From IT Capability to Manufacturing Flexibility: The Role of Knowledge Acquisition and Customer–Supplier Integration

Information Technologies (IT) and IT-based capabilities represent a sovereign approach to firm survival and success in today’s business environment. The reflections of information technologies on company performance has always been a controversial topic in the management literature. As previous studies examining these kinds of relationships reported mixed results in terms of information technologies efficiency paradox, scholars are still trying to specify the underlying mechanisms and organizational factors linking IT to financial performance. Building on the resource-based view and positioning theory, this paper focuses on sustainable IT capabilities to generate value from IT investments. Moreover, the conflicting results regarding the effects of IT on firm performance lead to questions such as what sort of organizational contexts influence IT usage and enable firms to achieve business goals. This study considers IT capability as a three-dimensional construct—managerial IT capability, technical IT capability, and human support—and investigates the effects of sustainable IT capability on firm performance as well as analyzing the moderating effect of innovative climate. By studying the data from 221 managers of IT companies listed in the top 500 list of Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA), we found that: (1) managerial and technical IT capabilities have significant and positive effects on quantitative performance, all aspects of IT capability—managerial IT capability, technical IT capability, and human support—are significantly and positively associated with qualitative performance, and (2) the relationship between technical IT capability and quantitative performance becomes stronger when the organizational climate is more innovation-oriented. (3) Similarly, the relationship between managerial and technical IT capabilities and qualitative performance becomes even stronger when the organizational climate is more innovative. The study concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications.

Most studies on information technology (IT) capability have drawn their conceptualization from the tenets of resource-based view (RBV). Though path dependence is central to the concept of RBV, very few studies have examined the developmental paths of IT capabilities, which are typically treated as first-order constructs with their effects on firm performance investigated as direct causal links.

The impact of different contract structures on IT investment in logistics outsourcing

IT Capability as Moderator Between IT Investment and Firm Performance

Prior studies of information technology (IT) capability mostly focused on dimensions and effects of IT capability at intra-organizational level in western context. This paper extends intra-organizational IT capability to inter-organizational IT capability, specifically examining process-oriented inter-organizational IT capability from a process-oriented perspective in an emerging market context. The authors use survey data from Chinese firms to identify dimensions of inter-organizational IT capability and validate its scale, compare the differences of inter-organizational IT capability in firms with three types of ownership structure, and test the relationship between these inter-organizational IT capability dimensions and firm performance. A comparative analysis reveals that seven inter-organizational IT capability measures identified in Chinese context are extended or more important than in the Western context. Empirical results show that inter-organizational IT capability varies between state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises. It is also found that four dimensions of inter-organizational IT capability have different impacts on firm performance.

Information technology capability and value creation: Evidence from the US banking industry

The increasing competitive pressure as a result of technological development, globalization, changing customer demand led to survival challenges of many banks in the developing countries and demanded for improvement in quality customer service and speed to enhance profitability performance and cost reduction. This study is aim to examine the moderating effects of information technology (IT) capability on the relationship between business process reengineering (BPR) factors and organizational performance of Nigerian banks. Field study survey has been conducted under natural research setting. The sample of the data was received from commercial banks, microfinance banks and primary mortgage financial institutions in Nigeria. The tool of analysis used in this study was hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS software. The findings showed that IT capability moderated the relationship between BPR factors such as change management, customer focus, management commitment and overall organizational performance of bank. Also, the result revealed that IT capability moderated the relationship between IT investment, management commitment and customer service management performance of bank. The outcome of this study provides important insight to researchers for further understanding on the effects of BPR factors and IT capability on organizational performance.

