IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v4y2014i4p2158244014561198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Information Technology Managerial Capabilities and Customer Service Performance Among Insurance Firms in Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Sunday Adekunle Aduloju

Abstract

The potential of information technology (IT) as an enabler of customer service process continues to generate interest, which is reflected in the large number of IT-related studies. In spite of the significant progress made in this area, research findings have been mixed and inconsistent. Also, the underlying mechanisms by which IT can affect customer service process remain underexamined. The aim of this study was to find out whether IT investments and IT managerial capabilities can account for variations in customer service performance among insurance companies in Nigeria. Using survey research design, the three formulated hypotheses were tested with data gathered from 402 staff at the managerial level drawn from the selected insurance companies in Nigeria, which have been among the largest investors in IT, and where customer service is widely perceived as strategically important. Responses were analyzed using linear regression. A major finding of this study is that IT is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for sustainable competitive advantage in customer service. Results show that the interaction of IT investments and tacit, path-dependent, and firm-specific IT managerial capabilities significantly explains variations in customer service performance. Consequently, this study recommends that to realize IT-business value, investments in IT should be accompanied by building and developing IT managerial capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sunday Adekunle Aduloju, 2014. "Information Technology Managerial Capabilities and Customer Service Performance Among Insurance Firms in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(4), pages 21582440145, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:2158244014561198
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244014561198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014561198
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244014561198?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Berndt, Ernst R. & Morrison, Catherine J., 1995. "High-tech capital formation and economic performance in U.S. manufacturing industries An exploratory analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 9-43, January.
    2. Joel H. Steckel & Sunil Gupta & Anirvan Banerji, 2004. "Supply Chain Decision Making: Will Shorter Cycle Times and Shared Point-of-Sale Information Necessarily Help?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(4), pages 458-464, April.
    3. Sundar Bharadwaj & Anandhi Bharadwaj & Elliot Bendoly, 2007. "The Performance Effects of Complementarities Between Information Systems, Marketing, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain Processes," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 437-453, December.
    4. Helfat, C.E. & Raubitschek, R.S., 2000. "Product Sequencing: Co-Evolution of Knowledge, Capabilities and Products," Papers 00-1, U.S. Department of Justice - Antitrust Division.
    5. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    6. Rajiv D. Banker & Robert J. Kauffman, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Research on Information Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 281-298, March.
    7. Sunday Mauton A. Posu, 2006. "Information and Communication Technologies in the Nigerian Economy," Papers of the Annual IUE-SUNY Cortland Conference in Economics, in: Oguz Esen & Ayla Ogus (ed.), Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources, pages 327-337, Izmir University of Economics.
    8. N. Venkatraman & Akbar Zaheer, 1990. "Electronic Integration and Strategic Advantage: A Quasi-Experimental Study in the Insurance Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 1(4), pages 377-393, December.
    9. Constance E. Helfat & Ruth S. Raubitschek, 2000. "Product sequencing: co‐evolution of knowledge, capabilities and products," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 961-979, October.
    10. Dehning, Bruce & Richardson, Vernon, 2002. "Return on investments in information technology: Beyond the productivity paradox," Journal of Financial Transformation, Capco Institute, vol. 6, pages 83-91.
    11. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    12. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    13. Yiannis E. Spanos & Spyros Lioukas, 2001. "An examination into the causal logic of rent generation: contrasting Porter's competitive strategy framework and the resource‐based perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(10), pages 907-934, October.
    14. J. F. Rockart & M. S. Scott Morton, 1984. "Implications of Changes in Information Technology for Corporate Strategy," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 84-95, February.
    15. Thomas C. Powell & Anne Dent‐Micallef, 1997. "Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of human, business, and technology resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 375-405, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Santos Castellanos, Weimar, 2021. "Impact of Information Technology (IT) Governance on Business-IT Alignment," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    2. M. à ngeles López-Cabarcos & Sérgio Göttling-Oliveira-Monteiro & Paula Vázquez-Rodríguez, 2015. "Organizational Capabilities and Profitability," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, November.
    3. Richard Lynch, 2019. "Towards an Innovation Link between Dynamic Capabilities and Sustainability Strategy: Options for Emerging Market Companies," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(04), pages 1-12, June.
    4. Chuang, Shu-Hui & Lin, Hong-Nan, 2013. "The roles of infrastructure capability and customer orientation in enhancing customer-information quality in CRM systems: Empirical evidence from Taiwan," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 271-281.
    5. Vladislav Maksimov & Stephanie Lu Wang & Shipeng Yan, 2022. "Global connectedness and dynamic green capabilities in MNEs," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 723-740, June.
    6. Schmitt, Achim & Klarner, Patricia, 2015. "From snapshot to continuity: A dynamic model of organizational adaptation to environmental changes," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 3-13.
    7. Xiaoming He & Yaqun Yi & Zelong Wei, 2019. "New product development capabilities in China: the moderating role of TMT cooperative behavior," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 73-97, April.
    8. Ding, Yang, 2021. "Antecedents and implications of legacy divestitures," Other publications TiSEM f4d5766f-6a5b-43a3-94df-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Jorge Ferreira & Sofia Cardim & Arnaldo Coelho, 2021. "Dynamic Capabilities and Mediating Effects of Innovation on the Competitive Advantage and Firm’s Performance: the Moderating Role of Organizational Learning Capability," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 620-644, June.
    10. Tobias Knabke & Sebastian Olbrich, 2018. "Building novel capabilities to enable business intelligence agility: results from a quantitative study," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 493-546, August.
    11. Arie Y Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2020. "Absorptive capacity, socially enabling mechanisms, and the role of learning from trial and error experiments: A tribute to Dan Levinthal’s contribution to international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(9), pages 1568-1579, December.
    12. Jim Andersén, 2023. "Green resource orchestration: A critical appraisal of the use of resource orchestration in environmental management research, and a research agenda for future study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5506-5520, December.
    13. Zhang-Zhang, YingYing & Rohlfer, Sylvia & Varma, Arup, 2022. "Strategic people management in contemporary highly dynamic VUCA contexts: A knowledge worker perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 587-598.
    14. Iman Seoudi & Matthias Huehn & Bo Carlsson, 2008. "Penrose Revisited: A Re-Appraisal of the Resource Perspective," Working Papers 14, The German University in Cairo, Faculty of Management Technology.
    15. Reid, Gavin C. & Smith, Julia A., 2009. "A coevolutionary analysis of organisational systems and processes: Quantitative applications to information system dynamics in small entrepreneurial firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 762-781.
    16. Cleverton Rodrigues Fernandes & André Gustavo Carvalho Machado, 2019. "Technology Transfer Capability: development dynamics in higher education institutions," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, January.
    17. Liao, Tung-Shan & Rice, John, 2010. "Innovation investments, market engagement and financial performance: A study among Australian manufacturing SMEs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 117-125, February.
    18. John Mugambwa Serumaga-Zake & John Andrew van der Poll, 2021. "Addressing the Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution on South African Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-31, October.
    19. Shah, Tushar R., 2022. "Can big data analytics help organisations achieve sustainable competitive advantage? A developmental enquiry," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    20. Solano Acosta, Alexandra & Herrero Crespo, Ángel & Collado Agudo, Jesús, 2018. "Effect of market orientation, network capability and entrepreneurial orientation on international performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1128-1140.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:2158244014561198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.