Ingeniería y Gestión Industrial

The Mediating Effect of Agility: IT's Impact on Firm Performance among U.S. Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

Sharon EDeGroote, Thomas G Marx

This study investigates the mechanism through which IT affects performance using mediation analysis to determine if agility, the ability to sense and respond to changes in the market, explains “how” or “why” IT affects performance. The results of the mediation analysis are based on data collected from survey responses from 193 U.S. manufacturing firms. Agility as a mediator was investigated using three testing methods: causal steps strategy, product of coefficients, and bootstrapping. Causal steps strategy tested the direct effects using regression analysis, the product of coefficients tested the statistical significance of the mediation effects assuming the coefficients were normally distributed, and bootstrapping tested the significance of the mediation effects without assuming they were normally distributed by creating a distribution of the product of coefficients. The mediation effect using all three tests was demonstrated, providing a robust confirmation that agility mediates the impacts of IT on firm performance.