| Drawing on research in both international business and information systems, the goal of this dissertation seeks a better understanding of the relationship between information technology capability, organizational culture, and export performance in the context of born global firms. To fulfill this purpose three empirical studies are presented in this dissertation and are used to develop a theoretical model. To test the generalizability of the proposed model, data are collected from both China and the U.S.; The first empirical study reviews the literature on IT capability and develops a scale to measure IT capability. The results show that IT capability is a multidimensional construct consisting of four components, namely: IT architecture, IT human resource, IT infrastructure, and IT relationship resource. The second empirical study examines differences in how IT capability is perceived in China and the U.S. The third empirical study takes the resource-based view and argues that IT capability can be viewed as one of the firm's resources, and when leveraged well, will lead to better performance. It also argues that international marketing orientation, international entrepreneurial orientation, and organizational learning directly affect IT capability.; The central contributions of this dissertation are: first, it identifies and thereafter develops and validates an instrument to measure IT capability in the context of born global firms; second, it advances the literature of culture influence on IT implementation by investigating how Chinese business culture impacts IT capability in China; third, it integrates literature on international business, organizational culture, and information systems by investigating the influence of IT capability on firms' export performance; fourth, it contributes to the RBV by supporting the perspective that a firm's competitive advantage and performance are a function of complex inimitable resources that are embedded within the organization. |
