Evaluated Conceptualization of a Research Model to Test the Role of IT-Based Competitive Advantage Regarding IT Capability and Organizational Performance

An academic discussion deals with the question whether or not IT is able to create strategic value, in particular competitive advantage. IT-based competitive advantage or the strategic value of IT is the ability of IT to generate a firm performance that differs from competitors, and IT capability is the capability to deploy and mobilize IT-based resources in combination with other resources of the organization. Recent research indicated a need to explore the role of IT-based competitive advantage in a way it was not done before.;This thesis developed a research model which includes IT capability, IT-based competitive advantage and Organizational performance as well as their relationships. In order to evaluate the reasonableness of the conceptualized research model in practice, 10 IT executives were interviewed. The results revealed that -- depending on the instance-- an IT-based competitive advantage either plays a partially or a fully mediating role regarding IT capability and Organizational performance.;Furthermore, this research contributed to the ongoing discussion above by supporting that IT is able to create strategic value justified by a multitude of collected examples. In addition, it revealed doubts about using the developed research model in quantitative approaches due to the known low explanatory power and the discovered quantification and assignment problem considering Organizational performance as a depended variable.;Implications for practice explained that the developed research model is reasonable since all relationships of the research model have been identified being reasonable and meaningful in practice justified by a multitude of collected instances. Finally, this thesis explains what the research insights can mean for firms such as the opportunity to analyze the concept's occurrences in order to gain valuable knowledge about the relationships in their own business.