Study of the Mutual Connections Among Information-Communication Technologies, Organisational Learning and Business Performance

Zusammenfassung

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This paper presents the results of a study (involving 220 larger Slovenian companies) which aimed to examine the influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) and organisational learning (OL) on both financial (FP) and non-financial performance (NFP). In this manner a structural equation model was conceptualised based on prior theoretical and empirical foundations. According to responses from Slovenian CEOs, the statistically significant and positive influence of ICT on FP and NFP were established. No support for the 'ICT productivity paradox' can be provided by our research. Future longitudinal research needs to establish whether the ICT productivity paradox is the reverse image of organisational learning.

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Auszug

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Study of the Mutual Connections Among Information-Communication Technologies, Organisational Learning and Business Performance

Introduction

We can consider 1993 as the beginning of the era called the new or e-economy. This was the year the Internet moved out from its military-research cocoon into general commercial use. This step was reflected in a tremendous expansion in information-communication technologies for business and rapid growth in investments. However, earlier authors (Roach 1987) argued that ICT still did not pay off in terms of the required productivity growth. Solow (1987) even said that we were seeing computers everywhere except in the productivity statistics. This phenomenon was called the 'productivity paradox' and it asserts that IT investments do not result in productivity gains (Navarette/Pick 2002). Even today Carr (2003) believes that 'IT may not help a company gain a strategic advantage, but it could easily put a company at a cost disadvantage'. At the same time, he adds that you can only gain an edge over your rivals by doing something they cannot.

As de Geus (1989:1) suggested, that 'while all companies learn, the crucial element is to be able to learn fast enough to sustain a competitive advantage' and that 'this is becoming increasingly important in today's fast-changing competitive world'. Indeed, most modern empirical studies (Dewan/Kraemer 1998; Navarette/Pick 2002; Dimovski/Skerlavaj 2003) tend to reject the productivity paradox thesis, which can lead us to the important assumption that it may be regarded as a reflection of a learning curve. In other words, organisational learning can be seen as a way out of the dilemma called the productivity paradox. In the last few decades the field of organisational learning has attracted a lot of interest from academics as well as practitioners. A key question in this context is what the connection between ICT and organisational learning is, and what kind of impact they...

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