The strategic value of the "fit" between business processes and IT management: The case of the Italian publishing industry

Abstract

This research study aims at investigating the effect of the fit between organizational processes and information technology on business performance. Our key theoretical point unfolds from the hypothesis that the information technologies can trigger their potential and (positively) impact business performance if they "fit" the organizational processes they are deemed to support. When firms configure their IT equipments, we argue that managers should select a configuration that better "fit" the processes. We have outlined a theoretically derived model of IT/process fit based on business process dimensions and their relationship to IT features that can help researchers to understand the consequences of IT investments on organization. Model estimation has been carried out in the context of the Italian publishing industry on a sample of 36 publishing firms. The results show substantial support for our main hypothesis: firms which actually use IT in a way that fits business process requirements show a better competitive positioning. Results have significant managerial implications and show that to make "good" IT decisions managers should consider jointly both IT characteristics and process dimensions. The cost of any IT option should be evaluated against its purpose and the organizational processes the IT should support.