Abstract

In recent strategy literatures, operational capabilities in the information technology have been mostly interested among academic scholars since newly developed mobile devices emerged. However, the conceptualization and measurement of operational capabilities in application software firms has little come to attention. The purpose of this study is to propose a measurable model of operational capabilities by conceptualizing, operationalizing, and measuring operational capabilities. Specifically, based upon theoretical and practical literatures, this study seeks to conceptualize a set of capabilities-organizing, managing, and technical capability-that help operating existing capabilities in the application software business. Moreover, it concretizes the construct of operational capabilities with formulating reflective and formative modes, and also certifies their validities through empirical data-driven testing from 227 mobile software developers, sourced from Mac App Store and Google Android Apps. In the measurement model, it results in reflective indicators as first-order model and formative indicators as second-order model using partial least square analysis techniques. Lastly, the author discusses the theoretical and managerial implications and provide some suggestions for the future study.

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