Antecedents and Benefits of Supply Chain Technology Adoption

摘要

As business organizations face a more complex and competitive environment than ever before, innovation of organizational products and processes is essential for generating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Two areas of innovation that have considerable potential to impact organizational performance are technology adoption and supply chain management. Innovative information technologies have the capacity to impact operational procedures and structures, firm strategy, communication exchange, buyer-supplier relationships and bargaining power and have become so pervasive that most managers consider them to be a requirement for doing business in today's competitive marketplace. Supply chain management integrates logistics activities within and between firms in the supply chain. This dissertation attempts to merge the two streams of research and examine the organizational and environmental factors leading to supply chain technology adoption as well as the resulting benefits. For the purposes of this research, supply chain technology includes a wide range of technologies that enhance data management and information exchange within and between organizations of the supply chain. The benefits examined include both logistics performance measures such as inventory levels, logistics costs, and cycle time as well as integration measures such as information sharing and coordination of logistics activities. The model was tested using a survey instrument developed in collaboration with a group of supply chain consultants and professionals. The results highlight the current state of supply chain technology employment and suggest five of the seven hypothesized factors play an important role in predicting adoption of supply chain technologies. The results also indicate significant benefits have been achieved by responding organizations.