Abstract

In the study of IT business value (ITBV), the notion of complementarities has been used to explain why firms with similar level of IT investments have received varying level of returns. Complementarities suggest that greater business value can be derived when IT investment is accompanied by other complementary organizational investments. This paper introduces a novel analytical approach called fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The method is based on principles of comparison used in the field of social and political science, and can be applied to explain the complex causality of IT business value. We have found that fsQCA was able to show that organizational factors in complex configurations may play different roles as core and periphery factors in affecting organizational performance. Such organizational practices have often been overlooked in many empirical studies but can play a non-trivial role in the organizational processes.

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