Exploring dynamic capabilities in information systems research: A systematic literature review

Exploring dynamic capabilities in information systems

research:

A systematic literature review

Master thesis

Sander Kromme S2770717

June 2017

University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc Business administration, Change management

Supervisor: Dr. J.Q. Dong Co assessor: Dr. B. Mueller

Abstract

Table of contents

A central construct: dynamic IT capabilities 11

Thematic results 12 (1) IT capabilities 13 (2) IT resources 15 (3) IT system use 16 (4) IT strategy 18 Discussion 22 Dynamic IT capabilities 22 Absorptive capacity 23 Knowledge capability 23 Agility 23 NPD capability 24

Dynamic IT capabilities as a central construct 24

Conclusion 25

Appendix A – Literature sample 27

Appendix B – Coding scheme 31

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Introduction

Information technology (IT) enables organizations to acquire and use information more effectively (Grant, 1991; Bharadwaj, 2000). Over the recent past decades, organizations using IT to sustain competitive are confronted with new technologies, competitors and increased innovations resulting in rapidly changing industries. The DC perspective (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997) that originates from the management literature has been largely studied as an extension of the resource-based view (RBV). The RBV, that has attracted great attention due to its fundamental guidelines for organizations to use resources and capabilities for an organization’s strategy (Barney, 1991), may not be longer appropriate for organizations operating in such turbulent environments. The interest in DC stems from a great amount of failures in responding to rapidly changing industries. Helfat et al. (2009) define DC as: “the capacity of an organization to purposefully create, extend, or modify its resource base”. Additionally, Teece et al. (1997) note that DC are organization’s ability to “integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments”. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) describe DC as: “the firm’s processes that use resources—specifically the processes to integrate, reconfigure, gain and release resources—to match and even create market change”.

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et al., 2010; Tallon and Pinsonneault, 2011). Within the IS research domain, these distinct DC have been applied into several contexts and areas of IT.

Although various DC emerged in the IS literature and are applied to several contexts of IT, research to date within this research domain lack clear typologies of theorizing DC (Wang and Ahmed, 2007; Kim et al., 2011; Roberts et al., 2012). Subsequently, the contexts of IT in which DC is studied are ambiguous. Consequently, clear guidelines and striking relations have not been identified within the IS research field.

Accordingly, the research question of this paper is:

How to conceptualize dynamic capabilities in the IS research?

In an effort to conceptualize distinct types of DC and diverse contexts of IT, I will conduct a systematic literature review of relevant publications about DC in the IS literature. This literature review systematically collects, analyzes and synthesizes prior research to set directions for future research in the IS research domain (Webster and Watson, 2002). This study collects relevant papers searching for papers studying DC in the leading IS journals. Following an exclusion criteria, this study eliminated all irrelevant papers and identified a final sample of 75 relevant papers. In order to analyze and synthesize the data, a thematic analyses is conducted to understand how DC have been studied in the IS literature. In addition, the thematic analyses helps identifying distinct typologies of the DC construct and diverse themes of IT (Leidner and Kayworth, 2006). Five distinct types of DC and four contexts of IT are identified. These four contexts of IT, five types of DC and their relationships are presented in a framework. The typologies and themes identified in the presented framework provide future IS researchers a better understanding how to theorize DC within various contexts of IT (Ridley, 2012). Thereby, a central construct called “Dynamic IT capabilities” is proposed to offer future IS researchers a better understanding how to theorize DC in the more general context of IT.

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paper describes how the literature systematically is reviewed and data analysis is conducted. Accordingly, the findings of the thematic analysis are described in the results section including the framework. The paper finishes with a discussion of the literature review, its limitations and provides theoretical and practical guidelines for future researchers within the IS literature.

Theoretical background

Dynamic capabilities (DC) are defined as: “a firm’s ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments” (Teece et al., 1997). Although this concept had some references before this definition was published, since the work of Teece et al. (1997) have been published, many research domains regarding their concept of DC are dominated by their definition of DC. These authors draw upon the usefulness of the RBV with regards to organizational resources and capabilities in order to sustain competitive. Although Teece et al. (1997) agree that the RBV has important implications, they argue that this view neglects the context of rapidly changing industries.

Accordingly, this section provides theoretical background about the RBV describing why this view have important implications. Subsequently, the section elaborates on the arguments why the RBV is no longer useful for many industries. Moreover, this section offers some theoretical background about how the DC perspective is studied in the IS literature and its applications in various contexts of IT.

Resource-based view (RBV)

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Inimitable, Non-substitutable). As Barney (1991) explains; “Resources are generally rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable firm-specific assets that add value to firms’ operations by enabling firms to implement strategies that improve efficiency and effectiveness”. However, having resource advantages only is not sufficient to sustain competitive. Penrose (1959) describes that an organization must be able to make adequate use of its resources through specific capabilities. Thus, synergizing this adequate use with the RBV’s VRIN criteria will be fundamental for organizations to obtain sustainable competitive advantage. Although the RBV have obtained great attention in scientific research, its static interpretation started to limit its usefulness. Specifically, the RBV ignores the notion of dynamic industries while these at the same time becoming increasingly dynamic (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Zahra and George, 2002). Subsequently, these scholars initiated a view to consider organizational resources and capabilities in a rapidly changing context.

Dynamic capabilities (DC)

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paper follows this latter statement considering resources and capabilities separately. Because, this papers aims to help IS scholars theorizing DC in the IS literature offering distinct types of DC. The perspective of Teece et al. (1997) considers the organization as a set of interrelated processes and routines developing and evolving over time due to performance feedback (Zollo and Winter, 2002). Other authors consider only organizational processes (Zahra and George, 2002) or an organization’s routines (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006). Eisenhardt and Martin (2002) approached DC using a synergy of both processes and routines. They define DC as: “a firm’s processes that use resources―specifically the process to integrate, reconfigure, gain and release resources―to match and even create market change” and thus emerge the organization’s strategic routines of reconfiguration and renew capabilities, responding to environmental dynamism. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) approach DC as a distinct set of processes and routines since prior research argued for limitations regarding the measurement and conceptualization of DC (Dierickx and Cool, 1989). In another study, Teece (2007) presented a framework consisting of DC. The proposed framework subdivide DC in the ability to sense and seize opportunities and to sustain competitive through the reconfiguration of organizational resources. These reconfiguration processes are learning, coordination, and integration in order to support those capabilities and resources (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006). To focus more on the capabilities within the reconfiguration processes, DC could be explained in terms of a two-level hierarchy that consists of two capabilities (Winter, 2003). The lower level capability, or so-called ‘zero-capability’ or first-order capability, refers to an organization’s ‘ordinary’ capability and enables them to “make a living” in the short term. The ‘high-level’ capability or ‘second-order’ capability represents the DC that create, modify or extend the ordinary capabilities and connote change.

