Facing a barrage of novel information technology (IT), organizations must invest on the basis of the impact of IT capabilities on the organization’s performance. This research extends Bharadwaj’s (MIS Quarterly 169–196, 2000 ) resource-based view of the relationship between IT capability and performance by introducing both the mediating and moderating effects of Digital Business Intensity (DBI). Empirical data collected from CIO’s from US firms reveal that although IT capability positively influences organizational performance, this relationship may differ in strength at different levels of DBI. Our study also finds that IT capability is important in determining DBI, which in turn influences organizational performance. Findings highlight tensions between DBI exploration and IT capabilities exploitation. Results also suggest that companies that leverage their existing IT capabilities to drive DBI are more adept at securing performance returns. However, when DBI investments do not complement existing IT capabilities, DBI appears to dampen performance, further accentuated for high-DBI firms.

The unprecedented global lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted an interesting ethical dilemma. While lockdowns are central to saving lives, economic malaise from business and social discontinuities is the opportunity cost. To maintain this fragile balance during a crisis, there is an obvious need for digitally transforming socio-economic operations to maintain continuity. This digital transformation case study highlights how, unlike traditional digital transformation initiatives that rely on relatively closed organizational operations with established lines of control and communication, digital transformation for crisis continuity planning relies on a variety of global actors, from independent entrepreneurs and institutions to businesses and ad hoc collaborative agencies. The crisis continuity planning case helps students understand that digital transformation is a multi-stakeholder, multi-actor effort that ties together technology, business process reengineering, and public policy for a sustainable solution to a crisis. This teaching case study end with a proposed crisis continuity planning digital transformation framework that outlines five distinct digital transformation characteristics that can improve crisis continuity planning—from pandemics to disasters.