Digital strategic posture (DSP) is defined as a firm’s overall strategic stance toward investing in information technology (IT) initiatives relative to that of rival firms. This study examines how a firm’s DSP affects firm performance. Drawing on the competitive dynamics perspective and contingency view, we demonstrate that DSP influences competitive actions through dual pathways. First, DSP enables firms to take competitive actions that are more appropriate given the level of environmental uncertainty (captured by industry dynamism). In particular, our findings suggest that a proactive DSP enables relatively more innovation-oriented actions in dynamic industries while enabling relatively more operations-oriented actions in less dynamic industries. Second, DSP plays a facilitating role in firms’ execution of competitive actions such that a firm’s value from its proactive DSP is enhanced when there is a fit between the type of the firm’s competitive actions and its level of environmental uncertainty. Specifically, we find that firms with a more proactive DSP achieve superior firm performance from innovation-oriented actions in dynamic industries and from operations-oriented actions in less dynamic industries. Taken together, our findings suggest that a proactive DSP not only allows firms to take appropriate competitive actions that fit their environmental conditions but also contributes to firms’ performance by facilitating the execution of these appropriate actions, thus enhancing their efficacy.

中文翻译：

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数字战略态势价值创造的双重途径：竞争行为和环境不确定性的偶然影响

数字战略态势 (DSP) 被定义为公司相对于竞争对手公司在信息技术 (IT) 计划投资方面的整体战略立场。本研究探讨了公司的 DSP 如何影响公司绩效。借鉴竞争动态视角和权变视角，我们证明了 DSP 通过双重途径影响竞争行为。首先，DSP 使企业能够在考虑到环境不确定性水平（由行业动态捕获）的情况下采取更合适的竞争行动。特别是，我们的研究结果表明，积极主动的 DSP 可以在充满活力的行业中实现相对更加以创新为导向的行动，同时在活力较弱的行业中实现相对更加以运营为导向的行动。其次，DSP 在企业竞争行为的执行中发挥着促进作用，因此，当企业的竞争行为类型与其环境不确定性水平相匹配时，企业主动 DSP 的价值就会得到提高。具体来说，我们发现，具有更积极主动的 DSP 的公司通过在充满活力的行业中以创新为导向的行动以及在较不活跃的行业中以运营为导向的行动来实现卓越的公司绩效。总而言之，我们的研究结果表明，积极主动的 DSP 不仅使企业能够采取适合其环境条件的适当竞争行动，而且还可以通过促进这些适当行动的执行来提高企业的绩效，从而提高其效率。