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analysis, or even lead to a “Red Queen” phenomenon (Barnett and Pontikes, 2008). Following these management scientists arguing that organizations’ DC are in itself not universally applicable. Therefore, organizations should take the contingencies (e.g. strategy and environment) in consideration when balancing the tension between alignment and adaptability. For example, information technologies are developing increasingly in the last past decades (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1998; Battleson et al., 2016). Therefore, organizations gaining business value through the use of IT in a rapidly changing industry should be adaptable to improve organizational responsiveness. Thus, the DC perspective originates from the management literature but has also made its entrance into other research domains such as IS.

DC and IT

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The role of DC have also been applied to several areas within the IS research domain. Prior IS publications indicate that the development of DC is directly facilitated by IT in contexts such as knowledge management (Sher and Lee, 2004), e-business (Daniel and Wilson, 2003; Koch, 2003), manufacturing (Banker et al., 2006; Trantopoulos et al., 2017), healthcare (Singh et al., 2011; Wu and Hu, 2012) and Business Analytics (BA) (Teo, Nishant and Koh, 2016). The latter and more recent study draws upon the DC categories (adaptive-, innovative- and absorptive capability) proposed by Wang and Ahmed (2007) to explain three Business Analytics (BA) DC (Teo et al., 2016). First, Adaptive capabilities (= firms’ ability to identify changes in the environment and capitalize on emerging opportunities) reflects BA capabilities since BA identify changing consumer preferences and process performance and translate these into commercial opportunities. Innovative capabilities (=firms’ ability to develop new products or target new markets) reflects BA’s insight in consumer behavior and translate this information into commercial opportunities for creating new products. Finally, Absorptive capabilities (=firms’ ability to gather new, external information, realize its value, and assimilate it in its functioning) reflects BA’s ability to identify and analyze relevant external information (e.g. customer reviews).

Ergo, the DC literature has developed over recent years and discussed extensively its role by discussing various DC and in diverse areas of IT. Yet, research to date in the IS literature lack specific IT (-enabled) DC and its relation with distinct contexts of IT (Zhu and Kraemer, 2002; Kim et al., 2011; Teo et al., 2016). Accordingly, this study aims to help a understanding how to theorize DC in the IS literature through the identification and development of distinct DC types and differing IT contexts.

Methodology

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describe and transform these into a higher level of theoretical structure and diverse contexts, relationships and constructs (Paré et al., 2015).

Data collection

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AIS-SENIOR SCHOLARS'“BASKET OF EIGHT’’ NO. PAPERS

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS (EJIS) 5

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL (ISJ) 8

INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH (ISR) 25

JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (JAIS) 21

JOURNAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (JIT) 5

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (JMIS) 28

JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 32

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS) QUARTERLY 61

TOTAL 185

Table 1. Top leading journals in IS research - AIS

After collecting and sorting all 185 publications, I started reading all relevant papers and eliminated papers using the following exclusion criteria; (1) studies irrelevant to subject’s themes, (2) studies reporting previously published results (e.g. editorials and research commentaries) and (3) duplicate articles from the same study published in another journal. As a result, this study identifies a comprehensive final sample of 75 relevant papers (Appendix A).

Data analysis

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Such an understanding offers the researcher a fundamental base to theorize the themes and categories into a particular research domain (Bogers, Afuah and Bastian, 2010). Therefore, a thematic analysis provides this literature paper guidance in order to improve future researchers’ understanding how to theorize DC in the IS research domain.

In conducting a thematic analysis, this paper draws upon Leidner and Kayworth (2006) following a sequence of stages. As a first step, I have analyzed all relevant papers that investigated DC in a particular context of IT. I identified and described the IT context, the type of DC and, more importantly, its relationship (Appendix B). Subsequently, I created a summary of each relevant article focusing on the empirical and theoretical implications with regards to DC. However, it appeared that 19% (n=14) of the papers conceptualized DC as the IT construct itself. These papers are excluded from the thematic analysis and further elaborated in the first section of the results. Second, in reviewing all papers looking at the IT context, type of DC and its relation respectively, several themes of the IT context and several typologies of DC emerged. For each theme, I analyzed the relationship between the IT context and DC type. In doing so, I reread the summaries of all relevant papers with a predominantly focus on what type of DC is studied and what function it has in the particular context of IT. It appeared that some papers used multiple DC. For each of those DC, I particularly focused on the ones reported with empirical evidence or theoretical contributions. Eventually, it appeared that several papers still included diverse DC. But, the diverse DC that were investigated often reflect the same thread of meaning using different words or definitions. For each of those paper, I categorized the DC to a certain abstract level in order to create a central construct (Owen, 1984).

Results

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For DC, it emerged that the diverse types that have been studied in the IS literature can be broken down into five categories: (1) Absorptive Capacity, (2) Agility, (3) Dynamic IT capabilities, (4) New Product Development Capabilities (NPD) and (5) Knowledge Capabilities. Table 3 presents all IT contexts and types of DC. The types of DC are presented in form of oval boxes and the contexts of IT are shown in the squared boxes. The arrows presented show the influencing link between the contexts of IT, type of DC and firm performance. The mediating link of environmental is presented in the overall framework since this moderator is most commonly used in the IS literature. This is logically since the value of DC originates from increasingly market dynamism. As described in the methodological section, it appeared that 19% (n=14) of the papers studied DC as the IT context itself. The findings of this central construct will be described in the following section of the results. Thereafter, the results of the thematic analysis will be presented by each theme.

A central construct: dynamic IT capabilities

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the creation of digital platform capabilities in producing IT products. In the absence of a firm’s ability to create the first-order DC, the authors argue that ordinary capabilities may become core rigidities, and therefore reducing organizational responsiveness while facing digital disruption. Thus, Karimi and Walter (2015) highlight the requisite of combining first-order and second-order DC to build dynamic IT capabilities encompassing the organization’ ability to reconfigure its resource base by changing, adapting, or extending its existing resources-processes-values (RPV) in order to improve responsiveness to environmental dynamism. Further, Kim, Shin and Kwon (2013) conceptualized dynamic IT capabilities as a third-order construct through a sociomateriality perspective. They argue that the addition of this third-construct results in a more effective approach to capture variations of business value and performance. Also, Battleson et al. (2016) highlight the direct positive link between DC and firm performance. Specifically, the authors argue that cloud computing-enabled DC allow rapid integration and reconfiguration of business processes, relationships and improved network collaborations and partnerships as measurements for improved firm performance.

Overall, these findings present the studying of the DC construct related to IT. In general, the construct of DC studied in these papers encompass the reconfiguration of IT processes and IT capabilities in order to improve firm performance. Therefore, the combination of both constructs (IT context and DC) can be theorized into one central construct labelled as “Dynamic IT capabilities”. Subsequently, this central construct could be defined as: “a firm’s ability of continuously reconfiguring and changing capabilities, processes and routines”.

