Leveraging Standard Electronic Business Interfaces to

supply chain management

Information Systems Research

Vol.18,No.3,September2007,pp.260–279issn1047-7047 eissn1526-5536 07 1803 0260inf®doi10.1287/isre.1070.0132©2007INFORMSLeveragingStandardElectronicBusinessInterfacestoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships

Kenan-FlaglerBusinessSchool,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,ChapelHill,NorthCarolina27499,arvind_malhotra@kenan- agler.unc.edu

CapitalGroupCompanies,Inc.,135S.StateCollegeBoulevard,Brea,California92821,gosain@

MarshallSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,LosAngeles,California90089,elsawy@c.eduArvindMalhotraSanjayGosainOmarA.ElSawy

Adaptivesupplychainpartnershipsareakeyfactorindrivingtheabilityofextendedenterprisepartnerstoachievelong-termgoalsinanenvironmentcharacterizedbydisruptiveenvironmentalshifts.Adaptiveextendedenterprisearrangementsallowparticipatingenterprisestoleveragetheircombinedassetsforcollectiveexplorationandexploitation.Inthecontextofextendedenterprises,wheresigni cantinvestmentshavebeendirectedtowardinstitutingcommoninterfaces,thisstudyexaminesthequestion:Howdoestheuseofstandardelectronicbusinessinterfaces SEBIs enablesupplychainpartnershipstobecomemoreadaptive?ThisstudyconceptualizestheuseofSEBIsasaboundary-spanningmechanismthathelpsovercomebound-ariesthatimpedeknowledgetransferbetweenenterprisesinsupplychains.SEBIsenablespartnerstogaininsightintotheirbroaderenvironments,enrichingeachpartner’sperspective(enhancedbridging).SEBIsalsohelpstrengthenthecooperativetiesbetweenpartners,motivatingeachpartnertoadaptforcollectivegain(enhancedbonding).Ourresearchmodelisempiricallytestedusingdatacollectedfrom41demand-sidesupplychainpartnerships(betweenoriginalequipmentmanufacturers(OEMs),distributors,andretailers)intheinformationtechnology(IT)industry.Theresultsshowthatcollaborativeinformationexchange(CIE)betweensupplychainpartnersmediatestherelationshipbetweenuseofSEBIsandmutualadaptation(MA)andadaptiveknowledgecreationbetweensupplychainpartners.Interestingly,theuseofSEBIsisfoundtobedirectlyassociatedwithMAbutonlyindirectlyassociatedwithadaptiveknowledgecreation.ThestudypointsoutthatthestrategicimpactsofSEBIsgowellbeyondtheexchangeoftransactioninforma-tionandprocessintegration.Italsoshowsthatmultilateral,quasi-open,andinformationexchange–andprocesslinkage–orientedSEBIscanresultinbothbondingandbridgingacrosssupplychainpartnerswithoutbindingthemin exiblytospeci cpartners.Basedonthemodelandresults,thestudyofferspracticalimplicationsforhowSEBIsshouldbedeveloped,adopted,andused.

Keywords:standardelectronicbusinessinterfaces;boundaryobjects;supplychainpartnering;adaptivepartnerships;adaptation;digitallyenabledextendedenterprise;bridging;bondingHistory:ArunRai,SeniorEditor.ThispaperwasreceivedonAugust15,2005,andwaswiththeauthors10monthsfor3revisions.

1.Today’shypercompetitiveenvironment,characterizedbychangingcustomerpreferences,shiftingindus-tryboundaries,andemergingglobalcompetition,requiresenterprisestobuildcapabilitiesforconstantinnovationandtorespondtocompetitivepressuresfromunforeseennewsources(D’Aveni1994,BrownandEisenhardt1997).Thishasbeenaccompaniedby

260Introductionanunbundlingofeconomicactivitydrivenbyfallingtransactioncosts,asinformationandcommunicationtechnologiesfacilitateconnectivityacrossenterprises(HagelandSinger1999).Unbundlingrequiresenter-prisestorelyonspecializedpartnersforcomple-mentaryactivities.Suchpartnerships,constitutingtheextendedenterprise,areasourceofrelationalrentsandcompetitiveadvantage(Dyer1996,1997;Dyerand

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSSingh1998).Thevaluecreationpotentialofextended

enterpriserelationshipscanbeleveragedtopursue

newopportunitiesandtobetteradapttomarket

changes(Young-YbarraandWiersema1999;Kopczak

andJohnson2003;Malhotraetal.2001,2005;ElSawy

etal.1999).

Insupplychains,interorganizationalrelationships

arecontinuallyrestructuredtopursuehigher-order

goals(beyondachievingtransactionalef ciencies),

suchasfastermarketentry,newmarketdevelopment,

andinterorganizationallearning,thatarethebasis

forlong-termviability(EisenhardtandSchoonhoven

1996,Gosainetal.2004).Akeyfactordrivingthe

abilityoftheextendedenterprisetoachievelong-

termgoalsinanenvironmentcharacterizedbydis-

ruptiveenvironmentalshiftsisadaptability(Rindova

andKotha2001).

Tosomeextent,anenterprisemayrelyonitsabil-

itytorecon gureinternalcompetencies.However,the

needforchangeinaneraofinterdependenceamong

enterprisesrequiresjointadaptationbyboththeenter-

priseanditspartners.Consider,forexample,theneed

foramanufacturertorefreshproductofferingsin

volatileenvironments.Thisrequiresintermeshednew

productintroductionprocessesthatspantheman-

ufacturer,wholesaledistributors,andretailers.Sup-

plychainpartnershipsalsoprovideopportunitiesfor

enterprisestolearnfromtheirpartnerstobetteradapt

tohigh-velocitymarketenvironments.Therefore,in

thispaperwerefertoadaptivesupplychainpartner-

shipsasthoseinwhich rmsconstitutingtheextended

enterprise:(a)adjusttheirprocedures,processes,and

structurestosuiteachotherand(b)leverageeach

others’knowledgeresourcestocreatetheknowledge

requiredtoadapttothemarketenvironment.

