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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships among two types of information technology (IT) resources (technological IT and managerial IT resources), the intrapreneurship culture and firm performance.

The paper is consistent with the perspective on IT‐enabled organizational capabilities. A proposed research model and hypotheses are tested using cross‐sectional survey data from a sample of 203 leading Spanish firms.

Data analysis shows that intrapreneurship culture is a valuable key capability that predicts firm market performance; both technological IT and managerial IT resources have a positive effect on the development of an intrapreneurship culture in the firm, and investment in both technological IT and managerial IT resources influences firm performance positively by means of the capability of intrapreneurship culture.

Among other limitations, the paper uses data provided by only one key informant per firm, and the results can be generalized to only 25 business sectors among Spanish firms.

The research findings have important implications for practising managers. First, our results suggest that the deployment of technological IT and managerial IT resources increases firms' ability to develop an innovation‐supportive culture. Second, intrapreneurship culture is an important intermediate organizational capability through which the benefits of both technological IT and managerial IT resources are converted into performance effects at the corporate level.

First, this paper reveals how firms can develop an intrapreneurship culture. Specifically, the findings of the paper show the key role of IT‐based resources in the development of this type of organizational culture. Second, this paper shows theoretically and empirically how firms can generate business value from IT‐enabled intrapreneurship culture, a topic that has received little attention to date.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of information technology (IT) competence – composed of IT infrastructure, IT technical and managerial knowledge and the integration of IT strategy with firm strategy – on quality performance. Since, according to the resource‐based view, IT alone is not able to sustain a competitive advantage, the moderating effect of leadership practice on this relationship must be analyzed.

A proposed research model is tested using survey data from a sample of 230 leading Spanish firms. Multiple regression analysis was performed with SPSS package.

The main findings show that: the existence of an IT competence will have a partial impact on improvement in quality performance; IT technical knowledge in itself does not influence the determination of improvement in quality performance – rather, one needs complementarity with leadership; and the impact of IT dimensions on quality performance will be greater in the presence of leadership practice.

Managers must be aware that the impact of IT on competitive advantage need not be direct; it can have influence through complementarity with other organizational capabilities.

The paper reinforces the need to explore in greater depth the relationship between IT and quality management. This appears to be one of the first papers to simultaneously explore relationships between IT, leadership and quality performance. The paper provides insights on the processes by which IT resources interact with other organizational resources, a topic that has received little attention to date.

The aim of this paper is to study empirically the influence of managerial perceptions of the environment on dynamic capabilities (DC) generation. It seeks to identify three dimensions of competitive environment (dynamism, complexity, and munificence) and then use the theoretical model developed by Zollo and Winter to explain DC creation.

The authors use data collected from 200 Spanish firms through a questionnaire to perform multiple and simple regression analyses that examine the relationship between managerial perceptions and DC generation.

It is found that managerial perception of munificence in the environment is related positively and significantly to the processes of DC creation; only when managers perceive the environment as highly dynamic and complex do they promote processes for developing DC.

The findings suggest that managerial cognition plays an important role in DC processes. Thus, managers should evaluate their mental models and value systems to determine whether they provide an accurate understanding of the environment.

The understanding of DC must be developed though empirical papers, as unresolved theoretical inconsistencies create many challenges in this area. The proliferation of theoretical papers has produced a disconnected body of research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors within the technology‐organization‐environment (TOE) framework that affect the decision to adopt electronic commerce (EC) and extent of EC adoption, as well as adoption and non‐adoption of different EC applications within small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted to collect data from 235 managers or owners of manufacturing SMEs in Iran. The data were analyzed by employing factorial analysis and relevant hypotheses were derived and tested by multiple and logistic regression analysis.

EC adoption within SMEs is affected by perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility, CEO's innovativeness, information intensity, buyer/supplier pressure, support from technology vendors, and competition. Similarly, description on determinants of adoption and non‐adoption of different EC applications has been provided.

