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The concept of “routines” is used to classify diverse enterprise application systems (EAS) into a framework. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical underpinnings and EAS falling into each of the framework quadrants. The framework provides a guideline for firms to meet their EAS‐organizational alignment challenges.

The EAS‐organizational alignment framework in this paper is developed through a synthesis of literature. The framework links EAS and organizational routines according to intra‐ and inter‐levels of organizational analysis and inflexible and flexible governance mechanisms.

The findings suggest that a fit between EAS routines and organizational routines leads to successful EAS deployments and hence improved business performance.

The findings provide researchers with reasons to incorporate routines into existing research models to better explain EAS‐organizational alignment. The next step is to empirically validate the EAS‐organizational alignment framework.

Firms can gain an understanding of how EAS routines and organizational routines can be manipulated to positively influence EAS‐organizational alignment and hence increase business performance. Firms can use routines as strategic tools for adoption and successful deployment of EAS across their global operations.

The paper's findings provide a perspective, different from past research, on our understanding of EAS‐organizational alignment and offer valuable guidance for future research in this area.