Interenterpriseelectronicinterconnectionsthatare

architecturallysound(fromatechnicalaswellasbusi-

nessperspective)allowexploitationofnewopportu-

nitiesthroughdigitalenablementofextendedenter-

prises.Thequestfortransactionalef cienciesand

automatedbusinessprocessintegrationbetweenap-

plicationsandacrosssupplychainpartnershascre-

atedthenecessityfortheuseofSEBIs.Thecurrent

generationofmultilateral,quasi-open,andextensi-

bleSEBIs(seeWigandetal.2005foracasestudyin

thehomemortgageindustry)thatsupportstructured261interenterpriseprocessinterfacesmayalsobeawaytomakeextendedenterprisemoreadaptive.The rstgenerationofSEBIs,adoptedinthe1980swithelectronicdatainterchange(EDI),tooktheformofmessagestandardsthatallowedcomputer-to-computerexchangeofstructuredinformationaroundtransactions.However,EDI-typeSEBIshaddisadvan-tagesintermsofin exibilityandcost,andadop-tionofsuchstandardswaslimitedtoapplicationsrelatedtopurchasingprocesses.Consequently,EDI-typeSEBIshadfairlylimitedimpactintransform-ingenterprisesandinterenterpriserelationships.ThesecondgenerationofSEBIstriggeredin1998bytheRosettaNetConsortiumisstructurallydifferent,com-prisingbothbusinessprocessstandards,calledpartnerinterfaceprocesses(PIPs),aswellasdatadictionarystandardsforproductdescriptionsandspeci cations.Thisallowsmany-to-manyelectronicconnectivityrelationshipsandheraldsamuchricherandmore exibleformofbusinessprocessconnectivityacrossenterprises.Further,interorganizationalconnectivityisaidedintechnicalimplementationand exibilitybythedevelopmentofXML(extensiblemarkuplanguage)andassociatedtechnologies.1Theemergenceof ex-iblemarkupformatsandconnectivityinfrastructurehasprovidedanimpetustovariousenterprisestoparticipateinindustryconsortiatocollaborativelydevelopnewstandards(e.g.,Rosettanetstandards).Thesesecond-generationSEBIsgobeyondstandard-izinginformationexchangebyalsostandardizinginterenterpriseprocesslinkages(Gosainetal.2003).Thesestandardshavebroughtaboutthepotentialfornewopportunitiesandpathwaysforchangingthewaydigitallyenabledextendedenterprisescanworktogether,developnewcompetencies,andman-agetheirpartneringrelationships.WeproposethattheuseofSEBIshasasignif-icantimpactontheadaptivenessoftheextended1Pleaseseethee-companiontothispaperforadetailedcomparisonofXML-basedSEBIstoEDI-typeSEBIs.Thee-companionisavail-ableontheInformationSystemsResearchwebsite(/ecompanion.html).Thecomparisonalsohighlightsthede nitionofsecond-generationSEBIs.Theelectronicsupplement

alsopresentsabackgroundforRosettaNet.

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships262

enterprisebyshapinginformationexchangesandpro-

cessesbetweenenterprises.Standardslayoutthedoc-

umentschemasandtheconditionalchoreographyofdocumentexchangesneededtocompleteabusi-nessprocessextendedacrossmultipleenterprises.

Atthesametime,thesestandardsaffordenterprisesthe exibilityofcustomizingsomeprocess-related

parameterstoadapttotherequirementsoftheirpart-

ners.Further,deploymentanduseofsuchstandardsenableenterprisestosimultaneouslyexchangeinfor-

mationwithmultipleextendedenterprisepartners.Suchanexchangewouldotherwisehaverequired

extensiveeffortinone-to-onecustomizationofinfor-

mationexchangeparameters.WeviewtheSEBIsastemplatesthatinscribebroadpatternsofinformation

exchangeininterenterprisesystems,allowingfree-

domforenterprisestorespondtochange,yetprevent

exchangesfrombecomingentirelyidiosyncratictoarelationship.Thisstudyseekstoexaminethefollow-

ingresearchquestion:HowdoestheuseofSEBIsenable

adaptivesupplychainpartnerships?

Whilethepotentialgainsfromadaptiveinteror-ganizationallinkagesareapparent,thenurturingof

thesecapabilitiesisnoteasy.Asigni cantchallenge

isthatenterprisesmay,overtime,developstickypat-

ternswithentrenchedpartners,andthesemaybe

veryresistanttochange(VandenBoschetal.1999).

Also,itcanbearguedthatenterprisesfaceatrade-offbetweenreachandrichnessintermsoftheirexternal

partnerships(FjeldstadandHaanaes2001).Therefore,

enterprisescaneithermaintainshort-termtransac-

tionalcontractswithalargenumberofsuppliersor

long-termrelationalcontractswithafewsuppliers

(Madhok2002,p.544).Thisimpliestwotypesofbar-riers:notknowingenoughaboutapartnerandits

specializeddomainorprocesses(lackofbonding)or

beingtooboundwithapartnertobeabletomaintain

diversityinperspectives(lackofbridging).

Inaddressingthecentralresearchquestioninthis

study,wedrawonrecenttheoreticalworkrelatedtoboundariesthatimpactknowledgetransfer(Carlile