Thematic results

13 Dynamic capabilities Definition Dynamic IT capabilities

a firm’s ability of continuously reconfiguring and changing capabilities, processes and routines

Absorptive capacity

a firm’s ability to identify, assimilate, transform, and apply valuable external knowledge (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990)

Knowledge capabilities

a firm’s ability to refine, extend and leverage existing capabilities for create new ones by integrating new knowledge

Agility a firm’s ability to sense opportunities and seize those competitive

opportunities through organizational flexibility with acceleration

NPD capabilities

a firm’s ability to effectively execute operational innovation activities (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2010)

Table 2. Definitions typologies

(1) IT capabilities

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ability to effectively use IT functionalities to support IT-related activities (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006). Accordingly, IT leverage competence is conceptualized within the context of IT capabilities. Overall, the analysis within these theme shows that DC mediates the link between IT capabilities and firm performance. Several researchers investigated whether IT capabilities have a direct influence (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2006) or indirect influence (Wade and Hulland, 2004; Ravichandran and Lertwongsatien, 2010) on firm performance. The thematic analysis shows that dynamic IT capabilities is the dominant construct studied within this theme (table ). The majority of these papers argue that the true value of IT capabilities in order to improve firm performance depends on an organization’s ability to change its internal processes, routines and capabilities. For example, Kim et al. (2011) found empirical evidence for their premise that an organization’s ability to improve business and communication processes is directly influenced by the effective constitution of IT capabilities (i.e. IT personnel expertise and IT infrastructure flexibility). Additionally, Iyer, Ravindran and Reckers (2006) stress the importance to differentiate among IT capabilities in order to match the organizational circumstances it faces. For the development of DC, it is important to differentiate rather than making rigid investments in IT capabilities. If a certain level of congruence is achieved between IT capability investments and the organizational context, the authors indicate a positive link between IT capability investments and the creation of DC. In general, the findings of these studies with regards to DC represent the organization’s ability to continuously reconfigure and change organizational processes and capabilities. Therefore, this type of DC reflects the definition of the central construct of dynamic IT capabilities that is found earlier.

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IT capabilities and absorptive capacity creates IT business value and a firm’s absorptive capacity is facilitated by enhanced IT capabilities. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) point out that organizational learning is clearly related to absorptive capacity and define organizational learning as: “the ability to search, explore, acquire, assimilate, and apply knowledge about resources, opportunities, and how resources can be configured to exploit opportunities as the renewal of organizational capabilities”. Bhatt and Grover (2005) studied the intensity of organizational learning as a DC. They found empirical evidence that the intensity of organizational learning positively affects three capabilities (IT infrastructure quality, level of business expertise and the quality of the relationship infrastructure). These authors strongly argue the indirect influence of this DC on firm performance. But, they denote that differentiation among the capabilities is extremely important in identifying business opportunities.

Overall, these results show that both IT capabilities and Dynamic IT capabilities influence or may strengthen each other, but, that Dynamic IT capabilities extend the organization’s IT capabilities in emphasizing the dynamic requirements. Accordingly, when studying DC within the context of IT capabilities, IS researchers should emphasize the continuous reconfiguration and changing of capabilities, processes and routines to improve organizational response to environmental dynamism and draw upon the provided definition of Dynamic IT capabilities that contributes to a better understanding of this construct within this theme.

(2) IT resources

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complementarity among IT resources and capabilities in order improve the creation of DC. For example, Wang et al. (2012) argue that a firm’s ability to reconfigure continuously is dependent on its resource bundling. They found that the resources themselves become less valuable when the environment becomes more turbulent. Thus, these authors conclude that the business value of IT depends on the organization’s ability to reconfigure capabilities and IT resources in order to respond to increased uncertainty in the environment. Karimi, Somers and Bhattacherjee (2007) also stress the importance of the complementarity and bundling of IT resources in building dynamic ERP capabilities, rather than considering IT resources in isolation. Another paper indicates the mediating role of DC in an IT crisis situation (Leidner, Pan and Pan, 2009). The findings of this latter study suggest that organizations need specific IT resources (i.e. IT assets and IT infrastructure) bundled in a complementary fashion during an IT crisis situation. But, it is the art to effectively mobilize and coordinate the IT resource bundle in order to improve one’s rapid responsiveness gaining value from IT resources in a crisis situation. In conclusion, it appeared that dynamic IT capabilities play a dominant role in the context of IT resources. Specifically, evidence within the IS literature extensively argue that DC strengthen the value of IT resources through the process of mobilization and reconfiguration of its resource bundle in order to respond to environmental dynamism.

(3) IT system use

Whereas IT capabilities and IT resources embrace the IT-related assets and capabilities of an organization, IT system use concerns the deployment of how IT (system) is used. Popper and Lipshits (1998) describe IT use as: “a structural arrangement and that IT use enables the collection, storage and dissemination of organizational knowledge”. Aral and Weill (2007) describe four types of IT use: strategic, infrastructure, transactional and informational.

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but shows three main types that are studied intensively within this theme: Absorptive Capacity, Agility and Knowledge Capabilities.

Within this theme, 6 papers investigated the role of absorptive capacity and considered this construct as a DC. According to Roberts et al. (2012), absorptive capacity enables an organization to reconfigure substantive capabilities through the identification, assimilation, transformation and application of valuable knowledge. This argument is in line with Cohen and Levinthal (1990), who define absorptive capacity as: “a firm’s ability to identify, assimilate, transform, and apply valuable external knowledge”. Several papers reveal the moderating role of absorptive capacity on the positive link between IT system use and firm performance (Wheeler, 2002; Zahra and George, 2002; Srivardhana and Pawlowski, 2007; Joshi et al., 2010; Iyengar, Sweener and Montealegre, 2015). For example, Joshi et al. (2010) found significant evidence that absorptive capacity directly influences the positive link between digital systems (IT) and firm performance. Specifically, these authors distinguish three IT-enabled DC: potential absorptive capacity (IT-PACAP), realized absorptive capacity (IT-RACAP) and IT-enabled social integration capability (IT-SIC). First, an organization’s IT-PACAP indirectly impacts this link by facilitating an organization’s IT-RACAP. IT-RACAP, in turn, builds a fundamental base to acquire and internalize data in order to develop an organization’s analytical capability for knowledge discovery. For IT-SIC, the authors found interaction effects between IT-SIC and ideated innovation on continuous innovation. Therefore, they indicate that IT-SIC plays a significant role in the conversion of patent inventions to new products and services that is considered as a firm performance indicator. Zahra and George (2002) consider a change approach and argue that a firm’s absorptive capacity consists of four capabilities: acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation capabilities. The combination of these four capabilities embrace an organization’s routines and processes in order to improve organizational responsiveness.

