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IT Managers’ Relations and Value Creation: Complementary Insights from Four Theoretical Standpoints

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Digital Technology and Organizational Change

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 23))

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Abstract

Scholars investigating the importance of effective IT managers’ relations tend to rely on two mainstream theoretical approaches: the resource-based view (RBV) and sister theories, on the one hand; and the business-IT alignment view, on the other hand. This study proposes that these two theories, although very effective in explaining several aspects of the importance of IT managers’ relationships, are not sufficient, and could be usefully complemented by at least two further important theories: Lawrence and Lorsch’s view of organisational differentiation and integration, and the cyclical model of organisational learning proposed by Zollo and Winter. Therefore, this study presents the contribution of these four theoretical approaches (RBV, business-IT alignment, organisational integration, and cyclical organisational learning) to explaining the importance of IT managers’ relationships. For each theory, two propositions are deduced. The eight resulting propositions are briefly compared, in order to highlight the importance of theoretical cross-fertilisation and integration for a better scientific understanding of IT management value.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Verona, Verona VR, Italy

    Francesca Ricciardi & Alessandro Zardini

  2. eCampus University, Novedrate, Italy

    Sabrina Bonomi

Authors
  1. Francesca Ricciardi
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  2. Alessandro Zardini
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  3. Sabrina Bonomi
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Correspondence to Francesca Ricciardi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Cecilia Rossignoli

  2. Department of Economics and Management, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Francesco Virili

  3. Department of Business and Management, LUISS University, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Za

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Ricciardi, F., Zardini, A., Bonomi, S. (2018). IT Managers’ Relations and Value Creation: Complementary Insights from Four Theoretical Standpoints. In: Rossignoli, C., Virili, F., Za, S. (eds) Digital Technology and Organizational Change. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62051-0_9

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