2002,2004)toconceptualizeSEBIsasaboundary-

spanningmechanismthatmotivatesandenables

collaborativeinformationsharingacrossenterprise

boundaries.Further,weviewCIEasanimportant

mediatingmechanismfortherealizationofadaptivesupplychainpartnerships.SupplychainsareshiftingInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMStheirfocusfromtheef cientmovementofphysicalproductstowardinformationexchangetobetteradapttotheirmarketenvironments(Patnayakunietal.2006,Raietal.2006,Straubetal.2004).CIEhasbeenshowntobeakeyfactorinthecreationofsharedknowledgeinsupplychains(Malhotraetal.2005),whichinturnisessentialforadaptingtoenvironmentalchanges(Kraatz1998).ThepaperdevelopsaperspectiveofSEBIsasboundaryobjectsthat(a)canhelppart-nersbuildadaptablepartnershipsbyleveragingandstrengtheningtheirties(bonding)and(b)canenrichthepartners’perspectivesbyenablingthemtogainaccessandinsightintotheirbroaderenvironmentswhileadaptingtopartneringrequirements(bridging).2.TheorySEBIsasDevelopment:BoundaryObjectsUsingAlthoughAdaptiveinpastresearchPartnershipshaslargelytendedtoadoptanenterprise-levelviewtoexplorehoworganizationsadaptinresponsetotechnologicalinnovationandenvironmentaltransformations(Koberg1987,BoekerandGoodstein1991,KraatzandZajac1996),therehasbeenanincreasinginterestinunderstandinghowadaptationoccursininterorganizationalrelationships(Kraatz1998,Heppard1998).Interorganizationalrela-tionshipscanbesupportedtoenhancetheabilityofenterprisestoadapttotheirchangingenvironment(RingandVandeVen1994)andimproveperfor-mance(Heppard1998).Inthisstudy,wefocusontheadaptivesupplychainrelationshipasatypeofdynamiccapabilitythatallowsenterprisestoleveragetheirpartnershipstoadapttothechangingbusinessenvironment.Recentworksuggeststheneedforboundaryobjectstosustaintheintensecollaborationandknowledgesharingdemandedacrossenterpriseboundaries,par-ticularlyinnovelenvironments(Carlile2004).Inter-enterpriselinkagesrequirethegroundconstructionofsharedcommitments(commonboundary-spanningorcommonknowledge),guages,mechanismsandtheuseofvariousthesestories,repositories,andmodels).(e.g.,routines,Developinglan-agreementcommitments

cols,orboundaryaroundobjects.standardandmechanisms

(Kellogprocedures,requires

etal.2006,sharedforging

p.proto-24)

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSDrawingontheseideas,weproposethatSEBIscanbeakeyfacilitatingmechanism(aboundaryobject)tohelpenterprisesachieveadaptivesupplychainpart-nerships.

2.1.CharacterizingAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsOrganizationaltheorists,drawingonbiologicalthe-ories,haveusedtheconceptofadaptationtostudyorganizationalchangesinresponsetoshiftsintheirenvironment(BurnsandStalker1961,Chandler1962,SharfmanandDean1997).Pastresearchhasfoundthattheabilitytocontinuallyadaptisanimportantcapabilityconferringcompetitivebene ts(BrownandEisenhardt1997).Contingencytheoristsadvocatethatfororganizationstosurviveandthrive,theirstructureandprocesseshavetobeadjustedtosuittheirenvi-ronment(HageandAiken1970).Inessence,adap-tationisanorganizationalprocessthroughwhichprocedural,process,andstructuraladjustmentsaremadetomatchtherequirementsoftheenvironment(LawrenceandLorsch1967,Koberg1987).Theoristshavealsostressedtheimportanceoflearning-andknowledge-creatingroutinesthatalloworganizationstoadapttotheirenvironment(EisenhardtandMartin2000,Kraatz1998).Adaptationinsupplychainpartnershipsisanalo-goustothebiologicalconceptofsymbioticadapta-tion—adaptationsthatoccurbetweentwoorganismsthatareinterdependentoneachotherforthepurposeofjointbene ts(Hallénetal.1991).Adaptivepartner-shipsarethoseinwhichbothagentsgainbyworkinginconjunctiontorespondtothemutualchallengestheyface(Dent2003).Partnersseekwaystomutu-allyadaptandprosperinanenvironmentcharac-terizedbychangingmarketconditionsandcustomerneeds(Dent2003,Tang2005).Sharingofknow-howbetweenpartnersisanothersalientcharacteristicofadaptivesupplychainpartnerships(Tang2005).Inessence,adaptivesupplychainpartnershipsre-quiremutuallybene cialadjustments(Hallénetal.1991)andjointlearningtosenseandrespondtomar-ketenvironmentchangesinconjunctionwithpartnerenterprises(Kraatz1998,Malhotraetal.2005).

2.1.1.MutualAdaptationinSupplyChainPart-nerships.Researchonallianceshasidenti edthattheir exibilityisdeterminedbytheabilityofthe263partnerstoadjusttheirbehaviorsorthetermsoftheallianceagreementinresponsetochangesintheen-vironmentorneedsoftheirpartners(Young-YbarraandWiersema1999).WerefertotheoutcomeofthisabilityasMA.Akeyrequirementforsuchstrategicbehavioristhattheenterprisesbemotivatedtowardcollectiveaction.LeanaandVanBuren(1999)refertothiselementasassociability:“ abilityofpar-ticipantsinanorganizationtosubordinateindivid-ualgoalsandassociatedactionstocollectivegoalsandactions”(p.541).Associabilityrequiresnotonlyestablishingcollectivegoals,butalsoaffectingcol-lectiveaction.Therefore,associabilityismanifestinMA,whichdenotestheextenttowhichsupplychainpartnersengagewitheachotherinarespon-siveandstructurally exiblemanner(Brennanetal.2003).Suchrelationship-speci cadaptationsalsosig-nallong-termorientationandcommitment(BensaouandVenkatraman1995,CannonandPerreault1999).2.1.2.AdaptiveKnowledgeCreationinSupplyChainPartnerships.Ascompetitionincreasinglybe-comesknowledgebased,enterprisesareleveragingtheirinterorganizationalrelationshipsforknowledgecreation(Hamel1991,Huber1991).Interorganiza-tionalnetworksarefertilegroundsforlearningthatenablethecollectivitytolearn,adapt,andsurviveturbulentenvironments(Haveman1992,IngramandBaum1997).Byacquiringandgraftingknowledgefromexternalsources,organizationscancreatenewknowledge(Malhotraetal.2005)andadapttotheirenvironment(Kraatz1998).Adaptingtothemarketenvironmentrequiresthatcompaniessensetheneedforanddevelopnewcapabilities,aswellasenhanceexistingcapabilities.Successfuladaptationisenabledbythedevelopmentofrelevantknowledgetounder-standthemarketenvironment,diagnosecurrentcapa-bilities,anticipatefutureneedsforcapabilities,andredesignunderlyingprocesses(Day1994).Supplychainpartnerscanhelpeachotherbetterinterpretmarketsignalsaswellasdeveloptheknowledgereq-uisiteforadaptation(Malhotraetal.2005).Traditionalrolesinthesupplychainarebeingre-con gured,sothatdistributorsaretakingontheassemblyofproducts,assemblersaretakingonaproactivestanceinmarketinginconjunctionwithre-tailers,andretailersarehelpingdesignproductsandservices.Inthisevolution,supplychainplayersare

