Title: How do Information Technology and Integrative Planning drive performance in today's supply chains?

Authors: Heiko Woehner; Inga-Lena Darkow; Gernot Kaiser

Addresses: EBS Business School, Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 15, 65187 Wiesbaden, Germany ' Logistics Management, Department of Business Studies and Economics, University Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany ' Department for Law and Economics, Technical University, Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany

Abstract: Prior studies suggest that integrating information technology and planning plays an important role in operational performance. But how do Information Technology and Integrative Planning (ITIP) drive performance in today's supply chains? How do these capabilities interact with each other? In order to fill this research gap, this study applies Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) and Resource-Based View (RBV) to investigate integration resources within the supply chain. The paper demonstrates with a sample of 124 supply chain experts and structural equation modelling that internal communication and connectivity do not have a direct impact on operational performance. However, these resources are antecedents of performance-related integration. In contrast, inter-company integration in ITIP are resources with significant influence on operational performance. These findings encourage supply chain managers to focus attention on antecedents and performance drivers in order to realise the advantages of integrated information technology and planning in the supply chain.

Keywords: supply chain integration; information technology; IT integration; integrative planning; structural equation modelling; SEM; empirical research; capabilities; operational performance; performance drivers; supply chain management; SCM; supply chain performance; transaction cost theory; resource-based view; RBV.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISM.2013.055067

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2013 Vol.8 No.1/2/3, pp.5 - 23

Received: 19 Nov 2012
Accepted: 21 Mar 2013

Published online: 03 Mar 2014 *

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