From IT deployment capabilities to competitive advantage: An exploratory study in China

As more and more companies are deploying, or plan to deploy, information systems, the organizational capabilities to effectively deploy information technologies to support and shape businesses become increasingly important. While many studies have focused on how to acquire state-of-the-art information technologies and on how to effectively utilize implemented information technologies, more studies are still needed to investigate how a company can successfully deploy acquired information technologies to support and shape businesses strategies and value chain activities. IT deployment capabilities are defined as the organizational capabilities to configure and reconfigure a company’s information system by adding new IT components or by adapting the existing information systems in order to make the whole information system available to support and shape businesses. This study identifies and investigates the three building blocks of IT deployment capabilities: strategic IT flexibility, business–IT partnership, and business–IT alignment. Using the resource-based view, we propose a framework to explain the relationship between IT deployment capabilities and competitive advantage. The research model is tested on data collected in China. Results show that strategic IT flexibility and business–IT partnership have direct impacts on competitive advantage, while business–IT alignment has an indirect impact on competitive advantage. The effect of business–IT alignment on competitive advantage is fully mediated by strategic IT flexibility and business–IT partnership. The results provide support for the relationship between IT deployment capabilities and competitive advantage. The study presents implications for how to develop IT deployment capabilities and how to generate business value from IT investment.     

Exploring the relationships between IT competence,innovation capacity and organizational agility

Business environments today are characterized as being very dynamic and hyper competitive. Organizations in these environments have to be agile in order to adapt their strategies and actions to be successful. While it is recognized that information technology can enable firms to be agile, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms through and the contexts in which Information Technology (IT) enhances agility. This study examines two key antecedents of organizational agility, namely the IT competence of a firm and its innovation capacity and, examine their independent and joint effects on agility. We test our model using data collected from large firms in the US. The results provide strong support for our model. We found that firms with superior IS capabilities coupled with an aggressive IT investment orientation create digital platforms that enable them to be agile. We also found that the innovation capacity of the firm has a positive relationship with organizational agility and that firms with higher innovation capacity are better able to leverage their digital platforms to enhance agility. Our results indicate that organizational agility has a strong positive impact of firm performance. We interpret and discuss these results and their theoretical and practical implications.     

Commodity or competitive advantage? Analysis of the ERP value paradox

A true e-business enabled firm needs the support from a well-tuned enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for providing real time data. However, many companies complain that after their huge investments in ERP systems, they found the ERP systems do not bring them new orders, new profits, or competitive advantage as ERP vendors claim. Academic studies also found mixed results regarding ERP’s payoff. In line with resource based view (RBV), the study proposes an integrated model to shed light on the ERP value paradox. We try to answer “With what organizational resources and by building what firm specific capabilities, the investment in ERP systems may bring firms competitive advantage”. Using a sample of 150 ERP and e-business adopters in the US, we found that (1) organizational resources such as managerial skills and organizational change management play a more important role than IT resources (ERP, e-Business technologies) in generating business integration capability. (2) However, neither IT resources nor organizational resources directly provide firms with competitive advantage. Instead, business integration capability built from the two resources plays a mediating role through which business achieves competitive advantage.     

Inside the adaptive enterprise: an information technology capabilities perspective on business process agility

Recent innovations in utility computing, web services, and service-oriented architectures, combined with a growing array of IT skills, have improved firms’ ability to be more agile in responding to change. Using the resource-based view of the firm, prior research suggests that IT resources, in isolation, are unlikely to yield superior performance and so as firms try to boost their agility, the question becomes how to configure IT resources to prepare for, or react to, change. In this paper, we posit that managerial IT capabilities based on IT-business partnerships, strategic planning, and ex-post IT project analysis lead to the development of technical IT capabilities associated with a flexible IT infrastructure which in turn drives agility or a firm’s ability to react to change in its products and markets. Using data from matched surveys of IT and business executives in 241 firms, we find that managerial and technical capabilities affect agility. In further testing, we reveal that in a stable setting, technical IT capabilities are more important to agility than managerial IT capabilities, while in a dynamic setting, the opposite is true. Thus, for firms operating in volatile markets, effective models of managerial IT governance are essential for delivering superior agility or adaptiveness.