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships264

highlydependentonpartnerstokeepthemapprisedofthenewrolesofchannelplayers.Totakeonsomeofthesenewroles,supplychainenterprisesarealsobeginningtoemulatetheinternalprocessesoftheirsuccessfulpartnersandareredesigningtheirinteror-ganizationalprocessesbyleveragingtheknowledgegainedfromtheirpartners.Supplychainpartnershipscanbeleveragedtocre-atetwodistincttypesofadaptiveknowledge:(a)sens-ingrelated—understandingofpatternsrelatedtotheexternalmarket(keymarkets,customers,competi-tors,orsuppliers)(GuptaandGovindarajan1991)and(b)responserelated—executionskillsandcapa-bilities.Market-relatedknowledgemanifestsitselfinmarketresponsivenessandthedevelopmentofinno-vativeproductsandservices.Thecreationofknowl-edgerelatedtoexecutionenablesorganizationstoadjustinterorganizationalprocessesandstructurestocollectivelycapturenewopportunities(Malhotraetal.2001,2005).

2.2.AdaptivePartnershipsandCIESensingandrespondingtothemarketenvironmentrequiresrichinformation(EisenhardtandMartin2000).Usinginformationobtainedfrombusinesspart-ners,enterprisescanimprovetheirunderstandingofresources,competition,andmarketneeds.Thisresultsinaquickawarenessofchangesandshiftsintheexternalenvironment.Theunderstandingoftheexter-nalenvironmentandthecreationofnewknowledgefromtheinformationobtainedfrombusinesspartnerscanalsobetranslatedintodecisionsandactionsthathelpenterprisesadapttotheirenvironment.Thenewknowledgecreatedthroughinformationexchangewithpartnerscanbeinthearenaofdesignofnewproductsandservices,improvedexistingofferings,andimproveddeliverythroughredesignedinteror-ganizationalprocesses(Malhotraetal.2005).Inthisstudy,weconceptualizethesharingofthishigh-value-addedinformationbetweensupplychainpart-nersasCIE,thatis,theexchangeofinformationthatisbroad-ranging,highquality,andprivilegedinnature(Malhotraetal.2005).

2.2.1.Broad-RangingInformationExchange.Thedevelopmentofnewcapabilitiesandenhancementofexistingcapabilitiestoadapttotheenvironmentsrequirescollaborativeinformationexchange(NonakaInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMS1994,Malhotraetal.2005).Understandingofthecom-petitivespace,knowledgeofhowtoperformnewroles,anddevelopmentofnewcapabilitiesrequiresthe owofinformationbetweenpartnerstogobeyondmereinformationcoordination.Tomakenec-essaryadaptationstosuittheenvironment,enter-prisesseekbroaderinformationfromtheirpartners(Brennanetal.2003).Supplychainplayersarereal-izingthattounleashthetruepotentialofthesup-plychain,theywillneedtoshareinformationsuchasmarkettrends,changesincustomers’preferences,newproductintroductions,andfutureproductplansthathavelonger-termimplications(Austinetal.1997).Inaddition,theyneedtoshareinformationrelatedtoprocessimprovements,strategicdirections,andnewcapabilitiesthatcouldhelppartners.Alongwithtransactionandcoordinationinformation,sup-plychainpartnersarerequiringeachothertoprovideinformationaboutmarketconditions(Fites1996).2.2.2.QualityofInformationExchange.Althoughitisbene cialforpartnerstoexchangeabroadrangeofinformation,ensuringthequalityofinforma-tionexchangeisequallyimportant.Otherwise,enter-prisescansufferfromaninformationoverloadorthe“garbagein–garbageout”syndrome.Theimportanceofthequalityofinformationexchangewashigh-lightedrepeatedlyinour eldinterviews.Forexam-ple,anexecutiveataleadingcomputermanufacturerwithanextensiveeffortunderwaytoimprovequalityofinformationexchangeexpresseditlikethis:Weitycustomers,ofareinformationmakinghugeinvestmentstoincreasethequal-quency,intermsweofexchangeitswithoursuppliersanddetail[majortoandthedepth.extentthatIwouldcoverage,Icouldliketelltowhathavegranularity,depthfre-locationandoftheycultunittopurchasedcustomer]wentgettoPOSwhich itpurchasedpointfrom.ModelXXPCsandwhocustomer.ofCurrentlysale informationitisextremelyaboutwhatdif -2.2.3.PrivilegedInformationExchange.Theval-ueofinformationexchangethatdrivestheabilitytoleveragetheirpartnershipsforinformationexchangedependsonpartners’perceptionsofhowspeci ctheinformationistotheneedsofthepartnerinvolvedintheexchange.AsUzziandLancaster(2003)pointout,innovationsbasedoninterorganizationalrela-tionshipsoccurwhentheyallowforthetransferof

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSidiosyncraticandprivilegedinformation.Privileged

informationcanberelatedtoanenterprise’sstrat-

egy,distinctivecompetencies,undocumentedproduct

capabilities,orcriticalcustomerorsupplierdepen-

dencies.Soprivilegedinformationgoesbeyondthe

collectionandreportingofstandardinformationthat

issymbolicofarm’s-lengthpartnerships(Malhotra

etal.2005).Privilegedinformationisspeci ctothe

receivingpartnerandinherentlytendstobepro-

prietaryandcon dentialinnature(Cannonand

Perreault1999).Consequently,itprovidesthepart-

nerwithauniqueperspectivenototherwiseavailable.

