Sometimes You Gotta Risk it for the BiscUIT: Political Risks, Non-Political Risks, and Unconventional IT

Recent geopolitical events underscore the significance of political risks for firms – an issue receiving less attention in IS literature. Political risks pose critical challenges, especially in the context of investments in unconventional IT (UIT), which involve additional risks. We investigate the effects of political and non-political risks on investments in UIT using panel data from 269 S&P 500 firms over fifteen years. We employ polynomial regression and response surface analysis to reveal curvilinear relationships between risks and investments in UIT. Our first contribution is the novel conceptualization of UIT, which can enable investigation of opportunities and challenges induced by new technologies. Second, deviating from previous studies that focus on risk as an outcome of IT investments, we shed light on risk as a factor affecting IT-related strategic decisions. Finally, our findings inform firms’ UIT strategic decisions amidst exogenous factors outside their control in addition to tackling contingencies surrounding the firm.