Information Technology and Sustained Competitive Advantage:
A Resource-Based Analysis
Francisco J. Mata, William L. Fuerst, and Jay B. Barney
Abstract
The concept of IT as a powerful competitive weapon has been strongly emphasized
in the literature, yet the sustainability of the competitive advantage
provided by IT applications is not well-explained. This work discusses
the resource-based theory as a means of analyzing sustainability and develops
a model founded on this resource-based view of the firm. This model is
then applied to four attributes of IT -- capital requirements, proprietary
technology, technical IT skills, and managerial IT skills -- which might
be sources of sustained competitive advantage. From this resource-based
analysis, we conclude that managerial IT skills is the only one of these
attributes that can provide sustainability.
Keywords
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Competitive Advantage
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Resource-Based Theory
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IT resources
Abstract
from MIS Quarterly.