Interorganizational Systems and Supply Chain Agility in Uncertain Environments: The Mediation Role of Supply Chain Collaboration

Abstract

The economy is recovering in today’s postpandemic phase, but uncertainties such as supply chain disruptions remain a top risk. Environmental uncertainty creates the need for swift supply chain adjustments in response to these external changes. Supply chain agility (SCA) has been recognized as a key capability for firms working to achieve superior performance in uncertain business environments. SCA is challenging to achieve, however, because it requires the firm and its supply chain partners to collaborate closely yet flexibly across organizational boundaries. Considering interorganizational systems (IOS) have been widely deployed to establish digital connections across organizational boundaries, this study aims to explore to what extent and how IOS as boundary objects, characterized by standardization and adaptability, affect SCA under different levels of environmental uncertainty. This study provides guidance for information technology (IT) and business directors on how to achieve SCA through the design or implementation of IOS, provides guidance for business directors on how to invest more effectively to capture opportunities and deal with risks, and advises business and IT directors on how to respond appropriately to different levels of environmental uncertainty (e.g., IT directors should design adaptive IOS and business directors should invest in supply chain collaboration when environmental uncertainty is high).