An empirical examination of the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a model that tests the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages.

Design/methodology/approach

Customer focus is categorized into: customer responsiveness and product/service innovation. The data for the study are obtained from 116 executives from a number of business organizations.

Findings

IT infrastructure is found to have a significant effect on customer responsiveness, but does not show any significant relationship with product/service innovation. IT infrastructure, customer responsiveness, and product/service innovation are found to be significantly related business advantages.

Research limitations/implications

The research is useful for academic scholars and managers as the results of the study show the value of firm‐specific resources such as IT infrastructure in business advantages. The research is also useful as it finds support for the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm.

Originality/value

The paper exemplifies how IT infrastructure can influence customer focus and thus affects directly and indirectly business advantages.

Citation

Bhatt, G.D. and Emdad, A.F. (2010), "An empirical examination of the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages", Journal of Systems and Information Technology, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 4-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/13287261011032625