Inter-organizational Information System Adoption Research Articles

The adoption of open platform for container bookings in the maritime supply chain

Information systems and technologies (IST) have been playing increasingly crucial roles in supporting the smooth running of maritime supply chain operations. The degree of acceptance of IST within the maritime sector as a whole, however, remains fragmented and variable. Some IST products and platforms have entered the market and gained a broad market share, while others are still struggling. This study, based on twenty-five cases, aims to investigate the adoption of IST in a range of organizations in the maritime shipping supply chain. Open platform, a concept first introduced by Maersk Line and IBM in 2018 for inter-organizational information sharing for the maritime supply chain, is used as an exemplar for this study. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to conduct a chain-level analysis of IST adoption within the maritime transportation context. The results suggest that the adoption of inter-organizational information systems is largely affected by factors such as industry characteristics, the system’s information confidentiality, supply chain trade partners’ power, governmental power, and the ownership structure of the organization, among others. Furthermore, these factors have varying degrees of impact across the various organizational tiers in the maritime supply chain, e.g., information confidentiality mainly influences the adoption of forwarders. This study provides broad insights that will be of interest to both the researchers and practitioners in the maritime supply chain, in which the acceleration of digitalization is expected.

Facilitating conditions for successful adoption of inter-organizational information systems in seaports

Inter-Organizational Information Systems (IOISs) for seaport logistics facilitate monitoring operations, the exchange of information with stakeholders, and meeting regulations of foreign trade. However, seaport contexts entail complexities in terms of stakeholder involvement and business processes that must be considered thoroughly toward the successful adoption of IOISs. This research seeks to identify factors influencing the successful adoption of IOISs in seaports. It follows a grounded theory approach relying on semi-structured interviews and expert opinions to identify facilitating conditions for the adoption of IOISs. Survey research was conducted in order to investigate the appraisal of different ports in Latin America and the Caribbean region regarding the diverse conditions. The results obtained were analyzed descriptively and through a Principal Components Analysis. The latter was conducted in order to discern relevant dimensions influencing the adoption of IOISs in seaports. The results of the study allow deriving managerial insights and practical recommendations to support technological plans at ports and guide the decision-making regarding the digitalization process.

The Impact of Multilevel Contextual Factors on IS Adoption at the Inter-organizational Level

Inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) offer many potential benefits to organizations, and IOIS adoption has increased in the last few decades. However, IOIS adoption varies significantly across different contexts, and little research has investigated how contextual factors affect IOIS-adoption variances at the inter-organizational (IO) level in depth—particularly from a multilevel perspective. This paper proposes a novel multilevel framework to analyze what combinations of contextual factors at the national, industry, inter-organizational, and organizational levels influence IOIS-adoption variances at the inter-organizational level. We present an in-depth, exploratory case study of the Indonesian grocery industry that identified three inter-organizational configurations between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with IOIS-adoption variances. We found that the combinations of multilevel contextual factors varied for each configuration and, thus, explain the IOIS-adoption variances we observed at the IO level in a nuanced and holistic way. We argue that our multilevel framework may help scholars avoid contextual fallacy by encouraging them to examine the influence of higher-level factors on IOIS-adoption variances at the IO level and to avoid the atomistic fallacy that results when they make the wrong assumption that IOIS adoption at the organizational level implies adoption at a higher level.

Inter-organizational information systems adoption for service innovation in building sector

The building sector has experienced a significant decline in recent years in Spain and Europe as a result of the financial crisis that began in 2007. This drop accompanies a low penetration of information and communication technologies in inter-organizational oriented business processes. The market decrease is causing a slowdown in the building sector, where only flexible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) survive thanks to specialization and innovation in services, which allow them to face new market demands. Inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) support innovation in services, and are thus a strategic tool for SMEs to obtain competitive advantage. Because of the inherent complexity of IOIS adoption, this research extends Kurnia and Johnston's (2000) theoretical model of IOIS adoption with an empirical model of IOIS characterization. The resultant model identifies the factors influencing IOIS adoption in SMEs in the building sector, to promote further service innovation for competitive and collaborative advantages. An empirical longitudinal study over six consecutive years using data from Spanish SMEs in the building sector validates the model, using the partial least squares technique and analyzing temporal stability. The main findings of this research are the four ways an IOIS might contribute to service innovation in the building sector. Namely: a) improving client interfaces and the link between service providers and end users; b) defining a specific market where SMEs can develop new service concepts; c) enhancing the service delivery system in traditional customer–supplier relationships; and d) introducing information and communication technologies and tools to improve information management.

