A Contingency and Resource-Based View of Fit between IT and Organisational Factors

Organisational factors (OFs) are increasingly seen to play critical roles in affecting the business value of information technology (IT). However, IT business value studies differ considerably on the types of OFs to be examined and their roles in creating IT business value. In order to accumulate knowledge, this paper provides a working definition and classification of OFs and critically reviews IT business value studies. Based on the review results, this paper argues for a contingency resource-based view of IT business value. Further, this paper develops five sets of propositions to suggest that the level of IT business value is contingent on the extent of aligning IT resources with critical OFs. The analysis provides some guidance for future research and expands understanding of IT business value.