation and proliferation to perform the important business functions in some of the important public sector undertakings in India. Although many such studies have been conducted in US and Western countries but there is a lack of effort in this direction in India. A survey of the Public sector Indian Petroleum organizations and in-depth case studies of three Indian publicsector organizations were conducted. The results based on a survey, interview and field observational findings of 368 managers of these very important organizations has been presented. Several key important Critical Success factors (enablers and inhibitors) were identified-Infrastructural and cultural factors, human relationships and promoting closeness among the Business and IT executives and absence of operational and strategic focus. The Petroleum sector is very important in India due to its economic, industrial and social impact. This study will help in effectively managing the IT. Business-IT alignment enablers and inhibitors is particularly under studied in Indian context. This study highlights several factors of key importance for understanding alignment. Recommendations are provided to help achieving alignment in these organizations.