The proposed project will investigate the role of enterprise expertise in how organizations develop and leverage one particular organizational capability, namely: fast-cycle response. The investigation will be undertaken in collaboration with six organizational partners--IBM, ITT Hartford, Ameritech, Swiss Bank Corporation, U.S. Army, and New England Medical--and will consist of both intensive case studies and extensive survey research. The research is distinguished by four attributes. One: A conceptualization of enterprise expertise as a multi-level construct as opposed to a single level of analysis--individual, group, organization, or network. Two: An examination of the specific role of information technology in supporting enterprise expertise as well as organizational capability, thus contributing to the emerging body of research on the impact of information technology on organization strategy and design. Three: A focus on how enterprise expertise can affect a previously under-emphasized aspect of quality, namely fast-cycle response capability, which is particularly critical given the seeming tension between quality and speed of organizational response. Four: Using organizational processes as the sampling unit for survey research, thus developing specific methodological suggestions on how to use process as the focus of analysis in organizational research.
