Abstract Emerging economies present attractive opportunities to foreign firms. However, internationalization risk faced by foreign firms can have significant implications for their performance relative to local firms. Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled capabilities help firms overcome internationalization risk and compete globally. Marketing Capability and Relational Capability also mitigate this risk through access to information related to markets and the business environment. We examine how foreign firms and local firms compare in leveraging synergies between such IT and firm capabilities. We focus on two kinds of IT-enabled capabilities: IT-enabled Flexibility in Customer Services, and IT-enabled Flexibility in Partner Services, and develop hypotheses for their complementary effects with Marketing Capability and Relational Capability respectively, to positively influence firm performance. We then draw on the firm-specific advantages framework to argue that foreign firms face a comparative disadvantage relative to local firms in leveraging the synergy between IT-enabled Flexibility in Customer Services and Marketing Capability. In contrast, foreign firms enjoy a comparative advantage relative to local firms in leveraging the synergy between IT-enabled Flexibility in Partner Services and Relational Capability. Empirical analysis using matched-pair survey and secondary data of 182 foreign and local firms in India supports our hypotheses. Our findings highlight important differences in how foreign and local firms benefit from IT, thus contributing towards a better understanding of how context and contingencies influence IT implications in emerging economies.

中文翻译：

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IT 支持的灵活性对新兴经济体中的外国公司与本地公司的好处

摘要 新兴经济体为外国公司提供了有吸引力的机会。然而，外国公司面临的国际化风险可能对其相对于本地公司的业绩产生重大影响。信息技术 (IT) 和 IT 支持的能力可帮助公司克服国际化风险并在全球范围内竞争。营销能力和关系能力还通过访问与市场和商业环境相关的信息来降低这种风险。我们研究了外国公司和本地公司如何在利用此类 IT 和公司能力之间的协同作用方面进行比较。我们专注于两种 IT 支持的功能：IT 支持的客户服务灵活性和 IT 支持的合作伙伴服务灵活性，并分别假设它们与营销能力和关系能力的互补效应，以积极影响公司绩效。然后，我们利用特定于公司的优势框架来论证外国公司在利用 IT 支持的客户服务灵活性和营销能力之间的协同作用方面相对于本地公司面临相对劣势。相比之下，外国公司在利用 IT 支持的合作伙伴服务灵活性和关系能力之间的协同作用方面相对于本地公司具有比较优势。使用配对调查和印度 182 家外国和本地公司的二手数据进行的实证分析支持我们的假设。我们的发现突出了外国和本地公司如何从 IT 中受益的重要差异，