On Generalizability of Configurations of Digital and Organizational Capabilities for High Performance: Evidence from India and United States

Abstract
How do digital capabilities influence firm performance, and how generalizable are the configurations of capabilities that yield high performance? In particular, do the configurations of capabilities that apply in the US also generalize to India, and how do these patterns change within India over time? In this study, we use a rare and unique dataset of 243 observations from a conglomerate in India with units in manufacturing and services sector to study configurations of high versus low performance. We find that the configurations of capabilities for high performance show some remarkable similarities and differences across India and US. We also find interesting patterns in configurations of capabilities within India for 1999-2006 (before Financial Crisis of 2008) and 2008-2012 period. Together, the results of the study provide useful insights regarding generalizability of configurations of capabilities for firm performance both from a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective to inform further research and practice.

Biography
Sunil Mithas is World Class Scholar and Professor at the Muma College of Business; the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland (On leave); and Visiting Professor at the UNSW Business School (fixed term appointment).

He is the author of the books Digital Intelligence: What Every Smart Manager Must Have for Success in an Information Age and Dancing Elephants and Leaping Jaguars: How to Excel, Innovate, and Transform Your Organization the Tata Way. He earned his PhD from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and an engineering degree from IIT, Roorkee. Identified as an MSI Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute, Sunil is a frequent speaker at industry events for senior leaders. He has worked on research or consulting assignments with organizations such as A. T. Kearney, Ernst & Young, Johnson & Johnson, Lear, the Social Security Administration, the Tata Group, and the U.S. Census Bureau. His papers have won best-paper awards, and have been featured in practice-oriented publications such as MIT Sloan Management Review, Bloomberg and CIO.com.