NEBIC: A Dynamic Capabilities Theory for Assessing Net-Enablement

TLDR

The theory incorporates both a variance and process view of net‑enabled business innovation. We propose the Net‑Enabled Business Innovation Cycle (NEBIC) as an applied dynamic capabilities theory for measuring, predicting, and understanding a firm’s ability to create customer value through the business use of digital networks. It identifies four sequenced constructs—Choosing new IT, Matching Economic Opportunities with technology, Executing Business Innovation for Growth, and Assessing Customer Value—along with the processes and events that interrelate them as a cycle, asserting that choosing IT precedes corporate strategy. The theory offers a logically consistent and falsifiable basis for grounding research programs on metrics of net‑enabled business innovation.

Abstract

We propose the Net-Enabled Business Innovation Cycle (NEBIC) as an applied dynamic capabilities theory for measuring, predicting, and understanding a firm's ability to create customer value through the business use of digital networks. The theory incorporates both a variance and process view of net-enabled business innovation. It identifies four sequenced constructs: Choosing new IT, Matching Economic Opportunities with technology, Executing Business Innovation for Growth, and Assessing Customer Value, along with the processes and events that interrelate them as a cycle. The sequence of these theorized relationships for net-enablement (NE) 1 asserts that choosing IT precedes rather than aligns with corporate strategy. The theory offers a logically consistent and falsifiable basis for grounding research programs on metrics of net-enabled business innovation.