Cross‐sectional data of this research tend to have certain limitations when it comes to explaining the direction of causality of the relationships among the variables, which will change overtime.

The findings offer valuable insights to managers, IS experts, and policy makers responsible for assisting SMEs with entering into the e‐marketplace. Vendors should collaborate with SMEs to enhance the compatibility of EC applications with these businesses. To enhance the receptiveness of EC applications, CEOs, innovativeness and perception toward EC advantages should also be aggrandized.

This study is perhaps one of the first to use a wide range of variables in the light of TOE framework to comprehensively assess EC adoption behavior, both in terms of initial and post‐adoption within SMEs in developing countries, as well adoption and non‐adoption of simple and advanced EC applications such as electronic supply chain management systems.

This paper aims to examine how the characteristics of CEOs' social networks, such as the size of the network and the strength of the ties, influence strategic flexibility from a strategic orientation perspective. External social networks can affect strategic flexibility positively. Different orientations could have repercussions for the relationship between external social networks and strategic flexibility.

The data came from surveys completed by the managers of 188 Spanish firms. The methodology used was regression analysis.

The authors observe that external social networks affect strategic flexibility positively, more strongly when the networks are greater in size. The sample was classified into three groups: conservative, intermediate and entrepreneurship firms. The authors find that other effects vary according to the kind of strategic orientation in the organization. Both findings support and extend social capital and network theory and flexibility literature.

The interviews were held with Spanish CEOs, and the character of the research was cross‐sectional. This could have implications for the generalizability of the findings.

The authors' results extend previous research not only by highlighting the importance of CEOs' social networks in driving strategic flexibility but also by indicating how different strategic orientations either enhance or inhibit this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Quick thinking, an ability to react swiftly to changing circumstances, knowing what to do immediately when faced with a challenging situation. What company can afford to have a CEO who does not fit that description? But how do those in the top job stay alert to unstable, dynamic environmental conditions? How do they gain the knowledge and expertise they need to act nimbly in the best interests of their organization? How do they ensure their firms embrace strategic flexibility and what is their role in fostering it? These are questions which an organization cannot ignore if they accept that their CEO is one of their most powerful actors and chief decision maker.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the theoretical work conducted in the fields of e-business adoption by small businesses in the UK. This chapter aims to explore the benefits and drawbacks that influence small businesses in adopting Internet-based e-business. We are thus responding to a need to recognise and measure the perceived importance of driving forces and barriers in the adoption of e-business solutions among small businesses. Currently, adoption of e-business is rapidly growing among business organisations throughout the world. Crucially, it is often seen as an essential strategic tool that attracts many companies in turning their traditional business strategy to e-business and as a more complex concept of interfirm cooperation.

A structured work was applied to synthesise a theoretical model. A meticulous search of available literature was conducted, focussing on key terms such as e-business adoption, benefits, drawbacks and small businesses in the UK. We identify that e-business adoption within small businesses is affected by perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility, CEO’s innovativeness, information intensity, buyer/supplier pressure, support from technology vendors and competition. Furthermore, the value of such adoption depends on how, in the face of rapid growth, small businesses can effectively expand IT resources, strategic planning and business partnerships to develop e-business capability and business process competence. These are the key areas of activity which help adopting companies to achieve outstanding business performance. The findings of this study to date are presented within the limiting parameters of methodology based upon use of self-report scales to measure the constructs of the theoretical model. The main orientation of the work of this study is theoretical and sectional which provides a static picture of e-business adoption by small businesses – offering guiding practical insight and providing foundations for subsequent empirical study.

This chapter offers researchers a broader and more comprehensive view of the benefits and drawbacks that influence small businesses in adopting Internet-based e-business. Educators, researchers and practitioners will be all benefitted. In recent years, e-business has been adopted by many corporations to improve operational efficiency and profitability and to strengthen their competitive position and potential for survival in the new economic era (the information era).