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competencies or to create new ones by incorporating new know-how into its operations”. These knowledge capabilities will be facilitated through the transformation of existing knowledge that is related to the new know-how. Mitchell (2006) found that organizations with higher integrative capabilities are better able to minimize delays in IT projects. She argues that integrative capabilities enable an organization to predict and execute better in order to improve timely project completion. In this study, she considers integrative capability as a DC and divides this construct in (1) the ability to import external knowledge and (2) the ability to synthesize internal knowledge. Thus, knowledge capabilities could also be considered as a distinct DC construct and may be defined as: “a firm’s ability to refine, extend and leverage existing capabilities for create new ones by integrating new knowledge”.

Finally, several papers argued that the impact of IT systems on firm performance can be positively influenced by an organization’s ability to grasp opportunities. For example, Koch (2010) found evidence that organizational agility, combined with digitized process reach and entrepreneurial alertness, improve the effectiveness in Electronic Markets Practices (EMPs). Subsequently, such an improvement leads to a better generation of participant contributions. Roberts, Campell and Vijayasarathy (2016) highlight two DC (sensing- and seizing opportunities) within IS routine use. Especially, they found empirical evidence that IT system use is likely to positively influences firm performance when the organization has well-developed managerial sensing capabilities. Harris, Collins and Hevner (2009) consider a flexible-control approach in software development. In an increasingly dynamic environment, they suggest organizations to adopt a more flexible approach regarding software development that improves responsiveness to external opportunities and threats, as opposed to a control approach. Thus, organizational agility describe the way organizations are structured in order to respond to environmental challenges. Accordingly, this literature paper defines agility as a: “a firm’s ability to sense opportunities and seize those competitive opportunities through organizational flexibility with acceleration”.

(4) IT strategy

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organizations, especially business units, should be involved more intensively in the IS landscape design on the long run when they plan to exploit the DC of SOA.

Overall, the results of the analysis in this theme argue that an organization’s DC should be contingent on the (IT) strategy it aims to pursue. In turn, these DC support the execution of effective processes in order to improve firm performance through the way how it deliver its products and services.

Table 3. Thematic results

Type of DC

Theme (IT context)

IT capabilities % IT resources % IT system use % IT strategy %

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Figure 1. Conceptual framework

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Discussion

The dynamic capabilities (DC) perspective has made its entrance in the IS literature as organizations increasingly challenge high-velocity industries. This paper explores diverse DC and their role and applications in IT. In particular, the review of the literature presents two streams regarding the distinct types of DC and the various contexts of IT within these types have been studied

The paper provides a framework presenting the distinct types of DC that can be emphasized within a particular context of IT (Figure 1). The framework emerged from the thematic analysis and presents five distinct types of DC in what context of IT they primarily have been studied in the IS literature. In addition, a central construct is identified in order to study the construct of DC itself or study DC more generally in the IS literature. By providing these study offerings, the main contribution of this literature paper is to improve the understanding of future researchers how to theorize DC in the IS literature. For each DC, this paper shortly summarizes the results of the thematic analysis. Subsequently, the central construct of dynamic IT capabilities will be discussed.

Dynamic IT capabilities

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study builds upon previous research in making a distinction between IT resources and IT capabilities (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Helfat et al., 2009). However, with regards to the construct of dynamic IT capabilities, the results show that link between these two concepts are closely linked and tend to agree with Teece et al. 1997. But, for future IS researchers it is important to understand and consider its distinction when studying the role of DC within these themes.

Absorptive capacity

The IS research stream has extensively studied the role of absorptive capacity within several IT themes. For absorptive capacity, this study draws upon the definition of Cohen and Levinthal (l990). Overall, the results indicate that the role of absorptive capacity have predominantly been applied in the context of IT system use. These results are in line with the definition of IT system use this study draws upon: “a structural arrangement and that IT use enables the collection, storage and dissemination of organizational knowledge” (Popper and Lipshits, 1998).

Knowledge capability

The analysis reveals the predominantly role of DC with respect to knowledge within the IT systems use theme and shows similar characteristics between absorptive capacity and knowledge capabilities. But, there have been made a distinction since knowledge capabilities tend to be more focused on the integration of knowledge throughout the organization’s process and routines, whereas absorptive capacity embraces the identification, assimilation and application of valuable knowledge. Therefore, this study defines knowledge capability as: “a firm’s ability to refine, extend and leverage existing capabilities for create new ones by integrating new knowledge”. This distinction provides future researchers with clear guidelines that should be considered when studying knowledge-related capabilities in a dynamic context.

Agility

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opportunities and seize those competitive opportunities through organizational flexibility with acceleration”. Overall, the findings indicate that agility improves IT system use through the flexibility of IT routine use responding to environmental triggers. These findings are consistent with the management literature with prior IS studies in emphasizing flexibility, rather than strict alignment, when challenging rapidly changing markets (Nadler and Tushman,1980; Barnett and Pontikes, 2008).

NPD capability

This study builds upon Pavlou and El Sawy (2010) to define NPD capabilities as: “a firm’s ability to effectively execute operational innovation activities. Generally, the findings indicate that NPD capabilities enable organizations to align their innovative strategy. In doing so, NPD capabilities enable organizations execute IT in new ways and transform its business practices into new standards that are aligned with the organization’s innovative strategy. This corresponds with the dynamic nature of the environment innovative industries face (Pavlou and El Sawy, 2010; Svahn, Mathiassen and Lindgren, 2017), but, makes a distinction in focusing on the transformation of IT-enabled business practices aligning an organization’s IT strategy.

Dynamic IT capabilities as a central construct

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The review suggests a considerable opportunity by providing managers a broad range of DC enabling them to focus on specific DC when facing challenges in a particular context of IT. For IS scholars, it is important to uncover and explain how distinct types of DC are studied and what their relationships are in various contexts of IT. I believe that this study can offer a useful structure to this domain and I provide some suggestions for future research.

Conclusion

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Appendix A – Literature sample

1 Baker, J., Jones, D. R., Cao, Q., & Song, J. (2011). Conceptualizing the dynamic strategic alignment competency. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 12(4), 299. 2 Banker, R. D., Bardhan, I. R., Chang, H., & Lin, S. (2006). Plant information systems,

manufacturing capabilities, and plant performance. MIS quarterly, 315-337.

3 Barua, A., Konana, P., Whinston, A. B., & Yin, F. (2004). An empirical investigation of net-enabled business value. MIS quarterly, 28(4), 585-620.

4 Battleson, D. A., West, B. C., Kim, J., Ramesh, B., & Robinson, P. S. (2016). Achieving dynamic capabilities with cloud computing: an empirical investigation. European Journal of Information

Systems, 25(3), 209-230.

