Purpose

The system of information technology (IT)-oriented resources and processes that organizations need to develop to achieve operational agility remains unclear. The study research seeks to extend existing competency literature by incorporating the unique contextual nuances of the relationship between IT capabilities and operational agility.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multi-method approach, this paper presents a theoretical framework of IT-enabled operations strategy that conceptualizes the role of IT capability in leveraging resources and processes for operational agility. Drawing on operations and information systems research, the authors advance that IT enables operational agility through two dimensions. From the perspective of a resource-based operations strategy, the authors explore the role of IT in resource-leveraging activities by investigating the nonlinear relationship between IT infrastructure and IT reconfiguration. From the perspective of a process-oriented operations strategy, the authors explore the role of IT in process-enhancing activities by investigating the nonlinear relationship between IT coordination and IT integration.

Findings

The study results, based on a sample of 113 organizations in Europe, Asia and North America, show that the interaction between IT infrastructure and IT reconfiguration positively influences operational agility, hence showing complementarity between the two constructs, while the interaction between IT coordination and IT integration negatively affects operational agility, hence indicating substitutability between the two constructs. A series of 62 interviews and a case study of Carrefour were further conducted to validate the field survey's results and to provide a finer grained explanation of the research model and quantitative findings.

Originality/value

The study findings offer an alternative explanation of the inconsistent relationship between IT capability and operational agility.

中文翻译：

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了解 IT 能力与运营敏捷性之间的关系：一种多方法方法

目的

组织需要开发以实现运营敏捷性的面向信息技术 (IT) 的资源和流程系统仍不清楚。该研究旨在通过结合 IT 能力和运营敏捷性之间关系的独特背景细微差别来扩展现有的能力文献。

设计/方法/途径

本文采用多种方法，提出了 IT 支持的运营战略的理论框架，该框架概念化了 IT 能力在利用资源和流程实现运营敏捷性方面的作用。借鉴运营和信息系统研究，作者提出 IT 通过两个维度实现运营敏捷性。从基于资源的运营战略的角度来看，作者通过调查 IT 基础设施和 IT 重构之间的非线性关系，探讨了 IT 在资源利用活动中的作用。从面向流程的运营战略的角度来看，作者通过调查 IT 协调与 IT 集成之间的非线性关系，探讨了 IT 在流程增强活动中的作用。

发现

研究结果基于欧洲、亚洲和北美 113 个组织的样本，表明 IT 基础设施和 IT 重新配置之间的相互作用对运营敏捷性产生积极影响，因此显示出这两种结构之间的互补性，而 IT 协调和 IT 之间的相互作用集成会对操作敏捷性产生负面影响，因此表明两种结构之间的可替代性。进一步进行了一系列 62 次访谈和家乐福案例研究，以验证实地调查的结果，并对研究模型和定量结果提供更细粒度的解释。

原创性/价值

研究结果为 IT 能力与运营敏捷性之间的不一致关系提供了另一种解释。