Scientific production on the topic of information technology (IT) capabilities grows each year, leading researchers working in the field into difficulties to keep abreast of the new research flows, as well as to know the intellectual and conceptual structures that sustain the area. Thus, this study aims to present the result of the application of a quantitative approach on the international scientific production on the subject.

Several complementary bibliometric techniques were combined, such as keywords co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling and cocitation analysis. Considering that the bibliometric research support software currently available to the academic community has strengths and weaknesses, the present study uses three recent tools of analysis (VOSviewer, SciMAT and Bibliometrix), to explore the best that each can offer.

The authors analyzed 219 scientific papers available on the Web of Science. The authors identify the origins of the current literature on IT capabilities, as well as its foundations and main intellectual and conceptual structures, including a longitudinal view of the development of the theme. The paper also presents the main research fronts in the field, as well as several opportunities that can contribute to the advancement of research involving IT capabilities.

The fundamental themes for structuring the whole of the scientific production on IT capabilities, which had a higher level of development and connection with external research flows, are organizational performance, strategic management, resource and value-based view. Thus, future researchers will find underlying literature on IT capabilities in the context of business a rich and varied literature involving these major themes.

Despite the positive effects of customer capital (CC), questions remain over how managers enable CC growth by applying their skills and capabilities through managerial actions and strategies, such as developing information technology (IT) capability, fostering relationship learning (RL) activities and developing green innovation performance (GIP) with clients. These questions are especially pertinent in small and medium-sized enterprises and automotive industry companies that operate through supply chains, where knowledge about customers is likely to result from personal contact between customers and organisational members. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which these managerial actions were more likely to lead to the successful creation of CC.

Using the partial least squares technique, this paper studies how these three managerial actions impact on CC. To do so, data from 140 companies in the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector have been used.

The findings support the influence of RL on both GIP and CC. RL is a key managerial action in exploiting customer information and knowledge advantages, enabling firms to structure and reconfigure resources to produce new ways to compete and to satisfy stakeholders. In addition, results show that GIP is a determinant of CC because of its contribution to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, with GIP performing a mediating role in the relationship between RL and CC. A second contribution shows that IT is not in itself able to yield a competitive advantage, thereby validating the existence of complementary or co-focused strategic assets such as RL and GIP, which enhance IT’s influence on CC.

The authors were unable to explore the subtleties of the processes over time. Future research should include a longitudinal study.

This study considers RL an essential factor in achieving both GIP and CC. Consequently, managers should seek to build strong RL cultures. In addition, this study shows that IT is not in itself able to yield a competitive advantage, thereby validating the existence of complementary or co-focused strategic assets such as RL and GIP.

No study has ever examined these three antecedent variables (IT, RL and GIP) together, with the aim to examine their effects on CC.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of information technology (IT) competency on knowledge management processes and the relations among IT competency, knowledge management processes and performance outcomes.

The study uses survey data from 162 managers and structural equation modeling to assess the links between IT competency, knowledge management processes and firm performance.

First, this study finds that IT competency plays a critical role in knowledge management processes. Second, knowledge management processes are directly related to market performance, which, in turn, is directly related to financial performance. Third, no direct relation exists between IT competency and firm performance. Knowledge management processes mediate the relation between IT competency and market performance.

The research is cross‐sectional, so cause‐effect relations cannot be definitively inferred from the results.

The findings indicate that managers should not only focus on allocating sufficient resources for IT investments. To achieve better performance, these technologies need to be used to support the development of the knowledge management processes.

This study contributes to knowledge management research, identifying a key antecedent of knowledge management processes – IT competency – and analyzing the link between knowledge management processes and performance. Moreover, this study is relevant to IT literature because it shows that IT competency, on its own, is insufficient to generate and maintain a competitive advantage. Firms need complementary strategic capabilities such as knowledge management to strengthen the effect of IT competency on firm performance.