Understanding the Impact of Enterprise Architecture Driven Dynamic Capabilities on Agility: A Variance and fsQCA Study

Abstract Background: As the modern business environment is highly volatile and demanding, orchestrating all business and IT components and capabilities is crucial. Firms use enterprise architecture (EA) for this purpose. However, it is currently by no means clear how EA-driven firm capabilities facilitate becoming agile. When firms are agile, they can recombine digital resources to change the business practice while coping with uncertainty and recovering rapidly from disruption through innovative digital technologies. Method: This study embraces the dynamic capability view, develops a model, and validates the associated hypotheses using cross-sectional data from 176 firms using a Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and a Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. Results: The outcomes show that EA-driven dynamic capabilities are a crucial antecedent of digital project benefits. In turn, these benefits positively enhance agility. The study also embraces a complementary configuration perspective in unfolding various capability configurations that explain high levels of distinct digital project benefits. Conclusion: Hence, this study’s outcomes support the theorized model, and both the PLS and configurational outcomes shed light on how to become digitally agile in practice.