The Relationship between Technological Factors and Inter-Organizational Information Systems Adoption by Universities in Kenya

Kenya government, in collaboration with other stakeholders involved in enhancing teaching and research in the learning institutions have constructed a terrestrial fiber-optic network that connects most institutions of higher learning to enable them integrate their facilities for the purpose of sharing resources. Despite these efforts, adoption of Inter-Organization Information Systems (IOIS) by universities inKenyais far from being realized. This creates the need of finding out the relationship between the IOIS technological factors and the IOIS adoption. This study filled this gap by analyzing IOIS technological determinants of IOIS adopting in the universities in Kenya, given the mixed results from empirical evidence on IOIS adoption generally. A logit regression procedure was used to analyze the collected data. Two factors were found to hinder the IOIS adoption, while one factor was found to motivate IOIS adoption.

Interorganizational Information Systems Adoption in Supply Chains

Supply chain management (SCM) enabled by advances in technology, aims to develop a technical infrastructure linking technology and people, in an effort to align the technology with the capabilities of the organization and among its trading partners. This has led to the importance of the interorganizational information system (IOS) which has been increasingly recognized by organizations. There are several IOS types, including B2B electronic commerce (EC), customer-oriented strategic systems, EDI and electronic markets. The factors influencing the adoption of these systems are presented in the literature, but the IOS adoption in supply chains with supply chain context specific antecedents is very limited. To fill the gap in the literature, in this study a comprehensive model is built on the foundations of technology adoption at the organizational levels and by examining the supply chain context specific antecedents behind the motivations of adoption of technology in supply chains. The developed TOESCM research framework considers the TOE (technological-organizational-environmental) framework and SCM context specific antecedents such as information sharing, interorganizational relationships, and collaboration among trading partners to determine the adoption of IOS in supply chains.

The Relationship between Technological Factors and Inter-Organizational Information Systems Adoption by Universities in Kenya

The Relationship between Technological Factors and Inter-Organizational Information Systems Adoption by Universities in Kenya

Analysing IOIS adoption through structural contradictions

Despite extensive research and practitioner literature on inter-organizational information systems (IOIS), our understanding of non-adoption still has some under-explored issues. This paper offers an explanation of non-adoption that focuses on the potential structural changes that IOIS adoption entails; in particular, we contend that the contradictions between the initial social structure and the structure enacted in the use of an IOIS can be a cause of non-adoption. This paper analyses adoption from a logic of opposition where non-adoption occurs because forces of transformation are offset by forces of persistence. Relying on the concepts of social structure, duality of structure, and structural contradiction from Structuration theory, we develop a framework that categorizes the underlying social structure where an IOIS is to be adopted, and formulate some theoretical propositions. From a practitioner perspective, this paper contends that the fact that IOIS management uncovers the contradictions in the social structure that result from IOIS adoption can help avoid dead ends. Accordingly, this framework, which can be used as a coarse-grained picture for anticipating adoption problems, can inform managers when devising an IOIS implementation strategy.

The relationship between interorganizational information systems and operations performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between interorganizational information system (IOIS) adoption in supplier coordination and operations performance improvements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses on the association between dyadic and multilateral IOISs and improvements in performance priorities associated with stable and dynamic supply networks, using data on 201 manufacturers in 13 countries from the international manufacturing strategy survey (IMSS) database. Regression models were used to test relationships between IOIS adoption and operations performance improvements.FindingsAnalysis indicates that dyadic IOISs appear to be more associated with the performance priorities of stable supply chains (cost, delivery, and quality), while multilateral IOISs appear to be more associated with the performance priorities of dynamic supply chains (flexibility and quality).Research limitations/implicationsSurvey data were collected in the years 2000 and 2001. Some of the conclusions might be reassessed in light of recent developments in information technology. Data were limited to medium/large manufacturers of fabricated metal products, machinery, and equipment.Practical implicationsFindings suggest that the choice of IOISs must follow the company's product portfolio and supply chain configuration. Dynamic networks with innovative products may benefit from multilateral IOISs; stable networks with functional products may benefit from dyadic IOISs.Originality/valueThis appears to be the first study to provide empirical evidence to performance effects of IOISs in light of existing supply chain frameworks.