Effects of Information Technology Capabilities on Strategic Alliances: Implications for the Resource‐Based View

• Date: 01 March 2016
• Author: Maurizio Zollo,Jeffrey J. Reuer,Constantinos S. Lioukas
• Published date: 01 March 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12179

Effects of Information Technology Capabilities

on Strategic Alliances: Implications for the

Resource-Based View

Constantinos S. Lioukas, Jeffrey J. Reuer

and Maurizio Zollo

EDHEC Business School; University of Colorado; Bocconi University

ABSTRACT This paper adopts a contingency approach to the resource-based view (RBV) of the

firm and seeks to establish boundary conditions for the value of certain information

technology (IT) capabilities. We first identify inter-organizational alliances as a specific strategy

context in which IT capabilities are particularly valuable. We then consider more detailed

boundary conditions that can shape the value of these capabilities within the alliance context.

Our study shows that firms with better IT capabilities can derive greater value from an

alliance, yet this effect also varies across different types of alliances depending on an

individual alliance’s characteristics. Specifically, IT capabilities are more valuable for alliances

with a non-equity governance structure, as well as those involving a high degree of

interdependence between partners. We highlight the implications of our findings for

opportunities to advance the RBV.

Keywords: capabilities, information technology, resource-based view (RBV), strategic

alliances

INTRODUCTION

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm aims to identify the resources and capabil-

ities that enable a firm to attain a level of performance that cannot easily be matched by

competitors (e.g., Armstrong and Shimizu, 2007; Barney and Arikan, 2001; Sirmon

et al., 2007). A few studies have also explored the conditions under which specific resour-

ces are likely to generate superior rents and performance (e.g., Hitt et al., 2001, 2006).

RBV scholars have stressed the need for further research in this area in order to more

systematically explore such boundary conditions for different resources and capabilities

(Armstrong and Shimizu, 2007; Mayer and Salomon, 2006; Sirmon et al., 2007). In

Address for reprints: Constantinos S. Lioukas, EDHEC Business School, 24 Avenue Gustave Delory, CS

50411, 59057 Roubaix Cedex 1, France (constantinos.lioukas@edhec.edu).

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C2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 53:2 March 2016

doi: 10.1111/joms.12179

particular, a promising research opportunity is to explore contingency factors that are

relevant to a particular strategy a firm pursues, as well as the specific activities that sup-

port that strategy. As Barney and Arikan observed, ‘resource-based theory has a very

simple view about how resources are connected to the strategies the firm pursues’ (2001,

p. 174). Interestingly, early RBV theorists emphasized that resources, by themselves,

cannot be valuable unless they create distinct strategic options for a firm (Peteraf, 1993),

or ‘when they enable firms to conceive of and implement value-creating strategies’ (Bar-

ney, 1991, p. 101).

In order to fulfill this promise of the RBV in strategic management, there are a number

of opportunities to build upon and extend research that has begun to explore contingen-

cies for different resources and capabilities. First, previous research in this area has

focused on a narrow range of resources and capabilities, most often those that are specific

to a particular industry. For example, Brush and Artz (1999) examined the value of prac-

tice capabilities in veterinary medicine across different types of veterinary services, and

Miller and Shamsie (1996) studied the value of knowledge-based resources that are rele-

vant to Hollywood film studios. Aragon-Correa and Sharma (2003) focused on resources

associated with proactive, natural environmental practices. The few contingency studies

that considered more general resources and capabilities focused on a narrow set of resour-

ces, such as a firm’s human and relational capital (Hitt et al., 2006; Sirmon and Hitt,

2009), general collaborative capabilities (Schilke, 2014) and product development capabil-

ities (Schilke, 2014). Clearly, more research in this area exploring contingency factors for

other resources and capabilities would help to advance the RBV.

Previous RBV research has also examined the contingent value of certain resources

and capabilities by focusing on a firm’s overall performance (e.g., Brush and Artz, 1999;

Hitt et al., 2001, 2006; Miller and Shamsie, 1996; Schilke, 2014). As a result, previous

studies have not examined contingencies regarding the value of these resources within a

specific strategy context, affecting the performance of a firm’s specific strategic activity.

Most studies have not considered contingencies related to a firm strategy but have

focused on other contingencies, such as those related to the environment in which a firm

operates (Aragon-Correa and Sharma, 2003; Miller and Shamsie, 1996; Schilke, 2014)

or the kind of services and products a firm offers (Brush and Artz, 1999; Sirmon and

Hitt, 2009). The few studies that have examined strategy-related contingencies show

how certain resources and capabilities interact with a firm’s general strategy – interna-

tionalization (Hitt et al., 2006) or diversification (Hitt et al., 2001), for example – to

influence firm performance. As a consequence, these studies also focused on overall firm

performance – and instead of examining more fine-grained contingencies relevant

within a particular strategy context, they considered the general strategy itself as a con-

tingency factor. Clearly, more research examining such fine-grained contingencies

within a given strategic context would help to advance the RBV.

Given these opportunities to build upon and extend RBV research using a contin-

gency approach, this paper aims to make a theoretical contribution to the RBV in sev-

eral ways. First, we broaden the set of capabilities considered previously by drawing on

the information technology (IT) field to identify a particular IT-related capability that is

consistent with resource-based logic. We also examine the value of that capability within

a specific strategic context. Specifically, we suggest that the IT capability of a firm is

162 C. S. Lioukas et al.

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C2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies