Speaker: Prof. Johann Kranz 

Abstract: A firm’s speed in decision-making and execution is a key capability for survival in digital innovation competition. The speed with which firms can launch, update, and scale digital innovations chiefly depends on IS resources. Recent research suggests that when increased IS speed demands are not met by internal IS functions, business functions deviate from established IS governance guidelines and implement IS solutions independently. Yet, our theoretical and empirical understanding of IS-business alignment regarding IS function‘s speed capabilities and its impact on IS governance deviance is underdeveloped. Thus, we develop a novel conceptualization of IS speed misalignment patterns that allows to investigate the multifaceted relationships among IS speed misalignment, IS governance deviance, and firm performance. We test our research model, using a unique data set from a dyadic field survey including 119 matched pairs of business and IS managers. Using polynomial regression and response surface analyses, our analysis reveals unique effects of different IS speed misalignment patterns. Our findings offer important implications for theory and practice on IS-business alignment and IS governance in the context of digital innovation.

Bio: Johann Kranz is a Professor of Digital Services and Sustainability at the LMU Munich School of Management. His research focuses on digital innovation and transformation, IT-business alignment and governance, and Green IS for enabling circular economies and pro-environmental behavior. From 2019-2021, he served as president of the AIS “Green IS” Special Interest Group. His research has been published in Management Information Systems Quarterly Executive, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Service Research and Energy Policy.