Information technology is generally considered an enabler of a firm's agility. A typical premise is that greater IT investment enables a firm to be more agile. However, it is not uncommon that IT can also hinder and sometimes even impede organizational agility. We propose and theorize this frequently observed but understudied IT-agility contradiction by which IT may enable or impede agility. We develop the premise that organizations need to develop superior firm-wide IT capability to successfully manage their IT resources to realize agility. We refine the conceptualization and measurement of IT capability as a latent construct reflected in its three dimensions: IT infrastructure capability, IT business spanning capability, and IT proactive stance. We also conceptualize two types of organizational agility: market capitalizing agility and operational adjustment agility. We then conduct a matched-pair field survey of business and information systems executives in 128 organizations to empirically examine the link between a firm's IT capability and agility. Business executives responded to measurement scales of the two types of agility and organizational context variables, and IS executives responded to measurement scales of IT capabilities and IS context variables. The results show a significant positive relationship between IT capability and the two types of organizational agility. We also find a significant positive joint effect of IT capability and IT spending on operational adjustment agility but not on market capitalizing agility. The findings suggest a possible resolution to the contradictory effect of IT on agility: while more IT spending does not lead to greater agility, spending it in such a way as to enhance and foster IT capabilities does. Our study provides initial empirical evidence to better understand essential IT capabilities and their relationship with organizational agility. Our findings provide a number of useful implications for research and managerial practices.

The dramatic growth of interorganizational systems (10s) has changed the way organizations conduct their business, and has resulted in significant tangible and intangible benefits being realized by participating firms. However, the implementation of these 10s requires the cooperation and commitment of all the participating members. These members may have complex economic and business relationships among themselves that can result in a number of social, political, and economic factors influencing the adoption and implementation of 10s.This study examines the role of interorganizational and organizational factors on the decision mode for adoption of IOS, in the specific context of electronic data interchange (EDI). Four interorganizational factors, based on the socio-political framework derived from research in marketing, and five organizational factors based on research in IS were used in the study. The data for the study were collected through a large scale field survey. ' h o respondents, the saledpurchase manager and the IS manager, from 201 firms responded to the survey. The results of discriminant analysis of the data reveal that two interorganizational variables, competitive pressure and exercised power, and two organizational variables, internal need and top management support, are important variables to differentiate firms with proactive decision mode from firms with reactive decision mode.The study also evaluates the differences between proactive and reactive f m s on three implementation outcomes. Proactive firms are found to have greater extent of adaptation, more external connectivity with trading partners, and better integration of ED1 information in their internal IS applications.

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Internet technology is often considered to be fundamentally changing the business paradigm and increasingly integrated into the marketing function. The authors offer a conceptual model linking market orientation, marketing competencies, and export performance and investigate the role of the Internet technology in these relationships. On the basis of an analysis of survey data from 381 manufacturing firms involved in exporting, the authors find that firms' integration of Internet technology into marketing activities generally leverages the influence of market orientation on the firms' marketing competencies (compared with competitors), which in turn have a positive impact on their export performance. The authors identify competitive intensity, firm size, and degree of export dependence as additional moderating variables.Notes: Values in the cells are marketing competencies measured on a 1-5 scale (1 = "well below industry average," 5 = "well above industry average"). at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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