Valuing information technology infrastructures: a growth options approach

Decisions to invest in information technology (IT) infrastructure are often made based on an assessment of its immediate value to the organization. However, an important source of value comes from the fact that such technologies have the potential to be leveraged in the development of future applications. From a real options perspective, IT infrastructure investments create growth options that can be exercised if and when an organization decides to develop systems to provide new or enhanced IT capabilities. We present an analytical model based on real options that shows the process by which this potential is converted into business value, and discuss middleware as an example technology in this context. We derive managerial implications for the evaluation of IT infrastructure investments, and the main findings are: (1) the flexibility provided by IT infrastructure investment is more valuable when uncertainty is higher; (2) the cost advantage that IT infrastructure investment brings about is amplified by demand volatility for IT-supported products and services; (3) in duopoly competition, the value of IT infrastructure flexibility increases with the level of product or service substitutability; and (4) when demand volatility is high, inter-firm competition has a lower impact on the value of IT infrastructure.     

A meta-analysis of relationships between organizational characteristics and IT innovation adoption in organizations

Adoption of IT in organizations is influenced by a wide range of factors in technology, organization, environment, and individuals. Researchers have identified several factors that either facilitate or hinder innovation adoption. Studies have produced inconsistent and contradictory outcomes. We performed a meta-analysis of ten organizational factors to determine their relative impact and strength. We aggregated their findings to determine the magnitude and direction of the relationship between organizational factors and IT innovation adoption. We found organizational readiness to be the most significant attribute and also found a moderately significant relationship between IT adoption and IS department size. Our study found weak significance of IS infrastructure, top management support, IT expertise, resources, and organizational size on IT adoption of technology while formalization, centralization, and product champion were found to be insignificant attributes. We also examined stage of innovation, type of innovation, type of organization, and size of organization as moderator conditions affecting the relationship between the organizational variables and IT adoption.     

The role of IT application orchestration capability in improving agility and performance

This paper investigates how IT application orchestration – a dynamic capability encapsulating a firm’s ability to refresh its application portfolio through a process of building, buying, and retiring IT applications – impacts firm performance. We propose a conceptual model in which the effect of IT application orchestration on firm performance is mediated by process agility. We further propose that a firm’s strategic orientation moderates the effect of IT application orchestration capability on process agility. Analysis of data from an international survey of IT executives supports our proposed hypotheses. This research contributes to the emergent literature on dynamic capabilities by proposing and testing a theory of how IT application orchestration capability affects agility and firm performance.     

Examining the role of information technology in cultivating firms’ dynamic marketing capabilities

Most prior research has investigated an organization's dynamic capabilities in general and overlooked their effect on critical business functions. Our study considered the role of IT in improving firm's dynamic marketing capabilities. We developed a model consisting of market orientation, IT infrastructure capabilities, and the use of IT in customer relationship management (CRM). With data collected from 135 manufacturing and service firms in Taiwan, our results supported most of our hypotheses. Our results showed important direct effects of a firm's market orientation, use of IT to support CRM, and the functionality of IT infrastructure capabilities on its dynamic marketing capabilities.     

Assessing the importance of industry in the adoption and assimilation of IT: Evidence from Italian enterprises

We analysed the role of industry in determining the diffusion and business value created by IT. Data was collected for this purpose by surveying 192 large enterprises in Italy. Our research revealed three findings. First, in the material services and non-hi-tech manufacturing industries, firms had a relatively limited adoption of IT, resulting in little business impact. Second, firms’ IT spending behaviour depended on their industry type and not on their IT capabilities. However their capabilities were more important than industry in explaining why firms achieved benefits from IT adoption that depended on the previous accumulation of IT resources and other capabilities. Third, industry type determined the degree to which IT affected profitability and its effectiveness in helping firms to defend their competitive advantage. Specifically, the slower the adoption of IT in an industry, the greater its impact on the firm's profitability.The implications of these findings for managers and policy-makers are discussed.     