Exchangeofprivileged—unusuallydetailed,con -

dential,orsensitive—informationisanimportantfac-

torinthesuccessfuladaptationininterorganizational

settings(Brennanetal.2003).

Adaptiveinterorganizationalpartnershipsrequirea

greaterdegreeofCIEbetweenpartners(Cannonand

Perreault1999).CIEenablesorganizationstoadjust

toadapttochangingconditions(BrownandDuguid

1991,FiolandLyles1985).Althoughenvironmen-

talshiftscreatesignalsforenterprises(Dill1962),

thesesignalsmaybeweak,confusing,andspurious

(Choo1998).Therefore,broad-ranging,high-quality,

andprivilegedinformationexchangeenablespartners

tomakesenseoftheenvironmentandmakechanges

intheirpartnershiptorespondtotheenvironment.

Hypothesis1.CIEbetweenpartnerspositivelyin u-

encesMAandadaptiveknowledgecreationinsupplychain

partnerships.2

eofSEBIsasBoundaryObjects

Increasingly,enterprisesinvariousindustriesare

formingconsortiatodevelop,adopt,andusestan-

dardstosupportinformationexchangewithpart-

nersandimproveinterorganizationalprocesslinkages

(Zhaoetal.2005).XML-basedstandards,suchas

RosettaNetPIPs,enableenterprisestodeveloppro-

cesslinkageswithbusinesspartnersthataremore

adaptable—i.e.,thatcanbechangedtomeettheneeds

2Theunitofanalysisforthisstudyisasupplychaindyad,where

thepartnerenterprisesbelongtoadjacenttiersofthesupplychain

(e.g.,amanufacturerandawholesaledistributor).265ofthebusinessenvironment(Gosainetal.2004).Thesestandardsspecifyhowactivitiesbeingperformedbyindividualenterprises,asapartofasupplychainpro-cess,shouldbechoreographedandcoordinated(seee-companiontothispaperforacomparisonbetweenEDIandXMLbasedstandards).Inessence,theuseofSEBIsreferstoanexplicitorimplicitagreementoncommonspeci cationsforinformation-exchangefor-matsandprocessingtasksattheinterfacesbetweeninteractingsupplychainpartners.Byvirtueofprovid-ingexplicitorimplicittemplateslinkingprocessandinformationschemaofanenterprisetoitspartners,SEBIscanactasboundaryobjects(BrownandDuguid1998,Star1989).Boundariesbetweenorganizationalentitiescanad-verselyimpactthetransferofinformationandknowl-edge.Theseboundariesarisefromthedifferentinformation(amountand/ortype)entitiespossess,thedegreeofdependenceontheinformation,andthedegreeofcommonunderstanding/knowledgebetweenthoseinvolvedintheexchange(Star1989;Carlile2002,2004).Toserveasaboundary-spanningmechanism,anobjectshouldbeboth exibleandmal-leableforactorsto llinthelocalmeaningandvisionofuse,andsuf cientlyde nedanddurabletoallowshareduse(NeumannandStar1996).SEBIsful llthisrolebyallowingenterprisestomaptheirlocalmeaningsandpracticestoacommonreferentandthennegotiatetheirdifferences.Throughthiscom-monreferentthelocalpracticesofanorganizationsareassociatedwiththelocalpracticesofthepartnerorganization,whichcreatesanunderstandinginpart-nerorganizationsastohowtheirlocalactionsimpacttheprocessesinthepartners’organization.Carlile(2004)suggeststhreeboundariesthatin u-encethetransferofinformationandknowledgebetweenentities:syntactic,semantic,andpragmaticboundaries.Thesyntacticboundaryperspectiveisrootedintheinformationprocessingviewofthe rm(LawrenceandLorsch1967,Galbraith1973,Tushman1978).Thespanningofasyntacticboundaryempha-sizesthedevelopmentofacommon/sharedlanguagebetweenentitiesengagedinexchangetoenableaccessandinformationexchange.AccordingtoCarlile(2004,p.558),whenferencecommonanddependencieslexiconsuf cientlyoftheconsequencespeci estheatdif-the

