Two organizational case studies of IT-Enabled value

IT-enabled value has continued to attract research and managerial attention because some organizations tend to outperform others in deriving IT-enabled value from their investments. Since there are many direct and indirect influencers of IT-enabled value, we posit that what may distinguish one organization from another are the assumptions and conceptual models of transformation processes associated with IT-enabled value creation. Transforming organizational inputs like technology investments, investments in improvement and training and management resources into IT-enabled value is a complex process. Consequently, we adopted a process-oriented stance to uncover the mental models and shared assumptions that underlie such transformative processes. By using interpretive structural modelling, we were able to map and analyse conceptual models of principal stakeholders who are associated with information technologies in two organizations. Our results show how antecedents and consequents associated with IT-enabled value vary across organizations. The primary implication of our findings for managers and practitioners is that it is possible to identify the principal levers to derive IT-enabled value. The major research implication lies in being able to frame the process of deriving IT-enabled value as emergent and dynamic. Our methodological contribution is in presenting an efficient approach to understand and improve the process of IT-enabled value creation. This forms an important contribution because post-facto insights may be too late for organizations and managers to leverage the potential of new technologies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.