  In recent years the literature has put a greater emphasis on theory building
in the context of Enterprise Architecture, EA, research. Specifically, scholars
tend to focus on EA-based capabilities that organize and deploy
organization-specific resources to align strategic objectives with the
particular use of technology. Despite the growth in EA studies, substantial
gaps remain in the literature. The most noteworthy gaps are that the
conceptualization of EA-based capabilities still lacks a firm base in theory
and that there is no conclusive evidence on how EA-based capabilities drive
business transformation and deliver benefits to the firm. Therefore, this study
focuses on EA-based capabilities, using the dynamic capabilities view as a
theoretical foundation, develops and tests a new research model that explains
how dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities lead to organizational
benefits. Hypotheses associated with the research model are tested using a
dataset that contains responses from 299 CIOs, IT managers, and lead
architects. Results show that dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities
positively influence the firm's process innovation and business/IT alignment.
These mediating forces are both positively associated with organizational
benefits. This study advances our understanding of how to efficaciously
de-lineate dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities in delivering benefits
to the organization.