PurposeOpen innovation and information systems have been key topics in the theoretical domain, but little empirical research thoroughly examines how information technology (IT) capability affects open innovation performance. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between IT capability and open innovation performance and to expose the inner mechanism at the firm level.Design/methodology/approachThis paper collected firm-level data in China; 232 usable questionnaires from different firms were collected. Then, the study used a structural equation model by AMOS for hypothesis testing.FindingsThe results indicate that both internal IT capability and external IT capability have positive impacts on open innovation performance; potential absorptive capacity and realized absorptive capacity mediate the relationship between external IT capability and open innovation performance. Additionally, realized absorptive capacity plays a mediating role in the relationship between internal IT capability and open innovation performance.Practical implicationsThese findings indicate that practitioners should pay attention to the important relationship between absorptive capacity and IT capability and open innovation performance in Chinese businesses.Originality/valueExisting research has emphasized the influence of IT on open innovation, but empirical studies have not thoroughly focused on the inner mechanisms of the effect of IT capability on open innovation performance. Drawing on firm capability theory, this paper classifies IT capability as internal and external IT capability and absorptive capacity as potential and realized absorptive capacity. Then, this paper confirms the mediating role of absorptive capacity between IT capability and open innovation performance.

Information technology (IT) capability is an organizational capability that enables organizations to acquire, deploy, combine, and reconfigure IT resources. As such, it is often investigated in conjunction with organizational agility—an organization’s ability to sense and respond to changes—and organizational performance. Studies on IT capability distinguish between reactive and proactive IT capability and identify varying effects in relation to agility and performance. While reactive IT capability supports and enhances work processes, proactive IT capability supports and enhances business strategies. In the light of the mixed results of prior research, we conduct a meta-analytical investigation into the varying effects that reactive and proactive IT capability have on organizational agility and organizational performance. We identified 6.436 studies from multiple sources that we systematically reduced to include 72 empirical studies in our analysis. Contrary to previous results and widely held opinion, our meta-analysis neither finds support for differences in effect size between reactive (r+ = 0.39, k = 34, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [0.34, 0.44]) and proactive IT capability (r+ = 0.38, k = 21, 95% CI [0.31, 0.45]) toward agility (z = 0.68, p = 0.25), nor from reactive IT capability (r+ = 0.31, k = 43, 95% CI [0.26, 0.37]) and proactive IT capability (r+ = 0.33, k = 25, 95% CI [0.27, 0.40]) toward performance (z = 1.11, p = 0.13). Given the importance of IT capability, we discuss possible explanations and propose four areas for future research: latency, sequence, configurational, and theoretical multiplicity of IT capability.

PurposeThis study aims to examine how three types of information technology (IT) capability (supplier technological capability, customer technology-sensing capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure) facilitate knowledge acquisition by the customer when the supplier is dominant in the supplier-customer relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe unit of analysis was project. The authors designed two different questionnaires that were responded by the project manager of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software supplier and the contact person of the customer organization in the same project, respectively. The two questionnaires were matched by means of project name. The final sample included a total of 136 projects. The authors used ordinary least squares to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe authors found that supplier power advantage negatively influenced knowledge acquisition by the customer. The three types of IT capability did not have direct impacts on knowledge acquisition. The moderating effect of customer technology-sensing capability was not significant either. However, supplier technological capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure attenuated the negative effect of supplier power advantage on knowledge acquisition, indicating that both factors promoted knowledge acquisition.Originality/valueKnowledge acquisition is important for the success of software implementation in the supplier-customer relationship. There is limited evidence in the literature on how to apply externally oriented IT capability to enhance knowledge management, improve knowledge acquisition and manage the business relationship that is typically dominated by the software supplier. The authors provide evidence to examine related issues.