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships266

boundary,primaryknowledgeconcerntheboundary

acrossisprovesunproblematic;the

it.oneofprocessingortransferring

However,thedevelopmentofacommonlanguageisanecessarybutnotsuf cientconditionforthetransferofinformationbetweendifferententities.Thedevelopmentofacommon/sharedmeaninghelpsspanthesemanticboundarybetweenentitiesengagedininformationexchange(Dougherty1990).Asharedorcommonmeaninghelpsovercomeanyinterpretivedifferencesthatmayexistattheboundary.Boundaryobjectsareawayofmanagingthetensionbetweendivergentviewpoints(BowkerandStar1999).Orga-nizationalentitiesthatdevelopsharedmeaningswitheachotherarebetterabletounderstandeachother’sneeds.Thisallowsenterprisestoexchangeinforma-tionmoreappropriatelyandadapttheirprocessesandstructurestosuitpartners’needs.Theydonotneedtoexpendcognitiveresourcesintranslatingandinterpretinginformationreceivedfromeachother(Malhotraetal.2005).The nalandhighestlevelofboundarythatcanimpedethetransferofknowledgebetweenentitiesisthepragmaticboundary.Spanningapragmaticbound-aryrequiresprovidinganadequatemeansforassess-ingvalueandthereforesharinginformationacrosstheboundaries.Carlile(2004,p.560)emphasizesthat“tocreatecommonintereststoshareandassessknowl-edgeacrossboundariesrequiressigni cantpracticalandpoliticaleffort.”Inourcontext,atthemostbasiclevel,SEBIsenablethespanningofthesyntacticboundarybetweensup-plychainpartners.SEBIsestablishasharedlanguagebetweenthepartners,whichhasthepotentialofincreasingtheinformation-processingcapacityofthepartners(Galbraith1973).Researchalsosuggeststhatquasi-open,processlinkageandinformationex-changeandmultilateralSEBIsarenotjustvehiclesforreducingtransactioncosts.Theyalsocreatenewcollaborativeopportunities(Premkumar2000,Gosainetal.2004).Asanexample,RosettaNetuserSTMicro-ElectronicsfoundthatintheprocessofimplementingtheRosettaNetPIPs,thecompanyanditscustomerswereabletodevelopgreater“intimacy,”andthisledtolonger-termrelationships.Thecompany’sITdirec-torsays,“Wehavebecomeanintegralpartofourcustomers’internalplanningsystemsandviewthisasInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSadistinctcompetitiveadvantage”(Peleg2004).Thus,theuseofSEBIscanreinforcecooperativemotiva-tions.Consequently,itismorelikelythatpartnerswillmoreeasilyprovideeachotherwithinformationthattheyotherwisewouldnot.Inaddition,withSEBIsthe owofinformationcanbelargelyautomated.Therefore,informationcanbeexchangedbetweensupplychainpartnerswithouttheneedforextensiveclari cationorneedtoconveyde nitionsorconstraints.Thebreadthandqualityofinformationexchangearealsolikelytoincreasewiththeuseofstandards.Inthismanner,SEBIscanbeconstruedasadigitaloptioncreationmechanismthatincreasestherichnessoftheinformationavailabletoanenterprisefromitspartners(Overbyetal.2006).TheuseofSEBIstoexchangeinformationwithasupplychainpartnercanalsobeconstruedasameansforanenterprisetobuild“identi cation”withacol-lective.Afterall,thepartnerenterprisemayalreadybeinvolvedinexchangeswithotherenterprisesusingSEBIs.Standardsalsocreatespilloversandnetworkexternalitiesthatbene tthecollective.Identifyingwiththecollectiveallowsanenterprisetorecognizetheopportunityforinformationexchangeandalsotoascribegreatervaluetotheinformation.Further,bycreatingnetworkeffects,SEBIsincreasetherangeofinformationthatmaybeaccessed(i.e.,throughthepartnersofanenterprise’spartners).Inessence,whenpartnersuseSEBIs,theycanintegratediverseknowl-edgeacrosstheirsupplychainpartnerships.Tosummarize,theuseofSEBIsenablesboundary-spanningmechanismsthatallowforCIEbetweensupplychainpartners.Inturn,CIEwithpartnersallowsenterprisestocreateknowledgebyintegrat-inginformationfromdiversepartners,andtorep-resentdifferencesanddependenciesinknowledgedomains(Carlile2004,Levina2005,Kelloggetal.2006)requiredtomutuallyadapttoeachother.There-fore,wehypothesizeamediatedimpactoftheuseofSEBIs:Hypothesis2.TheuseofSEBIspositivelyimpactsMAandadaptiveknowledgecreationinsupplychainsindirectlybyenablingCIEbetweenpartners.Malhotraetal.(2005)haveproposedthattheuseofSEBIsasaboundarymechanismhasanimpactonstructuringandinformationexchangecapacity

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSofinterorganizationalpartnerships.Standardinter-

facescanbeseenasimposingdesignrules(Brusoni

andPrencipe2006)thatassignfunctionstoenter-prises,identifyoperatingprinciples,andsetspeci -cationsthatdeterminehoworganizationscoevolve.

Standardsprovidecodi edspeci cationsthatpre-scriberulesofengagementamongcomponentsofa

system(GarudandKumaraswamy1995).Theuseof

interorganizationalstandardsrequiresenterprisesto rstmapandunderstandtheirend-to-endprocesses,

aswellasbecomeawareoftheirdependencieswithrespecttotheirpartnerenterprises.

Further,theuseofSEBIsrequirespartnerstoex-

pendresourcesupfronttoensurethattheirinternalsystemsandprocessesareadjustedtoleverageand

enableinterorganizationallinkages.Asanexample,in

itsRosettaNetimplementation,theSTMicroelectron-

icsimplementationteamdevotedapproximatelyfourmonthstode ningtherequiredprocessesandhow

theyweretobesupportedbytechnology,standards,

infrastructure,andadditionalplanningapplications

(Peleg2004).Theteamthende nedallthecollabora-tiveforecastingstandardinterfaces(PIPs)itwantedto

use,aswellastherelevantbusiness-to-business(B2B)

applications.Thislevelofeffortsignalsalong-term

commitmenttopartnershipandcreationof“common-

at-stake”(Carlile2002,2004).Consequently,SEBIscan

leadtoagreaterpropensityofpartnerstoengageinMA.

Cognitively,SEBIsallowenterprisestobuildcapac-

itytoexchangeinformationwithpartnersandas-

similatetheexchangedinformationtocreatenew

knowledge.SEBIscanin uencetheabsorptivecapac-

ityoftheenterprisesengagedininformation,ex-change(Malhotraetal.2005).Theuseofstandards

allowsenterprisestoacquireinformationfrompart-

nersandassimilateitwithoutuniquetranslation

andinterpretationrequirements.Also,byautomating

the owofroutinetransactioninformation,theuse

ofSEBIsallowsthehumanactorsinorganizationstoredirecttheircognitiveresourcestowardtrans-

