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Linking routines to the evolution of IT capability on agent-based modeling and simulation: a dynamic perspective

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Abstract

IT capability as an important source of competitive advantage has been strongly emphasized in the strategic management literature, yet the formation and evolution of IT capability in the ever-changing business environment are not well explained. To fill this gap, this paper takes routine as the unit of analysis, depicts a micro-interpretation of the formation and evolution of IT capabilities from the routine-based and dynamic perspective, and uses the agent-based simulation methodology to simulate the evolutionary process of IT capability as well as to identify the underlying principles. In order to provide a better presentation of the evolutionary process, a routine-based view of the enterprise explicitly recognizes relationships of IT resources and capabilities. The simulation results show that the evolution of IT capability is a dynamic adaption and learning process. From the routine-based view, the evolution of IT capability is indeed the process of variation, selection, and retention for IT routines.

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Acknowledgments

The research work in this paper has been sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71302188 and No. 91224007), Philosophy and Social Science Fund of Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (No. 2013SJB6300032), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 9142013), and Qing Lan Project. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which have helped us to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Bing Bai

  2. Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-916, Korea

    Byungjoon Yoo

  3. The School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Xiuquan Deng & Dehua Gao

  4. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, 19131, USA

    Iljoo Kim

  5. Beihang University, Room A1049, New Main Building, XueYuan Road No. 37, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Xiuquan Deng

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  1. Bing Bai
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  2. Byungjoon Yoo
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Correspondence to Xiuquan Deng.

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Bai, B., Yoo, B., Deng, X. et al. Linking routines to the evolution of IT capability on agent-based modeling and simulation: a dynamic perspective. Comput Math Organ Theory 22, 184–211 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10588-015-9202-0

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