Diversification and Firm Performance: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Information Technology Spending
成果类型：
Review
署名作者：
Ravichandran, T.; Liu, Yu; Han, Shu; Hasan, Iftekhar
署名单位：
Yeshiva University
刊物名称：
JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
ISSN/ISSBN：
0742-1222
DOI：
10.2753/MIS0742-1222250407
发表日期：
2009
页码：
205-240
关键词：
corporate diversification
International diversification
financial performance
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
MULTINATIONAL-CORPORATIONS
PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION
GLOBAL DIVERSIFICATION
market valuation
business value
E-commerce
摘要：
A large body of research has examined the performance effects of diversification. However, these results have been mixed, and scholars have called for examining contingencies under which the effects of different types (related, unrelated, geographic) and levels of diversification on performance vary. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by arguing that examining the performance effects of diversification is incomplete without taking into consideration the firm's information technology (IT) spending. We posit that IT, by enabling coordination and control in firms, is likely to moderate the relationship between diversification and performance. Combining arguments from both resource-based view and the organizational controls literature, we theorize about the moderating effects of IT spending under different types and levels of diversification. Using data from large U.S. manufacturing firms, we test our research hypotheses. Our results indicate that while IT spending interacts with related diversification to have a positive effect on firm performance, similar interactions with unrelated diversification do not have any effects on firm performance. Furthermore, the interaction between IT spending and geographic diversification is positively associated with performance only when the level of geographic diversification is low. We interpret and discuss these results and highlight the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.