Organisational performance and information technology infrastructure: a resource based perspective

The value of IT infrastructure is examined from the perspective of the resource-based view of the firm. We identify three types of IT infrastructure assets: physical, human and organisational and hypothesise that high performing firms will have greater levels of human and organisational IT infrastructure assets than low performing firms but that there will be no differences in their levels of physical IT resources. The hypotheses are tested using matched pair survey data from CEOs and CIOs. The findings support the hypotheses. In particular, high and low performing firms differ significantly in terms of context-specific human and organisational infrastructure components. This has implications for management decision making in the areas of IT investment and the components of IT infrastructure that should be outsourced.