5 Bharadwaj, A., Keil, M., & Mähring, M. (2009). Effects of information technology failures on the market value of firms. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(2), 66-79.

6 Bhatt, G. D, & Grover, V. (2005). Types of information technology capabilities and their role in competitive advantage: An empirical study. Journal of management information systems, 22(2), 253-277.

7 Butler, T., & Murphy, C. (2008). An exploratory study on IS capabilities and assets in a small-to-medium software enterprise. Journal of Information Technology, 23(4), 330-344.

8 Chan, Y. E., & Greenaway, K. E. (2005). Theoretical explanations for firms' information privacy behaviors. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 6(6), 7.

9 Chatterjee, S., Moody, G., Lowry, P. B., Chakraborty, S., & Hardin, A. (2015). Strategic relevance of organizational virtues enabled by information technology in organizational innovation. Journal of

Management Information Systems, 32(3), 158-196.

10 Chen, D. Q., Preston, D. S., & Swink, M. (2015). How the Use of Big Data Analytics Affects Value Creation in Supply Chain Management. Journal of Management Information Systems, 32(4), 4-39. 11 Chengalur-Smith, I., Nevo, S., & Demertzoglou, P. (2010). An empirical analysis of the business

value of open source infrastructure technologies. Journal of the Association for Information

Systems, 11(11), 708.

12 Chi, L., Ravichandran, T., & Andrevski, G. (2010). Information technology, network structure, and competitive action. Information Systems Research, 21(3), 543-570.

13 Daniel, E. M., & Wilson, H. N. (2003). The role of dynamic capabilities in e-business transformation. European Journal of Information Systems, 12(4), 282-296.

14 Daniel, E. M., Ward, J. M., & Franken, A. (2014). A dynamic capabilities perspective of IS project portfolio management. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23(2), 95-111.

15 Dong, J. Q., & Wu, W. (2015). Business value of social media technologies: Evidence from online user innovation communities. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 24(2), 113-127. 16 Drnevich, P. L., & Croson, D. C. (2013). Information technology and business-level strategy:

Toward an integrated theoretical perspective. Mis Quarterly, 37(2), 483-509.

17 El Sawy, O. A., Malhotra, A., Park, Y., & Pavlou, P. A. (2010). Research commentary—seeking the configurations of digital ecodynamics: It takes three to tango. Information Systems

Research, 21(4), 835-848.

18 Fink, L., & Markovich, S. (2008). Generic verticalization strategies in enterprise system markets: An exploratory framework. Journal of Information Technology, 23(4), 281-296.

19 Hackbarth, G., & Kettinger, W. J. (2004). Strategic aspirations for net-enabled business. European

Journal of Information Systems, 13(4), 273-285.

20 Harris, M. L., Collins, R. W., & Hevner, A. R. (2009). Control of flexible software development under uncertainty. Information Systems Research, 20(3), 400-419.

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22 Iyengar, K., Sweeney, J. R., & Montealegre, R. (2015). Information technology use as a learning mechanism: The impact of IT use on knowledge transfer effectiveness, absorptive capacity, and franchisee performance. Mis Quarterly, 39(3), 615-641.

23 Iyer, G., Ravindran, S., & Reckers, P. M. (2006). Procurement of IT consulting services and firm-specific characteristics. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 7(1), 9.

24 Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Leidner, D. E. (1998). An information company in Mexico: Extending the resource-based view of the firm to a developing country context. Information Systems

Research, 9(4), 342-361.

25 Joshi, K. D., Chi, L., Datta, A., & Han, S. (2010). Changing the competitive landscape: Continuous innovation through IT-enabled knowledge capabilities. Information Systems Research, 21(3), 472-495.

26 Karimi, J., & Walter, Z. (2015). The role of dynamic capabilities in responding to digital disruption: a factor-based study of the newspaper industry. Journal of Management Information

Systems, 32(1), 39-81.

27 Karimi, J., Somers, T. M., & Bhattacherjee, A. (2007). The role of information systems resources in ERP capability building and business process outcomes. Journal of Management Information

Systems, 24(2), 221-260.

28 Kim, G., Shin, B., & Kwon, O. (2012). Investigating the value of sociomaterialism in

conceptualizing IT capability of a firm. Journal of Management Information Systems, 29(3), 327-362.

29 Kim, G., Shin, B., Kim, K. K., & Lee, H. G. (2011). IT capabilities, process-oriented dynamic capabilities, and firm financial performance. Journal of the Association for Information

Systems, 12(7), 487.

30 Koch, H. (2010). Developing dynamic capabilities in electronic marketplaces: A cross-case study. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 19(1), 28-38.

31 Leidner, D. E., Lo, J., & Preston, D. (2011). An empirical investigation of the relationship of IS strategy with firm performance. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 20(4), 419-437. 32 Leidner, D. E., Pan, G., & Pan, S. L. (2009). The role of IT in crisis response: Lessons from the

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technology capability: An empirical investigation. Journal of Management Information

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34 Lu, Y., & K.(Ram) Ramamurthy. (2011). Understanding the link between information technology capability and organizational agility: An empirical examination. Mis Quarterly, 931-954.

35 Lucas, H. C., & Goh, J. M. (2009). Disruptive technology: How Kodak missed the digital photography revolution. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(1), 46-55.

36 Mitchell, V. L. (2006). Knowledge integration and information technology project performance. Mis

Quarterly, 919-939.

37 Montazemi, A. R., Pittaway, J. J., Saremi, H. Q., & Wei, Y. (2012). Factors of stickiness in transfers of know-how between MNC units. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 21(1), 31-57.

38 Mueller, B., Viering, G., Legner, C., & Riempp, G. (2010). Understanding the economic potential of service-oriented architecture. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(4), 145-180. 39 Nazir, S., & Pinsonneault, A. (2012). IT and firm agility: an electronic integration

perspective. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(3), 150.

40 Nevo, S., & Wade, M. R. (2010). The formation and value of IT-enabled resources: antecedents and consequences of synergistic relationships. Mis Quarterly, 163-183.

41 Newell, S., & Edelman, L. F. (2008). Developing a dynamic project learning and cross‐project learning capability: synthesizing two perspectives. Information Systems Journal, 18(6), 567-591. 42 Pavlou, P. A., & El Sawy, O. A. (2006). From IT leveraging competence to competitive advantage

in turbulent environments: The case of new product development. Information Systems

29

43 Pavlou, P. A., & El Sawy, O. A. (2010). The “third hand”: IT-enabled competitive advantage in turbulence through improvisational capabilities. Information Systems Research, 21(3), 443-471. 44 Piccoli, G., & Ives, B. (2005). Review: IT-dependent strategic initiatives and sustained competitive

advantage: a review and synthesis of the literature. Mis Quarterly, 29(4), 747-776.

