The role of information technology and workplace organization in firm productivity: evidence from Spanish firms

This paper explores the complementarity effect of information technology (IT) and workplace organization (WO) on firms' productivity, but it also provides evidence of the differential effect of two of the main IT systems: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). To do this, I use a sample of more than 1,600 large Spanish firms for the period 2006-2009. I find evidence supporting the hypothesis that IT and WO are complementary. I also find that the use of CRM seems to interact better with WO to enhance productivity. Finally, results are consistent when analyzing manufacturing and services firms separately, although evidence for complementarity is strong for services.