Resolving paradoxes in IT success through IT ambidexterity: The moderating role of uncertain environments

As information technology (IT) success is both essential and elusive, researchers and practitioners are faced with an ongoing challenge to determine what IT capabilities should be developed to ensure IT success. Drawing on the paradox and ambidexterity theory, we highlight paradoxes in IT success and propose that firms manage these paradoxes by developing an IT ambidexterity capability. We hypothesize that IT ambidexterity capability enhances IT success, and that uncertain environments strengthen this relationship. Our hypotheses find support in a sample of 292 British high-tech firms. This research contributes to conceptualize paradoxes in IT success and advances the theory for a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of IT ambidexterity capability.     

The impact of the frequency of usage of IT artifacts on predevelopment performance in the NPD process

Responses from 152 managers from a wide range of industries were used to test a conceptual model examining the influence of information technology (IT) and non-IT resources on IT capabilities and their subsequent effects on predevelopment stage outcomes. It was found that the resources of IT infrastructure, IT embeddedness, firm's outward focus, and competitive intensity have varied effects on the frequency of usage of general-purpose and collaborative IT artifacts. Firms with higher levels of usage of collaborative artifacts in their NPD process have improved predevelopment stage performance, including the number of generated concepts and prototypes, and more efficient new product development (NPD) team collaboration.     

IT non-conformity in institutional environments: E-marketplace adoption in the government sector

Institutional authority is a factor that impacts adoption of IT. Institutional theory incorporates three different but complimentary perspectives and we used these to develop a layered analysis of IT adoption in organizations. We used a case study of State Government agencies in Australia to show how layers of authority influenced the adoption or rejection of technology and that such forces varied in their influence over time. Based on this, we proposed the notion of patterns of conformity and non-conformity which recognise the changes in levels of compliance over time as organizational forces arise. In particular, the alignment of layers of authority acts to ensure conformity with or rejection of IT adoption decisions.     

An empirical examination of a process-oriented IT business success model

The value of information technology (IT) to modern organizations is almost undeniable. However, the determination of that value has been elusive in research and practice. We used a process-oriented research model developed using two streams of IT research to examine the value of IT in business organizations. One stream is characterized by examining how IT and non-IT variables affect other so-called IT success variables. The second stream is commonly referred to as IT business value, defined as the contribution of IT to firm performance. The resulting research model is referred to in our paper as the IT business success model. Data was collected from 225 top IS executives in fairly large organizations to empirically examine several hypotheses derived from theory concerning the causal nature of the IT business success model. A set of measures for the IT business success model was developed through an intense investigation of the IT literature. The measures were tested for validity and reliability using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses that resulted from past research and conceptually illustrated in the research model were assessed using structural equation analysis. The implications of these findings and the limitations of the study are discussed in an effort to contribute to building a process-oriented theory base for IT business success at the organizational level of analysis.     

Maximizing the positive influence of IT for improving organizational performance

In the analysis of whether information technology (IT) has an impact on organizational performance, focus is usually placed on the relationship between an organization’s investments in IT and that organization’s performance. Therefore, it is standard to devote special attention to the size and complexity of the organization, to the investments in other organizational resources that may affect the performance of IT, and to the manner in which the two variables are measured. However, one area that has not been well explored is the manner in which the relationship between investments in IT and organizational performance develops. In this article, we show empirically that the planning and management of IT influence the organization’s endowment of resources (physical and human), which consequently has positive effects on each of the IT-related areas usually found in organizations (applications, reliable and secure systems and communications, and training and support). In turn, the functioning of these areas influences the impact of IT on the organization, which then has positive effects on organizational performance. We have used data corresponding to IT management in Spanish universities, as well as independent rankings that are useful for evaluating their performance.     

