D espite evidence of a positive relationship between information technology (IT) investments and firm performance, results still vary across firms and performance measures. We explore two organizational explanations for this variation: differences in firms' IT investment allocations and their IT capabilities. We develop a theoretical model of IT resources, defined as the combination of specific IT assets and organizational IT capabilities. We argue that investments into different IT assets are guided by firms' strategies (e.g., cost leadership or innovation) and deliver value along performance dimensions consistent with their strategic purpose. We hypothesize that firms derive additional value per IT dollar through a mutually reinforcing system of organizational IT capabilities built on complementary practices and competencies. Empirically, we test the impact of IT assets, IT capabilities, and their combination on four dimensions of firm performance: market valuation, profitability, cost, and innovation. Our results-based on data on IT investment allocations and IT capabilities in 147 U.S. firms from 1999 to 2002-demonstrate that IT investment allocations and organizational IT capabilities drive differences in firm performance. Firms' total IT investment is not associated with performance, but investments in specific IT assets explain performance differences along dimensions consistent with their strategic purpose. In addition, a system of organizational IT capabilities strengthens the performance effects of IT assets and broadens their impact beyond their intended purpose. The results help explain variance in returns to IT capital across firms and expand our understanding of alignment between IT and organizations. We illustrate our findings with examples from a case study of 7-Eleven Japan.

Large amounts of resources have been and continue to be invested in information technology (IT). Much of this investment is made on the basis of-faith that returns will occur. This study presents the results of an empirical test of the performance effects of IT investment in the manufacturing sector. Six years of historical data on IT investment and performance was collected for 33 valve manufacturing firms from the CEO, the controller and the production manager in each firm. Investment was perceptually categorized by management objective (i.e.: into strategic, informational and transactional) and tested against four measures of performance (sales growth, return on assets, and two measures of labour productivity). Heavy use of transactional IT investment was found to be significantly and consistently associated with strong firm performance over the six years studied. Heavy use of strategic IT was found to be neutral in the long term and associated only with relatively poor performing firms in the short term. This study suggests that early adopters of strategic IT could have spectacular success but once the technology becomes common the competitive advantage is lost. In addition, the context of the firm was included in the analysis. Conversion effectiveness, which measures the quality of the firm-wide management and commitment to IT, was found to be a significant moderator between strategic IT investment and firm performance.

£ Case Study: an in-depth description of a firm's approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education).

Kata kunci: IT infrastructure, IT services, business process redesign and reengineering, business strategy, IT alignment Masalah:Business Process Redesign (BPR) merupakan alat yang tepat tetapi sekaligus menantang untuk merubah suatu organisasi. Pada BPR, infrastruktur teknologi informasi (TI) memiliki peranan yang penting, karena dapat menentukan keberhasilan dari BPR tersebut. Tujuan:Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menunjukkan sejauh mana infrastruktur TI berkontribusi terhadap suksesnya implementasi BPR di dalam organisasi. PembahasanBPR merupakan alat yang tepat untuk merubah suatu organisasi dan merupakan salah satu isu yang penting bagi para eksekutif sistem informasi (SI) sejak tahun 1990-an, dimana hampir 63% eksekutif SI memaparkan bahwa perusahaan mereka secara aktif melakukan proyek process redesign. Tetapi implementasi dari BPR ternyata tidaklah mudah, sekitar 68% perusahaan mengalami banyak permasalahan ketika menggunakan BPR.Pada beberapa tulisan telah dibahas bahwa ternyata infrastruktur TI memiliki peranan penting dalam mensukseskan implementasi dari BPR (Brancheau et al. 1996; Hammer and Champy 1993). Oleh karena itu pada artikel kali ini penulis melakukan studi eksplorasi yang bertujuan untuk memaparkan sejauh mana infrastruktur TI berkontribusi terhadap keberhasilan dari implementasi BPR tersebut. MetodeHubungan antara infrastruktur TI dengan implementasi BPR diteliti dengan melakukan studi eksplorasi terhadap 4 perusahaan menggunakan multiple case design yang merupakan suatu metode pendekatan empiris yang tepat untuk mempelajari fenomenafenomena yang kompleks.

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