Magnus Mähring

Every year since 1992, the Stockholm School of Economics Institute for Research (SIR) has published an Annual Research Anthology, and this year SIR is publishing the book in cooperation with MTC (Stiftelsen Marknadstekniskt Centrum). The purpose of the SIR Annual Research publication is to enable managers and practitioners better understand and address strategically important challenges by showcasing SSE research on a selected topic of importance for both business and society. 

How and when does information technology (IT) contribute to the performance of the firm? Does IT provide competitive advantage? Why is IT so difficult to understand and manage? Does it have to be that way?
This book explores the complex, dynamic relationship between IT and business performance. It contains studies of IT-related change in different contexts, and it also offers models, tools and approaches that further the understanding and management of IT and business performance.
The book illustrates how value from IT is derived indirectly, through innovation of business processes and development of organizational capabilities. From this it follows that a deep understanding of the transformation of IT resources into business performance is crucial – because ultimately, it is the actions of people in a specific context that lead to realization of business performance improvements.
The primary audience for this book is reflective practitioners working with IT & business Performance, such as chief information officers (CIOs), general managers and change agents. The book is also well suited for people studying these and related roles.

This book aims at advancing out understanding of information systems and IT-related organisational change. It spurs the development of the field by investigating fundamental concepts, discussing research-based models and frameworks, and reflecting on the field’s evolution and current practices.
Intended readers of the book are graduate-level university and business school students, researchers, and reflective practitioners.
Of the scholar contributing to the book’s nineteen chapters, many have played important roles in the development of the field in Scandinavia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.