An empirical study of the impact of e‐business technologies on organizational collaboration and performance

TLDR

E‑business technologies are increasingly used among supply‑chain organizations, enabling collaboration that is expected to enhance performance. The study proposes and tests a model linking e‑business technology use, collaboration, and performance. The model distinguishes intra‑ and inter‑organizational collaboration, differing from prior work. Results show that e‑business technology improves performance directly and indirectly through both intra‑ and inter‑organizational collaboration, with intra‑firm collaboration having a direct effect and inter‑organizational collaboration influencing performance only indirectly via intra‑firm collaboration, highlighting the complexity of collaboration and the need to invest in internal collaboration and supporting IT.

Abstract

Abstract The use of e‐business technologies between supply chain organizations has been thematic in recent literature. Organizational collaboration, the foundation of supply chain management, has been enabled by the development and use of e‐business technologies. Organizational collaboration and information sharing, in turn, are expected to improve organizational performance. We propose and test a model of the relationship between organizational use of e‐business technologies, organizational collaboration, and performance, using empirical data. Our model differs from past studies in that collaboration is viewed as two unique constructs, differentiating between intra‐ and inter‐organizational collaboration. Our findings show that use of e‐business technologies impacts performance both directly and indirectly by promoting both measures of collaboration. Intra‐firm collaboration is also found to have a direct impact on organizational performance. However, the impact of inter‐organizational collaboration on performance is found to be only indirect, through the impact of intra‐organizational collaboration. These findings reveal the complexity of organizational collaboration, underscore the importance for companies to promote internal collaboration, and invest in information technologies that facilitate it.