Strategic Valuation of Enterprise Information Technology Architecture in Healthcare Organizations

Abstract

The knowledge and skills required to manage information technology (IT) resources are obtained, driven, and dictated by a firm's information technology architecture (ITA). IT resources are assets and capabilities that are available and useful in detecting and responding to market opportunities or threats. Given the need for firms to be able to achieve and sustain competitive advantage in the midst of a dynamic and uncertain environment, it is important to identify IT resources that can facilitate superior performance. The IT resources realized as a result of employing an ITA are believed to enable firms to acquire and sustain a competitive advantage. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the implementation and utilization of an ITA has become an urgent priority for many firms. It is expected that appropriate leveraging of IT resources will provide firms with competencies that are congruent with their competitive needs rather than existing patterns of usage within the firm. This study seeks to contribute to the literature on strategic IT management by pursuing three specific goals. First, it provide further insights into the strategic value, to firms, of ITA by assessing the influence of the ITA maturity on IS success and firm performance. Second, it evaluates the nature of these influences through the mediation of IT resources, specifically IT infrastructure flexibility (ITIF), and strategic alignment. Finally, the study employs a contingency variable, corporate culture, as a moderator to all of the relationships in the study in an effort to provide a better understanding of these relationships. The findings of the present study suggest that along certain dimensions the level of ITA maturity is paramount when determining the level of IT infrastructure flexibility and strategic alignment. In addition, the findings indicate that the corporate culture exhibited by an organization moderates the nature of the influence of the elements of ITA maturity on both IT infrastructure flexibility and strategic alignment. As it relates to IS success and firm performance, the findings of the present study suggest that the corporate culture exhibited by an organization and the level of ITA maturity along certain dimensions are also critical when determining the level of IS success and firm performance.