The Implications of Information Technology Infrastructure Capabilities for Business Process Change Success

Although business performance has long been theoretically hypothesised to be dependent on the level of underlying Information Technology capability, there is a distinct lack of empirical studies to support this claim. In this paper we discuss preliminary results of ongoing research into the knock-on effects of computer network support to business process performance indicators. Based on a real-life case study of business process change, we develop simulation models that depict operations at three different levels of abstraction (business processes, Information System applications, and computer network support). Experiments with different levels of network utilisation generated by increased business workload provide empirical support to the hypothesis that IT capability can be a critical enabler (but equally a critical disabler as well) of business performance improvements. The Relationship between IT Capability and Organisational Performance Since it became acknowledged that organisations can be studied and analysed according to the business processes they perform (Scott Morton 1991), process-based organisational analysis and design has become a prominent matter of study in both the management science and Information Systems (IS) fields (Davenport 1993, Hammer and Champy 1993). Apart from the focus on processes, perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of contemporary change management approaches is the heavy importance they generally place on the role of Information Systems in enabling process change. For example, Davenport (1993) asserts that ‘by virtue of its power and popularity, no single business resource is better positioned than information technology to bring about radical improvement in business processes’. Many othe