Impact of triadic strategic alignment on organisational performance taking into account organisational structure in South African companies

Abstract

The continuously changing business environment needs organisations to have a well-defined strategy suitable for their environment and supported by other organisational strategies to remain competitive. Strategy can be classified according to its levels, namely; corporate, business and functional/operational. The triadic strategic alignment entails strategy alignment at these three levels in which strategy formulation and implementation occur. This study was intended to assess the impact of triadic strategic alignment on organisational performance, taking into account the organisational structure in South African companies. The researcher collected data for the explanatory quantitative study from 253 respondents via an online survey. The postulated hypotheses were tested using correlation and regression analyses. The study revealed a moderate positive correlation between triadic strategic alignment and organisational performance. However, the study could not confirm organisational structure's mediation or moderation effect on the relationship between triadic strategic alignment and organisational performance. The study provides insights to organisations within the various industry sectors in South Africa on the importance of triadic strategic alignment and impact on organisational performance, regardless of the organisational structure. It is recommended that organisations take a holistic approach towards strategic alignment instead of only focusing on pairwise alignment to improve performance. In addition, the CEO and strategists can use triadic strategic alignment to gauge the status of strategic alignment within their organisations to determine the ideal alignment that will enable the organisation to improve financial performance.