Cloud computing is the latest development of the information technology.However,Although the existing literature from different angles to explore the value of cloud computing,but mostly just the qualitative reasoning and judgement,and lack of a clear research methods,explicit theoretical perspectives,and no empirical data to supported.The existing researchesare still not clear whether and how cloud computing improve competitive advantage.This study investigates the mechanism through which cloud computing improve competitive advantage based on survey data from a famous cloud computing provider firm Alibaba cloud in China.More specifically,we propose that two cloud computing related capabilities (i.e.,flexibility and integration capability)are most critical for firms to improve competitive advantage from the use of cloud computing,and enhances firms’ competitive advantage;and analyze the moderating effect of business life cycle and market turbulence.%云计算是信息技术进步最新的发展成果。虽然现有文献从各个角度探讨了云计算帮助企业提高竞争优势的作用，但大部分只是定性的推理和判断，且普遍缺乏实证数据支撑。目前的研究仍然不清楚云计算是如何产生作用进而提升竞争优势，以及企业自身的特点和所处的外部环境是否会影响到云计算产生作用的差异。本文从IT 能力的理论出发，认为云计算的应用可以使企业产生新的调度和部署 IT 资源的新 IT 能力———“云计算应用能力”，并将其划分为灵活能力和整合能力两个维度。利用国内市场最大的公共云计算服务———阿里云的184份企业级用户的调研数据，采用偏最小二乘(PLS)结构方程模型进行实证分析云计算应用能力对企业竞争优势的影响以及企业生命周期和市场动荡性的调节作用。
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