45 Rai, A., & Tang, X. (2010). Leveraging IT capabilities and competitive process capabilities for the management of interorganizational relationship portfolios. Information Systems Research, 21(3), 516-542.

46 Rai, A., Patnayakuni, R., & Seth, N. (2006). Firm performance impacts of digitally enabled supply chain integration capabilities. MIS quarterly, 225-246.

47 Ravichandran, T, & Lertwongsatien, C. (2005). Effect of information systems resources and capabilities on firm performance: A resource-based perspective. Journal of management

information systems, 21(4), 237-276.

48 Roberts, N., Campbell, D. E., & Vijayasarathy, L. R. (2016). Using Information Systems to Sense Opportunities for Innovation: Integrating Postadoptive Use Behaviors with the Dynamic

Managerial Capability Perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, 33(1), 45-69. 49 Roberts, N., Galluch, P. S., Dinger, M., & Grover, V. (2012). Absorptive capacity and information

systems research: Review, synthesis, and directions for future research. MIS quarterly, 36(2), 625-648.

50 Robey, D., Im, G., & Wareham, J. D. (2008). Theoretical foundations of empirical research on interorganizational systems: assessing past contributions and guiding future directions. Journal of

the Association for Information Systems, 9(9), 497.

51 Sambamurthy, V., Bharadwaj, A., & Grover, V. (2003). Shaping agility through digital options: Reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms. MIS quarterly, 237-263.

52 Sandberg, J., Mathiassen, L., & Napier, N. (2014). Digital Options Theory for IT Capability Investment. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15(7), 422.

53 Santhanam, R., & Hartono, E. (2003). Issues in linking information technology capability to firm performance. MIS quarterly, 125-153.

54 Sherif, K., & Menon, N. M. (2004). Managing technology and administration innovations: Four case studies on software reuse. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(7), 2. 55 Singh, R., Mathiassen, L., Stachura, M. E., & Astapova, E. V. (2011). Dynamic capabilities in

home health: IT-enabled transformation of post-acute care. Journal of the Association for

Information Systems, 12(2), 163.

56 Srivardhana, T., & Pawlowski, S. D. (2007). ERP systems as an enabler of sustained business process innovation: A knowledge-based view. The Journal of Strategic Information

Systems, 16(1), 51-69.

57 Svahn, F., Mathiassen, L., & Lindgren, R. (2017). Embracing Digital Innovation in Incumbent Firms: How Volvo Cars Managed Competing Concerns. MIS Quarterly, 41(1).

58 Tallon, P. P., & Pinsonneault, A. (2011). Competing perspectives on the link between strategic information technology alignment and organizational agility: insights from a mediation model. Mis

Quarterly, 463-486.

59 Tan, B., Pan, S. L., Lu, X., & Huang, L. (2015). The role of is capabilities in the development of multi-sided platforms: The digital ecosystem strategy of Alibaba. Com. Journal of the Association

for Information Systems, 16(4), 248.

60 Tan, C., & Sia, S. K. (2006). Managing flexibility in outsourcing. Journal of the Association for

Information Systems, 7(1), 10.

61 Tanriverdi, H., Rai, A., & Venkatraman, N. (2010). Research commentary—reframing the dominant quests of information systems strategy research for complex adaptive business systems. Information Systems Research, 21(4), 822-834.

62 Tarafdar, M., & Gordon, S. R. (2007). Understanding the influence of information systems

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30

63 Teo, T. S., Nishant, R., & Koh, P. B. (2016). Do shareholders favor business analytics announcements?. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 25(4), 259-276.

64 Trantopoulos, K., Krogh, G. V., Wallin, M., & Woerter, M. (2017). External knowledge and information technology: Implications for process innovation performance. Management

Information Systems Quarterly.

65 Van Der Heijden, H. (2001). Measuring IT core capabilities for electronic commerce. Journal of

Information Technology, 16(1), 13-22.

66 Wade, M., & Hulland, J. (2004). Review: The resource-based view and information systems research: Review, extension, and suggestions for future research. MIS quarterly, 28(1), 107-142. 67 Wang, N., Liang, H., Zhong, W., Xue, Y., & Xiao, J. (2012). Resource structuring or capability

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Management Information Systems, 29(2), 325-367.

68 Wei, H. L., & Wang, E. T. (2010). The strategic value of supply chain visibility: increasing the ability to reconfigure. European Journal of Information Systems, 19(2), 238-249.

69 Wheeler, B. C. (2002). NEBIC: A dynamic capabilities theory for assessing net-enablement. Information Systems Research, 13(2), 125-146.

70 Wolf, M., Beck, R., & Pahlke, I. (2012). Mindfully resisting the bandwagon: reconceptualising IT innovation assimilation in highly turbulent environments. Journal of Information Technology, 27(3), 213-235.

71 Wu, L., & Hu, Y. P. (2012). Examining knowledge management enabled performance for hospital professionals: A dynamic capability view and the mediating role of process capability. Journal of

the Association for Information Systems, 13(12), 976.

72 Zahra, S. A., & George, G. (2002). The net-enabled business innovation cycle and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Information Systems Research, 13(2), 147-150.

73 Zhao, K., & Xia, M. (2014). Forming interoperability through interorganizational systems standards. Journal of Management Information Systems, 30(4), 269-298.

74 Zhu, K. (2004). The complementarity of information technology infrastructure and e-commerce capability: A resource-based assessment of their business value. Journal of management

information systems, 21(1), 167-202.

75 Zhu, K., & Kraemer, K. L. (2002). E-commerce metrics for net-enhanced organizations: Assessing the value of e-commerce to firm performance in the manufacturing sector. Information systems

31

APPENDIX B – CODING SCHEME

MISQ

MIS3 Trantopoulos et al. 2017 Data access systems Searching external knowledge capability

Search capabilities is facilitated by IT Quantitative Survey 1.262 manufacturing firms 2003– 2011 MIS4 Svahn, Mathiassen and Lindgren 2017 Digital innovation Innovation capabilities

Innovation capabilities will enhance digital innovation

Qualitative literature

MIS7 Iyengar, Sweener and Montealegre

2015 IT use Absorptive capacity IT use impacts knowledge transfer effectiveness, and absorptive capacity, influence IT use on firm performance is fully mediated by absorptive capacity.

Quantitative Survey 789

MIS11 Drnevich and Croson

2013 Level of IT New dynamic capabilities

IT both enhances the firm’s current (ordinary) capabilities and enables new (dynamic) capabilities.

Qualitative Literature

MIS19 Banker et al. 2006 Plant Information Systems.

