Paths to IT Performance: A Configurational Analysis of IT Capabilities

François Bergeron, Anne-Marie Croteau, Louis Raymond, Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu

2017

Abstract

This study seeks to describe and explain the manner by which the environmental uncertainty, IT strategic orientation and IT capabilities of manufacturing SMEs contribute to their IT performance, that is, to their realization of benefits from the use of IT. A qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) allows to unveil three IT capability configurations associated to high-IT performance firms. Dependent upon the configuration, the core causal conditions involve an IT Defender strategic orientation, and various combinations of IT managerial, functional, informational and technological capabilities. These results support the idea of a gestalt alignment threshold for the IT capabilities of high-IT performance firms, that is, the idea that different IT capability configurations can be equally effective.

References

  1. Bergeron, F. and Raymond, L. (1995). The Contribution of IT to the Bottom Line: A Contingency Perspective of Strategic Dimensions. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems, Amsterdam, pp. 167- 181.
  2. Bergeron, F., Raymond, L. and Rivard, S. (2004). Ideal patterns of strategic fit and business performance, Information & Management, 41 (8), pp. 1003-1020.
  3. Bergeron, F., Raymond, L. and Rivard, S. (2001). "Fit in Strategic Information Technology Management Research: An Empirical Comparison of Perspectives", Omega, 29 (2), pp. 125-142.
  4. Bharadwaj, A. S. (2000). A resource-based perspective on information technology capability and firm performance: An empirical investigation. MIS Quarterly, 24 (1), pp.169-196
  5. Blili, S. and Raymond, L. (1993). Information technology: Threats and opportunities for SMEs. International Journal of Information Management, 13 (6), pp. 439- 448.
  6. Caldeira, M.M. and Ward, J.M. (2003). Using resourcebased theory to interpret the successful adoption and use of information systems and technology in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises. European Journal of Information Systems, 12, pp. 127- 141.
  7. Cegielski, C. G., Jones-Farmer, L. A., Wu, Y. and Hazen, B. (2012). Adoption of cloud computing technologies in supply chains: An organizational information processing theory approach. International Journal of Logistics Management, 23 (2), pp. 184-211.
  8. Charoensuk, S., Wongsurawat, W. and Khang, D. B. (2014). Business-IT Alignment: A Practical Research Approach. Journal of High Technology Management Research, 25 (2), pp. 132-147.
  9. Christopher, M. and Lee, H. (2004). Mitigating supply chain risk through improved confidence. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 34 (5), pp. 388-396.
  10. Clark, C. E., Cavanaugh, N. C., Brown, C. V. and Sambamurthy, V. (1997). Building Change-Readiness Capabilities in the IS Organization: Insights from the Bell Atlantic Experience. MIS Quarterly, 21 (4), pp. 425-455.
  11. Cragg, P.B., Mills, A. and Suraweera, T. (2010). Understanding IT management in SMEs. Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 13 (1), pp. 27-34.
  12. Croteau, A.-M. and Bergeron, F. (2001). An information technology trilogy: Business strategy, technological deployment and organizational performance, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 20 (2), pp. 77-99.
  13. DeLone, W.H. and McLean, E.R. (2003). The DeLone and McLean model of information systems success: a tenyear update. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19 (4), pp. 9-30.
  14. Dibrell, C., Davis, P.S. and Craig, J. (2008). Fueling innovation through information technology in SMEs, Journal of Small Business Management, 46 (2), pp. 203-218.
  15. Dutot, V., Bergeron, F., Raymond, L., (2014). Information management for the internationalization of SMEs: An exploratory study based on a strategic alignment perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 34 (5), pp.672-681.
  16. El Sawy, O.A., Malhotra, A., Park, Y. and Pavlou, P.A. (2010). Seeking the Configurations of Digital Ecodynamics: It Takes Three to Tango. Information Systems Research, 21 (4), pp. 835-848.
  17. Escribá-Esteve, A., Sánchez-Peinado, L. and SánchezPeinado, E. (2009). The Influence of Top Management Teams in the Strategic Orientation and Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. British Journal of Management, 20 (4), pp. 581-597.
  18. Fiss, P. C. (2011). Building better causal theories: a fuzzy set approach to typologies in organizational research. Academy of Management Journal, 54 (2), pp. 393-420.
  19. Fiss, P.C. (2007), A set-theoretic approach to organizational configurations, Academy of Management Review, 32 (4), pp. 1180-1198.
  20. Flynn, B. B. and Flynn, E. J. (1999). Information processing alternatives for coping with manufacturing environmental complexity. Decision Sciences, 30 (4), pp. 1021-1052.
  21. Ganter, A and Hecker, A. (2014). Configurational paths to organizational innovation: qualitative comparative analyses of antecedents and contingencies, Journal of Business Research, 67, pp. 1285-1292.
  22. Gattiker, T. F. (2007). Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the manufacturing-marketing interface: An information-processing theory view. International Journal of Production Research, 45 (13), pp. 2895- 2917.
  23. Guillemette, M.G. and Paré, G. (2012). Toward a new theory of the contribution of the IT function in organizations. MIS Quarterly, 36 (2), pp. 529-551.
