Are we really competent? Assessing organizational ability in delivering IT benefits

The purpose of this paper is to present organizational competencies for gaining information technology (IT) benefits within organizations. Following the analysis of 16 in‐depth case studies, a set of six high level, fundamental competencies and 17 facilitating competencies are identified. A framework for orchestrating the organizational competencies is also presented. The results of this research would be useful to academics in developing measures for assessing the level of organizational competence and for practitioners in identifying and nurturing competencies for organizational benefits realization.

The methodology involved two phases. Phase 1 entailed conducting 16 extensive case studies. Case study methodology employed follows guidelines provided by Yin and Benbasat et al. Case studies are a suitable means to collect the data since the notion of competencies in delivering IT benefits has not been well understood in the literature. By analyzing and understanding the particular situation and factors in each organization in an in‐depth manner, the paper develops a sound interpretation of the abilities that organizations need to have in place to deliver IT benefits.

In order to gain business benefits from IT investments, organizations must develop competencies to exploit IT. These competencies involve individual skills and organizational processes that enable those skills to be effectively applied. This paper identifies 23 competencies categorized into fundamental and facilitating competencies that firms need to have in place if IT services are to be delivered adequately and business benefits achieved. Also developed is a network of competences based on the data collected in the 16 cases studied.

Like any research, this paper has its limitations. Given the qualitative and interpretive nature of the research, a lot of assertions are interpretations of the authors. While in the literature, this has been argued as a valid way to undertake research, clearly there are biases that creep into the research.

The model of competencies presented forms a good basis for enterprises to fine‐tune their abilities for harnessing IT.

While management researchers have been researching the notion of organizational competence for a while, it has not been well considered in the information systems arena; it is felt that this research makes a positive contribution to that effect.