3 Manufacturing Dynamic

capabilities

Results show strong positive support for the indirect impact of IT on plant performance that is mediated through these dynamic capabilities

Quantitative Survey 1.077 U.S.

manufacturing plants, U.S., 2000 MIS20 Sambamurth y, Bharadwaj and Grover 2003 Strategic role and value of IT Agility, digitized reach, entrepreneurial alertness

The three dynamic capabilities mediate the influence of IT competence, as an antecedent, on the level of a firm's

competitive actions

Conceptual -

MIS31 Roberts et al. 2012 IT capabilities Absorptive capacity Three types of IT capabilities facilitate absorptive capacity

Qualitative Literature 98 papers, 1990-2008 MIS33 Lu and

Ramamurthy

2011 IT capability Organizational agility

IT capability enhances both types of agility

Quantitative Survey 128

32 MIS34 Tallon and

Pinsonneault

2011 IT alignment Organizational agility

Organizational agility as a mediator between IT alignment and firm. performance

Quantitative Survey 241 business

executives, U.S.

MIS36 Nevo and Wade

2010 IT-enabled resources

Emergent capabilities

Synthesis between 2 theories to argue that the business value of IT assets is associated with the emergent capabilities exhibited by IT-enabled resources Qualitative Theoretical MIS40 Karimi, Somers and Bhattacherje e

2007 IS Resources ERP Capabilities The authors test the influence of IS resources on building ERP capabilities

Quantitative Survey 123 firms, U.S.

MIS45 Mitchell 2006 Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) projects

Integrative capability

Higher integrative capability minimize delays in IT projects

Quantitative Survey 79 EAI projects, medical sector, 1993-2003 MIS46 Rai, Patnayakuni and Seth 2006 IT infrastructure integration. IT-enabled supply chain integration capability IT infrastructure integration enables creation higher-order capabilities of supply chain process integration

Quantitative Survey 110 supply

chain managers MIS48 Piccoli and

Ives

2005 IT-dependent strategic initiatives

Organizational learning and Asset stock accumulation

DC perspective used as an instrument to reveal how four erosion barriers can be sustained over time to help IT-enabled strategic initiatives improve firm performance

33 MIS52 Barua et al. 2004 Net-Enabled

Business Transformatio n Online Informational Capabilities (OIC) Effective combination of resources enables a firm to develop OIC.

Quantitative Survey > 1000 firms, 2000,

MIS55 Wade and Hulland

2004 IS capabilities IS capabilities Combined Qualitative Literature MIS58 Santhanam

and Hartono

2003 IT Capability. IT Capability Combined Quantitative Database 56 firms,

34

ISR

ISR1 Zahra and George

2002 Net-enabled business innovation cycle (NEBIC)

absorptive capacity 4 capabilities constitute a firm's absorptive capacity that combined together embrace a firm's

routines in order to enable them to respond to environmental changes.

Qualitative Theoretical

ISR2 Wheeler 2002 Net-enabled business innovation Cycle (NEBIC)

Net-enablement Net-enablement (DC) embrace the assimilation and adoption of firms’ process and routines.

Qualitative Theoretical

ISR3 Pavlou and El Sawy

2010 Digital IT systems Improvisational capability

Using IT systems in an effective way enable creation of IT-enabled competitive advantage in dynamic environments through the

enablement of creating particular and distinctive reconfiguration capabilities

Quantitative Survey 180 managers, 2002-2003

ISR4 Pavlou and El Sawy

2006 IT leveraging competence

NPD capabilities IT leveraging competence in NPD indirectly influences competitive advantage in NPD, an impact that is fully mediated by two types of NPD

Quantitative Survey 121 managers, 2002-2003 ISR5 Harris, Collins and Hevner 2009 Software development Flexible development processes

Emphasize flexible in the flexible-control approach when in the initial conditions of software development facing uncertainty in the environment and

subsequently focus on control

Case study Structured interviews, Survey ISR6 El Sawy et al. 2010 IT systems Improvisational capabilities and Planned dynamic capabilities Improvisational capabilities in IT turbulence and planned for IT system in stable environment

35 ISR7 Zhu and

Kraemer

2002 E-commerce E-commerce capabilities

Net-enhanced organizations continually reconfigure their internal and external resources to employ digital networks to exploit business

Quantitative Field survey 260

manufacturing firms, 2-year period ISR8 Jarvenpaa and Leidner 1998 IS in developing countries context. strategic foresight and strategic flexibility

Strategic foresight and flexibility (DC) keep the collection of resources and capabilities a continuously moving target for the firm’s competitors

Qualitative interviews 1 information firm(n=40), Mexico, 1995-1997 ISR10 Tanriverdi, Rai and Venkatram an 2010 Complex adaptive business systems (CABS)

IT capabilities IT capabilities (period of

destabilization) are needed that increase managerial capacity for making sense of behaviors of CABS Research commentary Literature ISR13 Chi, Ravichandr an and Andrevski 2010 IT-enabled capabilities IT-enabled capabilities

Combined quantitative Observations N=120, 12

automakers, 1988-2003 ISR14 Rai and

Tang

2010 IT capabilities Process capabilities IT capabilities (IT integration and IT reconfiguration) together affect all competitive process

capabilities (process alignment, partnering flexibility, and offering flexibility structural mutual adjustment)

quantitative Survey 318 firms

ISR15 Joshi et al. 2010 IT-enabled knowledge capabilities

IT-enabled knowledge capabilities

Combined Quantitative IT-related news

announcements

7.546

36

JMIS

AUTHOR(S) YEAR IT CONTEXT TYPE OF DC RELATION IT AND DC TYPE RESEARCH DATA SAMPLE

JMIS1 Karimi and Walter

2015 Digital platform capabilities

First-order dynamic capabilities

Direct association between first-order dynamic capabilities and building digital platform capabilities

Quantitative Newspaper survey 136 responses JMIS2 Chen, Preston and Swink 2015 Big data analytics (BDA)

Big data analytics (BDA)

Combined Quantitative Survey 161 companies,

United States JMIS3 Roberts,

Campell and Vijayasarath y

2016 IS use Dynamic Managerial Capabilities

The authors focusing on sensing new opportunities (DMC) to identify opportunities for organizational innovation through firm’s IS

Quantitative Survey 248 managers

JMIS4 Lim,

Stratopoulos and Wirjanto

2011 Dynamic IT capability

Dynamic IT capability Combined Quantitative Observatio

ns

960 U.S. firms, 1997-2004 JMIS5 Bhatt and

Grover

2005 IT capabilities Organizational learning

the intensity of organizational learning as a DC in order to grasp the renewal of organizational

capabilities because of the dynamic nature of organizations. Quantitative Survey 202 IT executives (CIO), manufacturing firms JMIS7 Chatterjee et al. 2015 IT Affordances Improvisational capabilities IT affordances influence organizational virtues (wisdom, courage, justice and temperance) which influences improvisational capabilities (DC) and conceptualized innovativeness as the outcome

Quantitative Survey 250 employees, U.S.

