Exploring Information Technology Capabilities from Multiple Aspects of the Resource-Based Theory

Abstract

This study elucidates the nature of information technology (IT) capabilities by developing an integrated framework that expounds upon the hierarchy inherent within IT capabilities. This research uses qualitative interviews with 64 IT professionals grounded in the resource-based theory to delineate three layers of IT capabilities. At the foundational level, IT capabilities reflect firms’ IT-related assets, encompassing IT infrastructure, informational, and enabled assets that are valuable, rare, and inimitable. Higher up, firms’ IT capabilities manifest through competence in organising these IT-related assets effectively. Operational IT competence is instrumental in mobilising and deploying each IT-related asset, while dynamic IT capabilities represent firms’ capacity to reconfigure and assimilate various operational IT competencies. This research contributes to the field by providing an integrative theoretical understanding of how IT capabilities are formed. The proposed model addresses fragmentation in the existing literature, facilitating the development of more cohesive, evidence-based strategies for generating business value from IT.