This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the link between the scale and scope of the firm and information technology (IT) investments, emphasizing the role of IT in coordination and control. We extend the economic production function framework to include variables related to the boundaries of the firm, including related and unrelated diversification, vertical integration and growth options, and we estimate the resulting model on a recent data set based on large U.S. firms. Our results suggest that the level of IT investment is positively related to the degree of firm diversification, perhaps reflecting the greater need for coordination of assets within diversified firms. We further find that related diversification demands greater IT investment than unrelated diversification. The degree of vertical integration of the firm does not significantly influence IT investment, possibly due to the offsetting effects of internal and external coordination needs. Finally, firms with few growth options in their investment opportunity set tend to have a higher IT investment, consistent with an agency perspective which predicts excessive IT investment by managers with "free" cash flow. These robust empirical relations between IT investments and firm characteristics will hopefully serve as a foundation for the development of more sophisticated theories and models for understanding the choices firms make in information systems and strategy.