On information technology competencies for collaborative organizational structures

Abstract

There is an uptake of organizations’ involvement in collaborative organizational structures (COS). Consistent with the resource-centric views of the firm, we suggest that the COS members need to contribute their managed IT competencies to their COS, whose synergies would create COS IT competencies. We suggest three key IT competencies for COS: proactive top management decision synergy, collaborative and agile IT infrastructure, and cross-functional tactical management synergy. Using survey data, we found evidence of a positive association between these COS IT competencies and the collaborative rent-generating potential of the COS. We also found a positive association between the collaborative rent-generating potential of the COS and the business value of the COS members. The results suggest that developing COS IT competencies add value to a COS and its members. This study provides guidance for organizations looking to leverage their involvement in a COS.