Assessing the strategic value of Information Technology: An analysis on the insurance sector

Even though companies today are well aware of the pitfalls in making IT investments and that many IT applications have become commodities, IT projects still fail. Obviously IT has a strategic value to firms but they have not determined how IT management capabilities and IT governance schemes explain commonalities and differences in their use of IT.     

A strategic path to study IT use through users’ IT culture and IT needs: A mixed-method grounded theory

We consider recent research in IS, as well as recent advances in the fields of psychology and sociology. As an alternative to existing models, we propose a new strategic path to study IT use through users’ IT culture and IT needs. Our contributions are (1) theoretical: we investigate the predictive value for IT usage of several new constructs and show that both expectancy-based and needs-based theories of motivation should be taken into account in acceptance models, (2) methodological: we adopt an exploratory, mixed-method, grounded theory approach and use both quantitative and qualitative data and methods, an unusual approach in IS research that allows new perspectives, and (3) practical: our results highlight the fact that highly IT-acculturated users may hinder (rather than facilitate) new-IT acceptance if their situational IT needs are ignored. Therefore, when the strategic decision of implementing new IT is made, managerial attention must be focused on these users in order to drive toward the alignment of their IT needs and managerially-perceived organizational IT needs.Our work opens the way to numerous avenues for future research.     

Senior executives' use of information technology

There is a paucity of literature focusing on the ingredients for effective top management, i.e. senior executives, use of Information Technology (IT). In practice, many senior executives argue that they do not see a connection between what IT does and their tasks as executives. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a research model was developed and tested to assess the factors that influence the use of IT by senior executives. A dedicated system supporting the task of a senior executive, an Executive Information System (EIS), was used as the IT tool under review. A large number of external variables were identified and hypothesized, influencing the core elements of TAM. To test the research model using structural equation modeling, cross-sectional data was gathered from eighty-seven senior executives drawn from twenty-one European-based multinationals. The results supported the core TAM and found only a small number of antecedent variables influencing actual use, either directly or indirectly. In addition to identifying the external factors, three of these key variables are under managerial control. They can be used to design organizational or managerial interventions that increase effective utilization of IT.     

The synergistic effects of IT-enabled resources on organizational capabilities and firm performance

Computing the value of IT investments and clarifying how the portfolio of IT/IS resources affect a firm's performance and sustainable competitive advantage are critical issues today. We attempted to develop an effective measurement technique and use organizational theory to discover the strategic role of IT-enabled resources in the firm's competitive agenda. Based on a resource-based view of the firm, we proposed a way to evaluate the synergistic effect of such resources on the firm's capabilities, as they, influence the firms’ strategic objectives and improve its financial performance. The technological, human, and organizational resources work together to generate sub-additive cost and super-additive value synergies. Operations, R&D, and marketing capabilities allow firms to implement a business strategy that reflects its customer needs. A survey was conducted to check our framework. Our findings should provide valuable decision guides for practitioners when choosing a portfolio of IT/IS resources for implementing business strategies.     

Managing culture creep: Toward a strategic model of user IT culture

This article describes a framework of IT user culture that has implications for organizational IT strategy. The research was conducted in multiple settings with a grounded theory approach. The resulting framework is anchored to nine archetypal IT user profiles and encompasses their inter-group dynamics. By adopting a cultural perspective on IT usage, the framework can inform IT adoption and usage strategy with possible cultural antecedents and determinants of usage constructs common in IS research. The proposed framework suggests how management can influence the migration of IT user culture (culture creep). This framework can also enrich other acceptance models in order to more fully consider the human factor during IT implementation and adoption. The results underscore the importance of culture-customizing organizational IT socialization, training and evolution programs.     

Business analytics maturity of firms: an examination of the relationships between managerial perception of IT,business analytics maturity and success

This study develops a measure for business analytics (BA) maturity and empirically examines the relationships between managerial perception of IT, BA maturity and BA success. The findings suggest that (1) BA maturity can be measured via BA integration & management support, process-level benefits of BA and technology & data analytics capabilities, (2) BA maturity positively affects organizations’ overall BA success, and (3) managerial perception of IT positively influence organizations’ achievement of BA maturity.