In this paper we test a primary postulate of the resource-based theory of IT business value. From this perspective, IT is not rare but pervasive, and it is only the combination of investments with other resources that makes the investment inimitable. Therefore, the effect of IT on firm performance cannot be direct effects, but rather firm performance can only be affected when IT expenditures ar...

Rajiv Kohli Mason School of Business The College of William and Mary [email protected]

In this paper we use a large firm-level dataset to extend previous studies by augmenting the endogenous growth accounting framework with a data mining technique to analyze the complex relationships between the use of IT and organizational practices. There is emerging evidence of recent emphasis on organizational factors and a greater shift towards ‘‘IT complementarities” in which value addition...

Despite the importance to researchers, managers, and policy makers of how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational performance, there is uncertainty and debate about what we know and don't know. A review of the literature reveals that studies examining the association between information technology and organizational performance are divergent in how they conceptualize key const...

Strategic alignment focuses on the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT (Information Technology) and other functional organizations (e.g., finance, marketing, H/R, manufacturing). Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should, or could be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves into a relationship whe...

Although the role of information technology (IT) in enabling competitive advantage is well established, many organizations still find it a challenge to convert IT investments and assets into new business opportunities. The case study in this article describes how United Parcel Service (UPS) has used IT investments to create IT assets and IT competencies, which have led to business capabilities,...

Ever since the introduction of an ‘IT productivity paradox’ by Robert Solow, the business value of information technology (IT) has been the topic of many debates by practitioners as well as by academics. In these discussions a distinction can be made between the variance approach, investigating what the relationship between IT investments and organisational performance is, and the process appro...

M. Ernest J. M. Nisavic The current stage of information technology (IT) evolution focuses on moving from a technology-based to a services-based orientation. To that end, IT leadership has had to shift from focusing primarily on technological issues to learning to manage IT like a business, with IT services as the primary ‘‘product’’ produced and consumed by customers. The Component Business Mo...

Even as firms continue to invest substantially to develop and maintain their information technology assets, the means of judging the impact of those investments remain highly fragmented. The focus of scholars and their assessment methods varies substantially. To gain better insight into the business value returned from the spending of companies for information technology, an investigation invol...