Abstract This essay advances the study of strategic alignment by explaining how and why misalignment occurs. We begin by summarizing why IT and business strategies evolve in unintended ways, a phenomenon known as strategic drift. Using the causal loop diagramming approach of system dynamics, we observe that several sources of drift, potentially resulting in misalignment, are paradoxically built into the process of strategy formation and enactment itself. These linked subprocesses involve multiple actors at multiple levels of an organization and operate to promote (or hinder) strategic alignment. This paper contributes to the literature by enumerating and modeling both the top-down processes that can promote (or hinder) strategic alignment, as well as the less-studied bottom-up processes, ultimately yielding a more nuanced, dynamic, process-oriented understanding of strategic alignment. Directions for future research include the study of alignment at the process and group levels, as well as an exploration of settings where certain types of strategic drift and misalignment yield beneficial outcomes.

中文翻译：

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失调的根源：从系统动力学的角度洞悉战略实施

摘要本文通过解释错位的产生方式和原因来推进战略一致的研究。我们首先总结一下为什么IT和业务战略会以意想不到的方式发展，这种现象称为战略漂移。使用系统动力学的因果循环图方法，我们观察到，可能导致失调的几种漂移源，在策略形成和制定过程中自相矛盾。这些链接的子过程涉及组织的多个级别的多个参与者，并进行操作以促进（或阻碍）战略联盟。本文通过列举和建模可以促进（或阻碍）战略调整的自上而下的流程以及研究较少的自下而上的流程（最终产生更细微，动态的，以过程为导向的战略一致性理解。未来研究的方向包括在过程和团队层面上的一致性研究，以及对某些类型的战略性漂移和错位产生有益结果的环境的探索。