JMIS11 Zhao and Xia 2014

Inter-organizational systems (IOS) standards

Interoperability Interoperability is shaped by the facilitation of IOS standards as a key IT infrastructure

37 JMIS15 Kim, Shin

and Kwon

2013 IT capability IT capability Combined Quantitative Survey 243

respondents

JMIS16 Wang et al. 2012 Business Value of Information Technology (BVIT)

IT capability IT capabilities are embedded in the IT value creation process of an organization by enabling it to be sufficient in the selection, combination, integration, deployment and leverage of IT resources in complementation with other firm capabilities and/or resources

Quantitative Survey 296

respondents, China, 2008-2009

JMIS18 Mueller et al. 2010 Service-oriented architecture (SOA)

IS capabilities Concept of SOA is able to deliver new IS capabilities or reinforce current IS capabilities by applying three design principles. The authors indicate the importance of SOA as an effective instrument to use in addressing challenges when aligning business and IT if the environment becomes more turbulent

Quantitative Secondary data (case description s) 164 SOA case descriptions, published: 2003-2008 JMIS25 Ravichandra n and Lertwongsati en

2005 IS resources IS capabilities IS resources influence the development of IS capabilities (IS human capital, IT infrastructure flexibility and IS relationship quality). The creation of IS capabilities

enhance IT support and core competencies which lead to firm performance (outcome)

Quantitative Survey 129 firms, U.S, 1997-1999

JMIS26 Zhu 2004 IT infrastructure E-commerce capability E-commerce capabilities represent frond-end capabilities

Quantitative Primary data

38

JAIS

AUTHOR(S) YEAR IT CONTEXT TYPE OF DC RELATION IT AND DC TYPE RESEARCH DATA SAMPLE

JAIS1 Singh et al. 2011 Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

IT-enabled dynamic capabilities

Exploring how RPM could help an organization achieve “dynamic stability” when faced with frequent, rapid, and unpredictable change in its markets, customer demands, technologies, competitive boundaries, products, and processes

Qualitative Case study (longitudin al) 1 health care provider (THA group), 2000-2009, U.S.

JAIS2 Kim et al. 2011 IT capability Process dynamic capabilities (PDC)

PDC acts as a mediator between firm performance and IT capability by taking a process oriented approach emphasized on connected partners, cost reduction, and capitalizing business intelligence

Quantitative Survey 243 firms, IT managers, Korea

JAIS3 Baker et al. 2011 Dynamic strategic alignment competency Dynamic strategic alignment competency Combined Conceptual

JAIS4 Wu and Hu 2012 Process knowledge capabilities

Process knowledge capabilities

Combined Quantitative Survey 144 IT

managers (hospitals) JAIS6 Tan et al. 2015 Multi-Sided

Platform (MSP) strategy

IS capabilities IS capabilities can potentially enable platform development strategies in order to impact in improve the development of Multi-Sided Platforms

Qualitative Case study 1 MSP (Alibaba), 31 interviews, 2008 - 2012, China JAIS9 Sandberg, Matthiassen and Napier

2014 IT investments Digital options Digital options frame plausible IT

capability investments that subsequently positively influences organizational performance

Qualitative Theoretical

JAIS13 Nazir and Pinsonneault

2012 IT integration Sensing and responding

The influence of IT applications on firm agility is dependent on the type of

39 dynamic

capabilities

supported integration (internal or external). JAIS15 Chengalur-Smith, Nevo and Demertzoglou 2010 Open source infrastructure technologies Absorptive capacity

Open source infrastructure technologies is likely to be beneficial if 1) firms possess human capacities and technological capacities to absorb (absorptive capacity)

Quantitative Survey 149

organizations (MySQL use), JAIS17 Robey, Im and

Wareham

2008 IT resources Dynamic capabilities

Link IOS with DC and suggests future research about the topic

Qualitative literature JAIS18 Iyer, Ravindran and Reckers 2006 IT procurement Dynamic capabilities

Creation of dynamic capabilities exist not to just properly invest or select

technological capabilities

Quantitative Expenditur e data

285 companies

JAIS19 Tan and Sia 2006 IT Outsourcing New capabilities Assess the relationship between IT outsourcing and what is needed for creating new capabilities (DC)

Conceptual

JAIS20 Greenaway and Chan

2005 Information Privacy Customer knowledge capability and customer relationship capability

In this specific study, the authors investigate information privacy and relate DC ( Customer knowledge capability and Customer Relationship capability ) to this context

Theoretical 2 theoretical

perspectives

JAIS21 Sherif and Menon

2004 Innovation assimilation

Absorptive capacity

Innovation assimilation is a good example of how to view the state of absorptive capacity through the process view. Innovation assimilation is the trajectory of a particular innovation with some overlap between the stages

40

JIT

JIT1 Wolf, Beck and Pahlke

2012 IT innovation assimilation Organizational mindfulness

Organizational Mindfulness (DC) will offer an

organizational concept in order to provide improved

assimilation of IT

Quantitative Survey 302 senior IT managers, financial services industry, U.S., Canada and the U.K.

JIT2 Butler and Murphy

2008 IS capabilities Dynamic IT capabilities

Dynamic capabilities Theory is used to describe the creation, development and application of business and IS capabilities

Qualitative case study 2 (customer) sites, Ireland and United States

JIT3 Fink and Markovich

2008 Enterprise Systems (ES) strategy

Absorptive capacity

Absorptive capacity as a function of the organization’s level of existing knowledge in the ES strategy

Theoretical

JIT6 Van der Heijden

41

EJIS

AUTHOR(S) YEAR IT CONTEXT TYPE OF DC RELATION IT AND DC

TYPE

RESEARCH DATA SAMPLE

EJIS2 Battleson et al.

2016 Cloud computing Cloud computing Combined Qualitative

Semi-structured interviews 28 IT managers (35 interviews) EJIS3 Daniel and

Wilson

2003 E-business Transformation

Integration and innovation

E-business (transformation) domain is characterized as a rapidly changing industry that require finding new ways to obtain new resources and

reconfiguration (NPD cap.)

Qualitative Case-study 5 cases, U.K., E-business transformati on

EJIS4 Wei and Wang

2009 Supply chain visibility Supply chain reconfiguration (SCM)

SCM integrate external and additional resources in order to adapt

organizational routines

Quantitative Survey 181, Taiwan, manufacturi ng EJIS5 Hackbarth and Kettinger 2004 Strategic IT Innovation aspirations

Internal capabilities Internal capabilities impact organization’s aspirations for incremental strategies (business improvement) or leapfrogging strategies (business innovation)

Qualitative structured interviews

28 firms

ISJ

ISJ2 Newell and Edelman

2008 IT project learning knowledge transfer (across IT projects) capability

knowledge transfer across projects emphasize operational routine adaptation (in project work) and the creation of such DC will be facilitated by mechanisms that contribute to (across) project learning.

Mixed method Case study (Interviews and survey)