Organizations are increasingly focusing on their value chain activities in an effort to improve their performance, especially in the recent economic times. Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their channel activities has become a focal point for many organizations. Interorganizational systems (IOS’s) have played an important part in this effort. While in theory, IOS’s have the ability to enhance the degree of cooperation and coordination between two channel partners, often the results obtained are not what is expected. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the barriers to the assimilation of these technologies. Drawing upon theoretical perspectives of governance, including transaction cost analysis (TCA), control theory and agency theory, we develop an integrative model that examines the factors that influence an organizations assimilation process. The model identifies and examines three stages of assimilation: technological, exploitive and explorative assimilation that add value to an organization. The model features asset specificity, technological uncertainty, performance documentation, agent orientation and bilateral governance mechanisms as antecedents to assimilation. It also examines the moderating effects of bilateral mechanisms. Our results suggest that theories of governance provide an additional lens to examine assimilation phenomena. In specific, our empirical analysis leads to several key findings: (1) channel partners who are locked in to the relationship with high levels of asset specificity are more likely to assimilate the technology; (2) bilateral governance mechanisms are a key force in the assimilation process, with both direct and moderated effects; (3) organizations that view the channel partner as an agent of the firm are less likely to adopt the technology, especially when the relationship exhibits low levels of bilateral governance mechanisms. Together these findings provide new insights into barriers to the assimilation of IOS’s in channel relationships.

Because the business environment has changed (e.g., volatility in demand, curtailment of product life cycle, changing of information technology, and so forth), corporate supply chains become more network-connected and involve more business partners. Whether the company has the capability to operate well in such supply chain network becomes a significant issue. To fulfill this need, this research aims to develop a framework for measuring the supply chain capability. The literature review and company interviews allow us to propose four capabilities and relative measurements. A field survey is then conducted in the Taiwan PC industry to assess the measurements. To ensure the measurements are valid, we apply two-step measurement assessments: the factor analysis and initial reliability are first conducted and then followed by item-total correlation, optimal reliability coefficients, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. The resulting model is an 18-item and three-dimension construct. The three dimensions are: (1) reducing transaction related risk, (2) promoting good relationship, and (3) managing environment change. The confirmatory factor analysis then suggests us to arrange the three dimensions in two groups. The first group includes the first dimension, indicating the firm capability, and the second group includes the other two, expressing the inter-firm capability. We further explore the relationships between the supply chain capabilities and IOS adoption, as well as supply chain roles. It is interestingly to note that different IOS requires different capability and so does different supply chain roles. Therefore, the contribution of this research can be two-folded: first, the managers can use this reference framework to diagnose the supply chain capability of their own firms, finding their strength and weakness. Second, managers can use the framework to evaluate the capability of their partners and better gauge the characteristics of the supply chain collaboration. This research can also contribute to the IT literature as the researchers can build upon this model to further examine of the factors that are discovered.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T19:15:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 28 / Nenhuma / Este estudo investiga as atividades desenvolvidas pela área da controladoria e a relação da utilização do electronic data interchange (EDI) em três empresas de grande porte, localizadas no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa utilizouse a metodologia de estudo de caso com múltiplas empresas e investigação por meio de observação e de pesquisa bibliográfica de 56 autores, referentes às atividades em controladoria. Além disso, elaborou-se uma lista de atividades desenvolvidas nas empresas brasileiras validadas por meio de consulta em dez empresas que utilizam o EDI. Desta forma, as entrevistas foram dirigidas para as atividades validadas nesse estudo prévio, por meio do qual se buscou identificar o impacto nas funções da área de controladoria quando apoiada por sistemas de troca eletrônica de informação. Entre as dimensões da área da controladoria, investigaram-se: o controle gerencial; controle contábil; controle de custos; controle de ativos; planejamento estratégico; sistema de / This study investigates the activities carried out by the Controlling area and its relationship to the use of electronic data interchange (EDI) in three large companies located in Rio Grande do Sul. The methodologies used to develop this research were the case-study with multiple companies and the investigation through observation and literature from 56 authors referring to the Controlling activities. In addition, it was elaborated a list of activities developed in brazilian companies. This list was validated through research in ten companies that use EDI. Thus, the interviews were directed to these validated activities, through which it was identified the impacts on the financial control systems activities when they are supported by electronic information exchange systems. Among the dimensions of the Controlling area, it was investigated: the management control, accounting control, cost control, asset tracking, strategic planning and internal control system. The investigation has concluded that the implemen

Many dramatic and potentially powerful uses of information technology involveinterorganizational systems (IOS). These systems, defined as distributed computing systems thatsupport shared processes between firms, have become fundamental to business operations,spanning multiple activities in value/supply chains. They have opened avenues to unprecedentedcollaborative linkages between firms. As IOS-mediated relational networks are rapidly evolving,roles of IOS have progressively changed beyond those of efficiency and power functions.To fully appreciate modern roles of IOS in e-business, this dissertation addresses two keyresearch questions: (1) How do firms achieve competitiveness through IOS? (2) How do IOSinfluence competitive behaviors of the competing firms in intertwined electronic networks? Itdoes so by integrating three research streams – social network analysis, interorganizationalsystems, and competitive dynamics – into a model of competitive dynamics in electronicnetworks. This study focuses on the paired relationships between the three constructs of networkstructure, IOS use, and competitive action, and empirically investigates nine general hypotheses.Data collection focuses on second-hand data in the automotive industry. A total of 805collaborative relationships, 106 IOS technologies and applications, and 305 competitive actionsinvolving nine major automakers are collected. Data sources include databases, major tradepublications, Web sites, and industry indices. Data analysis includes network analysis, ANOVAtest, and correlation.Empirical results support the general contention that network structure and IOS use coevolveand influence competitive action. Building on these results, a framework characterizingIOS's roles in achieving firm competitiveness is concluded and advanced. This dissertation broadens our view of IOS's roles in e-business. It contributes to IS/IOS theory, methodology, and practice. First, this study examines IOS-mediated networks inmultiple levels, including firm-level, pair-level, and network-level. It provides new theoreticalconceptualizations of IOS's roles. Second, this study advances a new IT value measureaddressing limitations of the traditional measures. Third, it introduces a novel, usefulmethodology for data collection. Fourth, results from this study can guide a firm's e-businessinitiatives for using IOS as powerful tools for achieving firm competitiveness.

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