formingandexploitingthecollaborativeinformation

exchangedwithpartners.Theenhancedabsorptive

capacityofenterprisesinvolvedinexchangeenables

themtocreateknowledgethatenablesthedevelop-

mentofdynamiccapabilitiesrequiredtoadapttotheirenvironment(ZahraandGeorge2002).Basedon267ourdiscussionofcognitiveandstructuralimpactofuseofSEBIs,wehypothesize:Hypothesis3.TheuseofSEBIshasadirectpositiveimpactonMAandadaptiveknowledgecreationinsupplychains.2.4.ControlVariablesAdaptiveinteractionpatternsinbusinesspartner-shipsarelikelytobein uencedbythedevelopmentofcooperativenormsbetweeninteractingentities.“Cooperativenormsre ectexpectationsthetwoexchangingpartieshaveaboutworkingtogethertoachievemutualandindividualgoalsjointly”(CannonandPerreault1999,p.443).Cooperativenormsassurethat“relationshipatmosphereisavailabletoshapeperceptionsofunfoldingeventsandsotheverynatureoftheongoinginteractionprocessesarefor-everformingadynamicandevernewbusinessrela-tionship”(Medlin2004,p.190).Therefore,inthisresearch,wewanttostudytheimpactofSEBIsoninformationexchangeandadaptivepatternsofsup-plychainpartnershipsaboveandbeyondthatofcooperativenorms.Inaddition,wealsocontrolforrelationshiptimeofsupplychainpartnerships.Rela-tionshiptimehasbeenarguedtobeanimportantdeterminantoftheevolutionoffocusofpartnerships,fromeconomicexchangeinteractionstoadaptationinteractions(Medlin2004).Figure1presentstheresearchmodelaroundwhichthefourhypotheseshavebeenderived.Inthenextsection,wedescribetheresearchmethodologyand eldcontextusedtotestthesehypotheses.3.ResearchFieldContextMethodologyand3.1.FieldContextandDataCollectionThisresearchstudywasconductedinthecontextoftheRosettaNetB2Binitiative.RosettaNet()isaconsortiumofmajorIT,electroniccomponent,semiconductormanufacturing,telecom-municationsequipment,andlogisticsenterprisesworkingtocreateandimplementindustrywide,opene-businessprocessstandardsforsupplychaincollab-oration.Thestudybuildsontheauthors’two-yearinvolvementwiththeRosettaNetConsortium.Inthe

supply chain management

268Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSFigure1ResearchModel

Characteristicsofadaptive

supply-chainpartnerships

preliminarystage,weconducted1-to1.5-hourin-

personandtelephoneinterviewswith35keyexe-

cutives(purchasingmanagers,customerrelationship

managers,supplychainmanagers,ITmanagers,and

distributionmanagers)in16enterprisesintheIT

industrydemand-sidesupplychain(sevenhard-

waremanufacturers/softwarepublishers,onelogis-

ticsprovider,fourwholesaledistributors,andfour

retailers).Theseinterviewshelpedusoperational-

izekeyconstructsandfurthergroundourtheoreti-

calarguments.Themaindatacollectionwasbased

onamultiple-sectionsurveyquestionnairethatwas

pretestedandre nedforclaritywithsupplychain

managersatamajorcomputermanufacturer(notpart

ofoursample)andexpertsataconsultingenterprise.

RepresentativesofeachenterpriseontheRosetta-

Netboard(executivechampions)helpedusiden-

tifytheirsupplychainpartners(restrictedtothree

supplychaintiers—manufacturers,distributors,and

retailers).Thisresultedinidentifying91partner-

ships(focalenterprisewithsupplychainpartner).The

RosettaNetchampionsateachenterpriseweremailed

surveysforeachoftheirpartnerships.Theywere

askedtodrilldownwithintheirenterpriseand ndthespeci cexecutive(“keyinformant”)responsibleforday-to-dayfunctioningofthepartnershipunderinvestigation.The“keyinformant”(onepersupplychainrelationship)assignedvarioussectionsofthesurveytobecompletedbymanagersmostlikelytoprovideaccurateresponsesforalineofquestioning.Forinstance,IT-relatedquestionswerecompletedbytheITmanager,marketingissuesrelatedquestionswere lledbythemanagersinthatarea,andsoon.Forquestionsthatwouldrequireaconvergentviewfrommultipleareasintheenterprise,thekeyinfor-mantwasaskedtoholdameetingto llinthosequestions.Finally,thesectionthatmeasuredMAandadaptiveknowledgecreationinsupplychainpartner-shipswascompleteddirectlybythekeyinformant.ThecompletedsurveyswerecollectedandreturnedtousbytheRosettaNetchampionateachenterprise.Wereceivedresponsesfrom13enterprisesthatcov-ered41of91pairsidenti edintheearlierphase.Eachkeyinformantinoursamplewasdistinctandwasresponsibleforresponsesforasinglerelationshiponly.Althoughwehaddesiredadyadicperspective(bothenterprisesengagedinapartnershiprespond-ingtothesurvey),thedif cultiesindatacollection

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMS269ledustofocusonobtainingatleastaone-sidedper-

spectiveofeachrelationship.

Aconcernwiththisapproachwasthatone-sidedresponsesforsupplychainpartnershipscouldleadtosomebiases.Afewchecksandbalancesprevented

thisfrombeingaseverelimitation.Wepickedthespe-ci cpartnershipsthataparticularenterprisewould

reporton,ratherthanleavingittotherespondents

tochoose.Thisensuredthatpartnershipsinvolvingallmajorplayers(largecompanies)intheITindus-

trywerecoveredthroughtheresponseofoneoftheirpartners.

Oursecondconcernwasthataparticulartierofthe

supplychain(manufacturer,distributor,orretailer)mightwieldgreaterpowerormarket-makingin u-

ence.Ourinitialinterviewssuggestedthat,intermsof

day-to-daytransactions,distributorsintheITsupply

chainhadsigni cantin uence(becausetherewereonly vemajorplayersatthistierwhiletherewere

severalhundredmajorplayersinthemanufacturer

andretailertiers).Hence,weensuredthatwereceivedaperspectiveoneachofthedistributorsinoursam-ple( veintotal)fromeitheramanufactureroraretailer.Additionally,wealsomadesurethateachofthedistributorsprovidedaperspectiveonarelation-shipwitheitheramanufactureroraretailer.Thiswasdonetogetcompletecoverageofthedistributortierinthesupplychain.Afterthedatacollection,weconductedaprelim-inaryanalysistoseeifthedataonpartnershipsthatinvolveddistributorswassystematicallydiffer-entfromthatforothertiers(manufacturer-distributorandretailer-distributorcomparedwithmanufacturer-retailer).Nosuchbiaseswereevidentfromthisanaly-sis(i.e.,therewerenosigni cantdifferencesinmeansofthetwotypesofrelationshipdyads).3.2.ScaleDevelopmentTheitemsusedtooperationalizeeachofthecon-structsinthisstudyareprovidedinAppendixA.ThesourcesofitemsforeachofthescalesareshowninTable1.

