قابلیت دید سیستم های اطلاعات درون سازمانی در روابط خریدار تامین کننده: مورد صنعت تولید کامپوننت تجهیزات مخابراتی

The concept and operation of supply chain (SC) visibility remain underexplored questions in supply chain management, as is the question of the facilitating role of inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) in achieving SC visibility. This paper seeks to elaborate on the novel concept of IOIS visibility and to explore the antecedents and consequences of IOIS visibility. Investigating SC cooperation from the perspectives of both partners (buyers and suppliers) is important, especially when channel partners depend on each other and when asymmetries in IOIS visibility can exist. The data that this study requires were collected from 51 matched pairs of intermediate producers of telecommunication equipment components and their immediate suppliers. The results show that IOIS visibility is an important predictor of supply chain performance from the supplier's perspective. In turn, IOIS visibility is significantly influenced by the supply chain partner's internal IS integration and inter-organizational IT infrastructure compatibility.

IT-enabled supply chain (SC) cooperation, such as virtual supply chain management and extended enterprise, has recently received increasing attention in the supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) literature [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6]. Specific issues related to IT-enabled supply chain cooperation include supply chain visibility (e.g., [7]), inter-organizational information sharing (e.g., [2] and [8]), and external linkages (e.g., [9] and [10]). While these concepts have become popular buzzwords in SCM, they remain ill-defined and poorly understood [7]. Many researchers have highlighted the need to elucidate the concept and operation of supply chain visibility [10], [11] and [12]. Furthermore, the facilitating role of inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) in achieving supply chain visibility has received inadequate research attention, while IOIS has been treated as a black-box (e.g., [13]). Supply chain visibility becomes feasible only when participating organizations are inter-connected through IOIS. An IOIS is defined as a network-based IS that extends beyond traditional enterprise boundaries [14]. With IOIS making information visible to other organizations, the organizational boundary is redefined and extended to the extent that a firm's value chain needs to be redesigned. IOIS has the potential to produce synergistic effects on supply chain performance, although implementing an effective IOIS requires a significant amount of effort from participating firms. Penrose [15] asserts that the extent to which a firm's resources fit with another firm's resources (e.g., IOIS) can reduce imitability and deter mobility. This effect can be further enhanced if the resources are embedded within a complex inter-firm relationship, making the resource even more difficult to replicate [16]. Reflecting on the central role of IOIS in IT-enabled supply chain cooperation, this paper proposes a new concept of IOIS visibility, namely, the extent to which partner firms' information/knowledge related to supply chain cooperation is visible to the focal firm through inter-organizational information systems. Organizations in a supply chain need to have access to information from their partner firms that they consider key or useful to their operations and that will provide mutual benefits [7], [17] and [18]. The enhanced visibility of customer and/or supplier operations may help improve the entire supply chain performance and their own internal decision making and operating performance [9], [19], [20], [21] and [22]. Thus, the first objective of this paper is to elaborate on the novel concept of IOIS visibility and to explore the IS-related antecedents and consequences of IOIS visibility. Furthermore, most existing empirical investigations of supply chain cooperation investigate the phenomenon from the perspective of only one partner (for exceptions, see [23]). Investigating supply chain cooperation from the perspectives of both partners (buyers and suppliers) is important [24], especially when channel partners depend on each other and when asymmetries in IOIS visibility can exist [23]. Channel relationships that are asymmetric in dependence and power are more dysfunctional and less stable than symmetric relationships [25]. When dependence asymmetries occur, IOIS visibility can be distorted according to the firm's status in the channel, that is, according to whether it has relative power or relative dependence. Asymmetric IOIS visibility may increase the possibility of opportunistic behavior by a trading partner [26], leading to uncertainty about the level and division of benefits from increased information sharing. While the buyer's perspective in buyer–supplier relationships receives much attention, prior studies have shown discrepancies in the perspectives of buyers and suppliers. For example, Forker et al. [27] report that both parties have different views on the buyer's implementation of the supplier's development activities. Similarly, Kim et al. [23] have found that buyers' perspectives are different from those of suppliers in regard to both the facilitators and barriers of buyer–supplier relationships. For instance, buyers identify switching costs and inter-organizational trust as significant determinants of cooperation, while suppliers identify technological uncertainty and the reciprocity of the relationship as significant determinants. Therefore, studying supply chain cooperation from mutual perspectives is important in understanding how each partner regards the supply chain. Hence, this study attempts to accommodate both partners' perspectives in IOIS visibility and to look into the consequences of IOIS visibility from each participant's perspective. The research model in the present study is investigated using a sample of 51 matched pairs of buyers and suppliers in the telecommunication industry. Specifically, the sample firms consist of manufacturers of telecommunication equipment parts and components. Intermediate producers (buyers in this sample) purchase low-level parts from their first-tier suppliers and assemble them into stable intermediate components. The final outputs from the intermediate producers are sold to telecommunication service providers who integrate them into a whole system. Effective manufacturing requires mutual adjustments and cooperation between the equipment manufacturers, because modular technologies must be integrated according to a certain agreed-upon protocol. Further, customer needs are constantly evolving in this industry, as is the technology required to meet them. In this type of environment, both SC partners benefit from cooperation because of the considerable interdependence between buyers and suppliers [28] and [29]. Thus, the pair of intermediate producers and their suppliers provides a good context in which to study IOIS visibility. In the following sections, we briefly discuss the conceptual background for IOIS visibility and develop our research framework and hypotheses. We then describe the research methodology used in the present study and our key results. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of our findings for future research and practice.

This paper attempts to elaborate on a novel concept of IOIS visibility and its IS-related antecedents and consequences. Future research may benefit from incorporating other, non IS-related, antecedents such as relational and political factors. For example, social capital in the form of high inter-organizational trust enables supply chain participants to engage in more social exchange and to take actions that would usually be considered risky in such an exchange [65]. Trust between supply chain partners facilitates the sharing of certain types of knowledge [66] and [67]. For example, tacit and abstract knowledge provides more room for opportunistic behaviors or cheating by partners [68]. Thus, it would be interesting to investigate the relationship between IOIS visibility and inter-organizational trust, specifically, whether this relationship is moderating or mediating with respect to SC performance. This paper makes an implicit assumption that asymmetric IOIS visibility results in decreases in supply chain performance. Increasing interdependence asymmetry may lead to higher levels of suspicion and conflict in the relationship. However, interdependence asymmetry does not necessarily cause irreversible and damaging conflict. Firms in a supply channel may behave differently because their strategic positions and market situations are different. Future research should explore the contingencies under which asymmetric IOIS visibility occurs and whether the consequences of asymmetric IOIS visibility differ depending on the contingencies. This study offers some implications for practitioners. First, despite the high transaction risk associated with IOIS, partner-specific IT investments should be made to enhance supply chain performance. With the appropriate governance mechanism in place, investments into relation-specific capital can bear fruitful results in a cooperative long-term relationship. As described above in regard to the snowball effect of IOIS, initial investments into IOIS, if successfully implemented, can make subsequent investments economically viable and eventually lead to supply chain competitiveness. Second, buyer firms should bear in mind that making their internal IS visible to supplier partners is important to improving supply chain performance. In particular, buyers need to integrate their information systems so that suppliers can have timely access to the integrated information for informed decision making. In addition, buyer firms need to assist their suppliers by having compatible IT infrastructure. Buyer firms can provide suppliers with technical training, necessary funds, and comparable data formats. Considering the technological advances in IOIS, such as Internet-based applications [4], service-oriented architectures, and software as a service [69], compatible IT infrastructure will play ever more important roles in enhancing IOIS visibility.