An integrative model of E-business capability, dynamic capability, and E-business value for fast growth small-to-medium enterprises

Aiming to contribute to the long-standing debate concerning the business value of information technology (IT) and the determinants of fast growth companies, the present thesis develops and tests and integrative multi-theoretical model of drivers of e-business capability, dynamic capability, and e-business value. The technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, resource-based view of the firm (RBV), dynamic capability (DC), and contingency theories underpin this research. Structural equation modelling is employed to test the theoretical conceptualization on 310 Australian fast growth small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) across different industrial sectors. Results reveal that fast growth SMEs create and sustain competitive advantage by aligning their IT investments with complementary internal and external factors (i.e, IT resources, strategic planning, organizational culture, managerial skills to deal with competitive environment, business partnerships), and business practices (i.e, value chain activities) to develop e-business capability and dynamic capability. While antecedents from the TOE contexts are sources of competitive advantage, e-business capability and dynamic capability provides positional advantage for fast growth firms to differentiate themselves from their competitors by conducting upstream and downstream value chain activities effectively and through adapting and responding to external market changes efficiently, thus creating sustainable business value. The present thesis is possibly the first study to demonstrate the theoretical value of integrating TOE, RBV, DR and contingency theories into a multi-theoretical model, exhibiting high levels of explanation power and culminating in theoretical enhancement. This study also contributes to extant IS and entrepreneurial literature, providing a first step towards an understanding of how IT helps fast growth SMEs to gain business value