EVIDENCE LINKING IT TO FIRM PERFORMANCE

This study applies the concepts of strategic simplicity and top management team heterogeneity to the context of IT to best understand the link between IT and firm performance. More heterogeneity between CEO and CIO leads to greater diversity and complexity of IT applications. Impacts on firm performance are moderated based on the organizational context. Understanding the Link between IT and Firm Performance Much attention has been paid to understand how Information Technology (IT) influences firm performance. Even though different factors and theoretical models have been proposed to understand this relationship, empirical evidence indicates mixed and contradictory results (Barua et al., 1995; Devaraj and Kohli, 2003). Previous studies have looked at usage (Devaraj and Kohli, 2003), capabilities (Bharadwaj, 2000), consumer surplus (Hitt and Brynjolfsson, 1996), and investment announcements (Dos Santo et al., 1993; Dehning et al., 2003). This study takes a different approach. Drawing upon work in strategy and management, this study applies the concepts of strategic simplicity and top management team heterogeneity to the IT context. More specifically, it looks at how heterogeneity between CEO and CI