Analyzing IT-enabled Effectiveness in Government Sector: A RBV and Dynamic Capability Perspective

Government organizations in developing countries are increasingly being held to the same or even higher standards of efficiency as their counterparts in the developed countries. IT has played a significant role in enhancing the efficiency of government organizations in developed countries; however, government organizations in developing countries have so far failed to fully exploit IT to support improvements envisaged by e-governance. In this study, we respond to the empirical gap in the understanding of IT-enabled effectiveness in the government organizations in developing countries. We report the findings of an exploratory case study conducted at the Directorate of Income Tax (DIT) in India. We use RBV and dynamic capabilities perspective of the firm in addition to notions of complementarity and simultaneity as theoretical lenses to analyze the case. Our findings and analysis indicate that the strong capabilities in matching, choosing, assessing, and executing IT opportunities affect IT-enabled value in government organizations. Our study also highlights the significance of complementary and simultaneous development and execution of IT related capabilities. These findings have practical implications for government organizations that are currently in the process of digitally enabling themselves.