Abstract:
The question of the value contribution of Information Technology (IT) to the firm is a continuing concern in Management Information Systems (MIS) research. While firms make significant investments in IT resources and capabilities in the hope of improving their competitive performance, research remains inconclusive as to the how (and how much) IT contributes to firm performance. One of the largest challenges in measuring this “Business Value of IT” is selecting the theoretical mechanism to predict and measure the contribution effectively. While the Strategic Management literature encompasses several theories that focus on how resources and capabilities may contribute to firm performance, it has yet to fully synthesize the underlying goals of value creation and capture in the transactions to acquire or develop them. In this sense, MIS literature may lack guidance for effectively applying theories to the IT context. This dissertation comprises a multi-method, three-essay research study to examine the concepts of value creation and capture in the context of IT acquisition transactions. My objective is to address these unresolved theory application issues in the Strategic Management and MIS literatures. In the first study, I analyze and synthesize theoretical mechanisms for value creation and capture. Through this synthesis, I develop a new concept, value channels, for the collection and distribution of value to transaction partners. In the second study, I refine this value channel concept through a multi-theoretical formal model. In the third study, I empirically test the value channel concept in a sample of IT acquisition and development transactions. Collectively, these studies address unresolved theoretical and contextual issues of the concept of value creation and capture in the Strategic Management and MIS literatures.
