Balancing specialized and generic capabilities in the provision of integrated solutions

Andrea Masini (1) , Frederica Ceci

1 GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC

Integrated bundles of products and services are gaining importance in various sectors and are reshaping the competitive landscape of many industries. They also pose new challenges to established firms, who need to reconfigure their capabilities. Drawing upon the resource-based view and contingency theory, we test a model of fit between environmental requirements and integrated solutions capabilities in the IT sector. We used the model to interpret the current industry structure and analyze its dynamics. The analysis suggests the existence of four different configurations and indicates that differences in fit between environmental variables and strategic choices partially account for performance differences among integrated solution providers. The results also suggest that, although the provision of bundled products and services confers some a priori advantages to IS providers over generic IT firms, these advantages are greater for firms that are able to align their capabilities to the characteristics of their operational environment.

Mots clés: integrated bundles; it sector

Domaines: Management des opérations et des systèmes d'information

Andrea Masini, Frederica Ceci. Balancing specialized and generic capabilities in the provision of integrated solutions. Industrial and Corporate Change, 2011, 20 (1), pp.91-131. ⟨10.1093/icc/dtq069⟩. ⟨hal-00575630⟩