  24. Gregory, R.W., Keil, M., Muntermann, J., and Mähring, M. (2015), Paradoxes and the Nature of Ambidexterity in IT transformation Programs, Information Systems Research, 26 (1), pp. 57-80.
  25. Henderson, J.C. and Venkatraman, N. (1999). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal, 38 (2&3), pp. 472-484.
  26. Kan, A.K.S., Adegbite, E., El Omari. S., and Abdellatif (2016). On the use of qualitative comparative analysis in management, Journal of Business Research, 69 (4), pp. 1458-1463
  27. Kohli, R. and Grover, V. (2008). Business value of IT: An essay on expanding research directions to keep up with the times. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 9 (1), pp. 23-39.
  28. Kyobe, M. (2008). The influence of strategy-making types on IT alignment in SMEs. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 10 (1), pp. 28-35.
  29. Liu, G., Shah, R. and Babakus, E. (2012). When to mass customize: The impact of environmental uncertainty. Decision Sciences, 45 (5), pp. 851-887.
  30. Marbert, V.A., Soni, A. and Venkataramanan M.A. (2003). The impact of size on enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation in the US manufacturing sector. Omega, 31, pp. 235-246.
  31. Miles, R.E. and Snow, C.C. (2003). Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
  32. Miller, D. and C. Dröge (1986). Psychological and Traditional Determinants of Structure. Administrative Science Quarterly 31, pp. 539-560.
  33. Miner, A.S. (1990). Structural evolution through idiosyncratic jobs: the potential for unplanned learning, Organization Science, 1 (2), pp. 195 -210.
  34. Pflughoest K.A., Ramamurthy, K., Soofi, E.S., YasaiArdekani, M. and Zahedi, F. (2003). Multiple conceptualizations of small business Web use and benefit, Decision Sciences, 34 (3), pp. 467-512.
  35. Philip, G. and Booth M.E. (2001). A new six 'S' framework on the relationship between the role of information systems (IS) and competencies in 'IS' management. Journal of Business Research, 51, pp. 233-247.
  36. Ragin, C.C. (1987). The Comparative Method, University of California Press: Berkeley.
  37. Ragin, C.C. (2000). Fuzzy Set Social Science, Chicago University Press: Chicago.
  38. Ragin, C.C. (2008). User's Guide to Fuzzy-set / Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Department of Sociology, University of California.
  39. Rai, A., Tang, X., Brown, P. and Keil, M. (2006). Assimilation patterns in the use of electronic procurement innovations: A cluster analysis. Information & Management, 43, pp. 336-349.
  40. Raymond, L., Bergeron, F., Croteau, A.-M. and St-Pierre, J. (2015). Developing absorptive capacity through ebusiness: The case of international SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 53 (S1), pp. 75-94.
  41. Raymond, L., Paré, G. and Bergeron, F. (1995). Matching information technology and organizational structure: Implications for performance. European Journal of Information Systems, 4 (1), pp. 3- 6.
  42. Rekik, L. and Bergeron, F. (2017). Green practices motivators and performance in SMEs: A qualitative comparative analysis, Journal of Small Business Strategy, 27(1), pp. 1-17.
  43. Riemenschneider, C.K. and Mykytyn, P.P. (2000). What small business executives have learned about managing information technology. Information & Management, 37, pp. 257-269.
  44. Rihoux, B. and Ragin, C. (2009). Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques, Los Angeles: Sage.
  45. Tornatsky, L.G. and Fleischer, M. (1990), The processes of technological innovation, Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books.
  46. Tushman, M. and Nadler, D. A. (1978). Information processing as an integrating con-cept in organization design. Academy of Management Review, 3 (3), pp. 613-624.
  47. Venkatraman, N. (1994). IT-enabled business transformation: From automation to business scope redefinition, Sloan Management Review, 35 (2), pp. 73- 87.
  48. Ward, J., Taylor, P. and Bond, P. (1996). Evaluation and realisation of IS/IT benefits: An empirical study of current practice. European Journal of Information Systems, 4 (4), pp. 214-226.
  49. Woodside, A.G. (2013) Moving beyond multiple regression to algorithms: Calling for adoption of a paradigm shift from symmetric to asymmetric thinking in data analysis and crafting theory, Journal of Business Research, 66, pp. 463-472.
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Bergeron F., Croteau A., Raymond L. and Uwizeyemungu S. (2017). Paths to IT Performance: A Configurational Analysis of IT Capabilities . In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS, ISBN 978-989-758-249-3, pages 294-305. DOI: 10.5220/0006346702940305


in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceis17,
author={François Bergeron and Anne-Marie Croteau and Louis Raymond and Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu},
title={Paths to IT Performance: A Configurational Analysis of IT Capabilities},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,},
year={2017},
pages={294-305},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0006346702940305},
isbn={978-989-758-249-3},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 3: ICEIS,
TI - Paths to IT Performance: A Configurational Analysis of IT Capabilities
SN - 978-989-758-249-3
AU - Bergeron F.
AU - Croteau A.
AU - Raymond L.
AU - Uwizeyemungu S.
PY - 2017
SP - 294
EP - 305
DO - 10.5220/0006346702940305