If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Drawing on established alignment and architectural theory, this paper seeks to present the argument that an organisation's enterprise architecture can enable the alignment of business strategy and information systems and technology (IS/IT). Design/methodology/approach -The paper presents a detailed case study of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), where a high degree of alignment and international recognition of excellence in business and enabling IS/IT performance are documented. Findings -The ABS enterprise architecture was developed in 1999-2001 and describes the organisation's physical business and IS/IT elements, and the connective relationships that inform the alignment condition. The ABS architecture is robustly holistic in form, and is characterised by a strong and equal focus on business operations, the deliberate inclusion of an IS/IT governance framework, the structuring and hosting of corporate information for business delivery, and the efficient reuse of IS/IT components. Originality/value -The ABS case study also examined empirically the social aspects and formal mechanisms of organisational alignment, and shows how a formal enterprise architecture mechanism can integrate into a successful alignment process.

Purpose-This study aims to explore whether collectivistic and individualistic users exhibit different e-commerce loyalty and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach-The paper operationalises Triandis' individuality and collectivism typology. Empirical data were gathered using face-to-face questionnaire instruments with 140 respondents, comprising undergraduate students and government employees. Findings-Online shoppers are more individualistic than those who have not shopped online, while individualism and collectivism do not influence online loyalty. Research limitations/implications-As firms compete for online custom, it would be useful to gain some understanding of the possible effects of individual and collective behaviour on purchasing behaviour. Practical implications-Instead of competing for existing online users, online stores could expand their market by appealing to offline shoppers using collective techniques. Originality/value-Online loyalty has been an important focus of prior work and, while there has been significant focus on communities, Internet use remains a very personal activity. The paper provides new evidence that offline shoppers are more collectivistic than online shoppers.

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It has long been an aim of information management and information systems development to enable more effective and efficient data and information sharing within organisations. A commonplace assertion has been that data and information belong, or should belong, to the organisation as a whole as opposed to any individual or stakeholder within it. Nevertheless, despite the potential benefits of data and information sharing within organisations, efforts to achieve it have typically run into more difficulty than expected and have frequently been less successful than the technological capabilities would, at least prima facie, allow. This paper is based on the proposition that perceptions of ownership can have an important influence on data and information sharing behaviour, and explores philosophical theories of ownership and property with the aim of better understanding the origins of such behaviour. It is further proposed that what are here called "implicit" theories of information ownership on the part of different individuals or parties within an organisation can lead to varying perceptions as to who is the legitimate owner of particular data or information, and that this view is illuminating of the difficulties that have often been experienced in trying to achieve effective organisational data and information sharing.

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