IT-Enabled Organizational Transformations To Achieve Business Agility

Abstract

There has been increasing attention on organizational dynamic capabilities as the driving forces of superior firm performance in today’s turbulent business environment. The objective of this study is to develop a theoretical perspective that explains how firms achieve business agility from their deployment and utilization of information technologies (IT). Drawing upon the organizational learning literature, the study distinguishes two distinctive modes of organizational IT management, i.e., IT exploration and IT exploitation. The internal processes of agility creation from the two modes of IT management activities are explained drawing upon IT-enabled organizational transformations, either through disruptive or incremental innovations. Firm’s strategic posture and environment conditions are also considered as factors affecting these transformational processes.