探索it在旅游变化和弹性中的作用：论科技导向的调节性摘要研究目的本论文探索三大IT能力通过引进来、跨境、和走出去等方式, 在旅游供应链变化和弹性方面的重要性。此外, 本论文还探索了在其关系中科技导向的调解作用。研究设计/方法/途径研究设计/方法/途径本论文采样了旅游供应链的多单元数据。因此, 两大旅游供应链团体的数据被采集：酒店经理和旅游和旅行团。采样方式采取邮件问卷的方式, 数据采用 M3 软件使用偏最小方程来计算SmartPLS 2.0研究结果完整样本量为221份。 本论文结果表明, 引进来IT能力是旅游变化和弹性的有效作用者。然而, 跨境IT能力并没有对旅游变化有显著效果；其对旅游弹性却有着显著作用。走出去IT能力对于旅游弹性没有显著效果；然而, 其对旅游变化有着显著效果。此外, 科技导向在引进来IT→旅游变化；引进来IT能力→旅游弹性等关系中起到有效调解作用。还有, 科技导向对于跨境IT能力→旅游弹性以及走出去IT能力→旅游变化的关系中起到积极调解作用。研究原创性/价值本论文是首篇探索IT能力在旅游多样变化和弹性发展中的作用的文章。此外, 本论文还是首篇探索科技导向在加强IT能力对旅游变化和弹性中的影响的文章。关键词 – 旅游、变化、弹性、科技导向、it能力

How information technology capability and knowledge integration capability interact to affect business model design:A polynomial regression with response surface analysis

The significance of agility is widely accepted because agile organizations are more successful in changing and competitive environments. Although the relationship of information technology (IT) capability and knowledge capability with organizational agility has been documented, limited information is available on the extent to which these two capabilities affect organizational agility. Attempts to understand the effect of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility in the presence of contextual factors have also been few. Based on data collected from 123 organizations in China, we examine the moderating effects of two contextual factors (environmental uncertainty and information intensity) on the relationship of IT and knowledge capability with organizational agility. We contribute to current knowledge by showing that environmental uncertainty positively moderates the effects of IT capability and knowledge capability on organizational agility and that information intensity positively moderates the effects of knowledge capability on organizational agility. IT capability and knowledge capability are more effective in the presence of high environmental uncertainty and information intensity. While we find that both IT and knowledge capabilities have positive effects on organizational agility, knowledge capability is more effective than IT capability.

Background: Companies can improve their business performance, increase revenues and reduce costs by enhancing their information technology (IT) capability. On the other side, there is an increasing importance of human resource management (HRM) practices related to IT utilization, which are important for the business performance of a company in the rapidly changing knowledge-based economy. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to analyze the relations among IT capability, HRM capability and the firm’s performance outcomes. Methods/Approach: The paper uses survey data and Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationships among IT capability, HRM capability and firms’ performance. Results: This paper reveals that IT capability to some extent determines firms’ business performance but it plays more important role in enhancing HRM capability. In addition, HRM capability significantly impacts business performance. Conclusions: The findings indicate that managers should not focus on allocating resources only for IT investments. In order to achieve better business performances, these technologies need to be used to support all business processes including HRM activities.

Firms are increasingly dependent on external resources and are establishing portfolios of interorganizational relationships (IRs) to leverage external resources for competitive advantage. However, the systems of information technology (IT) and process capabilities that firms should develop to manage IR portfolios dynamically are not well-understood. In order to theorize how key structural IT capabilities (IT integration and IT reconfiguration) and competitive process capabilities (process alignment, partnering flexibility, and offering flexibility) operate as systems of complements, we draw on the competitive dynamics perspective and resource dependency theory and on the literature for IT business value, interorganizational systems, and interorganizational relationship management. We also theorize how a firm's IR portfolio moderates the effects of structural IT capabilities on competitive process capabilities and why a firm's environmental turbulence moderates the effects of complementary process capabilities on competitive performance. We test our model using survey data from 318 firms in 4 industries. Our results provide broad support for the following: (1) structural IT capabilities and process capabilities operating as a system of complements, (2) the effects of structural IT capabilities on competitive process capabilities being contingent on IR portfolio concentration, and (3) the effects of complementary process capabilities on competitive performance being contingent on environmental turbulence. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of how firms should develop complementary systems of structural IT capabilities and competitive process capabilities to manage IR portfolios dynamically and leverage external resources.