LINKING IT USE TO BENEFITS IN INTERORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RELATIONSHIP-SPECIFIC INTANGIBLE INVESTMENTS

摘要

The data support the effects suggested in H1, H2, H3, H5, and H6. Hypothesis H4, that the influence of IT use for learning and expertise leverage is mediated by investments in expertise specific assets, is not supported. The direct effects of IT use for learning and expertise leverage on benefits are as significant as the indirect influence through the leverage of expertise specific assets. Overall, the results extend our understanding of IT use in interorganizational relationships on several fronts:(1) The results support the view that IT use in interfirm relationships leads to the creation of closer cooperative interfirm relationships as evident from investments in relationship-specific intangible assets by suppliers. The nature of assets created is determined by the pattern of IT use. IT use for transaction processing leads to the creation of cospecialized processes by suppliers while IT use for learning and expertise creation leads to the creation of cospecialized expertise. These results further refine the logic of IT enabled electronic integration suggested by Zaheer and Venkatraman (1994), proposing two dimensions along which interfirm integration occurs. The results also provide empirical support for the results of analytical modeling of the phenomenon by Bakos and Brynjolfsson (1993). (2) The results provide support for the two dimensional conceptualization of IT use. In the context of the use of interorganizational information systems, IT use for transaction processing and IT use for learning and expertise creation are two salient dimensions influencing the nature of resource commitments and supplier benefits in the relationship. (3) The results indicate that benefits from IT use for transaction processing are completely mediated by specialized investments in specialized processes in the relationship. However, IT use for learning, in addition to being significantly mediated by investments in specialized expertise, appears to be directly linked to benefits as well. (4) This provides initial evidence that patterns of IT use that do not leverage relationship specific resources might become widely known and confer no differential benefits to firms. However, when the patterns of IT use leverages specialized process investments (e.g., a supplier process that enables production orders to be released based on actual retail sales) such use is likely to provide significant benefits to suppliers. This evidence has significant implications for satellite suppliers in organizational networks: that IT use, which is often enforced by leading focal firms, offers a potential route to significant operational as well as strategic benefits when accompanied by investments in relationship-specific intangible investments (in specialized processes and specialized expertise, for instance) that would tie them more closely to the focal player. However, a corollary is that this opportunity is also laced with significant vulnerabilities associated with the committing of such investments. The data is from suppliers to one large retailer, limiting the generalizability of our findings. Also, there are several issues particular to IT adoption in small businesses that are not included in this study, such as the level of top management commitment, the level of technology expertise, etc., which may influence outcomes significantly (Thong, Yap and Raman 1996). This is an area for future research.