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Effects of boards of directors' external ties on firms' IT success

Jie Wang (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Xingteng Li (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)

Kybernetes

ISSN: 0368-492X

Article publication date: 6 September 2021

Issue publication date: 30 November 2022

155

Abstract

Purpose

Given the huge investment and complexity of information technology, it is imperative that boards of directors fully play their important role in promoting firms' IT success. This study aims to investigate the effects of boards of directors' external ties on firms' IT success from the perspective of resource dependence theory.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the method of the matched sample comparison group, a total of 576 samples of listed enterprises in three periods were obtained.

Findings

Results show that both boards' political ties and boards' business ties have a positive impact on firms' IT success. Environmental uncertainty and the institutional environment play different roles in the relationships between two types of external ties and firms' IT success. Specifically, the results show that the institutional environment can regulate the influence of the political association of directors on firms' IT success negatively. In addition, environmental uncertainty regulates the influence of directors' political association on firms' IT success negatively, as well as the influence of directors' commercial association with firms' IT success.

Research limitations/implications

The external ties were measured by cross-sectional data. And the current study focused on two fundamental types of external ties.

Originality/value

Boards' external ties are studied from both political and business perspectives, and the effects of these two types of external ties on firms' IT success are compared. Additionally, the moderating effects of the institutional environment (macro level) and environmental uncertainty (micro level) in these relationships are investigated.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Wang, J., Li, X., Zhao, C. and Feng, F. (2021), “Effects of boards of directors' external ties on firms' IT success”, Kybernetes, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-11-2020-0810 included two additional authors in the published article. This error was introduced in the typesetting process and has now been corrected in the online version. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.

Citation

Wang, J. and Li, X. (2022), "Effects of boards of directors' external ties on firms' IT success", Kybernetes, Vol. 51 No. 12, pp. 3574-3590. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-11-2020-0810

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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