Start Date
11-8-2016
Description
This study investigates the causal complexity and diversity of the relationship between organizational digitization and firm performance. Digitization – defined as the penetration of IT in the organization – is a complex organizational phenomenon in that it involves changes in organizational strategy, business processes, organizational knowledge and eventually the whole socio-technical organizational system, thus influencing organizational performance. We adopt a holistic configuration theory lens and a set-theoretic method, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explain how such interdependent relationships among digitization and organizational strategic elements result in high firm performance. We apply the set-theoretic method to a longitudinal field data set collected from 1816 Canadian firms. We found multiple equifinal configurations that result in high performance. By comparing the similarities and differences within and between the configurations, we could explain the multifaceted roles that digitization plays in achieving high performance together with organizational strategies.
Recommended Citation
Park, YoungKi and Saraf, Nilesh, "Investigating the Complexity of Organizational Digitization and Firm Performance: A Set-Theoretic Configurational Approach" (2016). AMCIS 2016 Proceedings. 22.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2016/SCU/Presentations/22
Investigating the Complexity of Organizational Digitization and Firm Performance: A Set-Theoretic Configurational Approach
This study investigates the causal complexity and diversity of the relationship between organizational digitization and firm performance. Digitization – defined as the penetration of IT in the organization – is a complex organizational phenomenon in that it involves changes in organizational strategy, business processes, organizational knowledge and eventually the whole socio-technical organizational system, thus influencing organizational performance. We adopt a holistic configuration theory lens and a set-theoretic method, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explain how such interdependent relationships among digitization and organizational strategic elements result in high firm performance. We apply the set-theoretic method to a longitudinal field data set collected from 1816 Canadian firms. We found multiple equifinal configurations that result in high performance. By comparing the similarities and differences within and between the configurations, we could explain the multifaceted roles that digitization plays in achieving high performance together with organizational strategies.