Information technology-enabled dynamic capabilities and their indirect effect on competitive performance: Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA

A central question for researchers and practitioners is whether and how IT (information technology) can help build a competitive advantage in uncertain environments. To address this question, the present study seeks to empirically explore the relationship between IT-enabled dynamic capabilities and competitive performance. By drawing upon recent thinking in the strategy and IT management literatures, this paper argues that the impact of IT-enabled dynamic capabilities on competitive performance is mediated by organizational agility. Using survey data from 274 international firms and by applying structural equation modelling (SEM), outcomes suggest that IT-enabled dynamic capabilities facilitate two types of agility, market capitalizing and operational adjustment agility, which in sequence enhance competitive performance. The confluence of environmental factors is examined by fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results of fsQCA reinforce and refine findings of the PLS analysis concerning the limits and conditions to which IT-enabled dynamic capabilities add value. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.