Table1ConstructDe nitionsandScaleDevelopment

De nitionOriginofitemscales

ZaheerandVenkatraman(1994);Mastenetal.(1991)

Cooper(1979);Dougherty(1990) Fieldinterviews

FieldinterviewswithITindustrysupplychainexecutives

Miller(1996)

HeideandMiner(1992);HeideandJohn(1992) Interviewsandsurveypretest

ConceptualizationbasedonRosettaNetinitiativesResearchconstructCharacteristicsofadaptivesupplychainpartnershipsMATheextenttowhichsupplychainpartnersadjusttheirprocessandproceduralandstructuralparameterstosuiteachother’sneedsandrequirementsAdaptiveknowledgecreationAnenterprise’sabilitytoleveragetheknowledgeresourcesofitspartnertocreatetheknowledgerequiredtoadapttomarketenvironmentCIEBreadthofinformationexchangeQualityofinformationexchangePrivilegedcommunicationTheexchangeofinformationcoveringdiverseareasrelatedtointerlinkedbusinessactivitiesbetweenanenterpriseanditssupplychainpartnerThetimeliness,accuracy,relevance,andvalueofinformationexchangedbetweenanenterpriseanditssupplychainpartnerTheexchangeofcon dentialandexclusiveinformationbetweenanenterpriseanditssupplychainpartnersthatprovidestheenterpriseauniqueperspectiveFacilitatingmechanismSEBIsTheuseofcommonspeci cationsorformats(similartothoseusedwithotherpartners)fortheexchangeofinformationandlinkingofprocessesattheinterfacebetweenanenterpriseanditssupplychainpartner

Expectationsthatsupplychainpartnershaveaboutworkingtogethertoachieveandmutualandindividualgoalsjointly

ThedurationofthepartnershipbetweentwoenterprisesinthesupplychainControlvariablesCooperativenormsRelationshiptime Noordweiretal.(1990);HeideandMiner(1992) Singleitemtimemeasure(inmonths)

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships270

4.AnalysisandResults

4.1.MeasurementValidation

WeusedPLSGraph3.0fordataanalysis.PLShas

anadvantageoverotherstructuralmodeling(SEM)

methodologiesinthatitdoesnotrequiredistributions

benormalorknown(JoreskogandWold1982).Other

structuralestimationtechniqueslikeLISRELassume

multivariatenormaldistributionorWishartdistribu-

tion,butPLStakesanydistributionthatismani-

festthoughmeasurementandcalculatesthebestset

ofpredictiveweightsthroughaseriesofiterations.

AnotheradvantageofusingPLSisthatithasless

stringentsamplesizerequirements.Techniquessuch

asLISRELusechi-squareestimatesfor“goodness-of-

t”indicators.Unfortunately,chi-squareestimatesare

extremelysensitivetosamplesize.The tindicesin

PLSaredescriptivestatisticsandindicateonlythe

amountofvarianceaccountedforinthemodelbythe

speci edrelationships.

Ournextchoicewaswhethertheconstructswould

bemodeledasre ectiveorformative.Inmakingthis

choice,wefollowedtheguidelineslaidoutbyJarvis

etal.(2003).Constructsshouldbemodeledasfor-

mativeunderthefollowingconditions:(1)indicators

areviewedasthede ningcharacteristicofthecon-

struct,(2)changesintheindicatorscauseachange

intheconstruct(andnotviceversa),(3)indicators

donotneedtonecessarilycovary,(4)indicatorsare

notnecessarilyinterchangeable,and(5)indicatorscan

bedrawnfromdifferentnomologicalnetwork(Jarvis

etal.2003,Patnayakunietal.2006).Basedonthese

criteria,alltheconstructsinthisstudyweremod-

eledasformativeconstructs.Speci cally,weused

indexscoresofassociateditemstoestablishamea-

sureforeachformativeconstruct.Wehadtwochoices

tocomputetheindexscore—factorscoresormean

valueofitems.Although,formativeconstructsare

notrequiredtoexhibitinternalconsistency(Jarvis

etal.2003,Raietal.2006,Petteretal.2007),the

itemswerestronglycorrelated.Therefore,wechose

themeanvaluetocomputetheindex,whichwould

naturallycorrelatehighlywithfactorscoresorother

alternateweightingschemesfortheitems(Rozeboom

1979).Moreover,Hairetal.(1987)recommendthe

useofunitmeanscoresforreplicabilityandeaseof

rmationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSSimilarly,breadthofinformationexchange(CIE1),qualityofinformationexchange(CIE2),andprivi-legedinformationexchange(CIE3)weremodeledasformativeconstructs.CIEwasmodeledasaformativeconstructcomprisedofthreeindicators:CIE1,CIE2,andCIE3.Theindexscoresforthesethreeindicatorswerealsoderivedbasedontheunitmeansofassoci-ateditems(seeAppendixAforitems).Webeganourdataanalysisbyassessingthemea-surementpropertiesofconstructs.Weconductedapseudocon rmatoryfactoranalysis(asPLSdoesnotprovidecrossloadingofitemsonconstructsotherthanthosetheyarehypothesizedtoload)followingtheprocedureoutlinedbyKarahannaetal.(1999)andPatnayakunietal.(2006).Ameanfactorscoreforeachconstructwascomputedfromtheitemsthatwerehypothesizedtore ecttheconstruct.Thenalltheitemswerecorrelatedwitheachoftheconstructs.Anindicator’scorrelationwithitshypothesizedcon-structcanbeconstruedas“loading,”whileitscorre-lationwithotherconstructsis“cross-loading.”Eachoftheitemsexhibitsahighercorrelationwithitsownconstructthanotherconstructsprovidingevidencefordiscriminantvalidity(Table2).Tofurthertestfordis-criminantvalidityofourconstructs,weexaminedtheaveragevarianceextracted(AVE)foreachconstructandcompareditwithcorrelationsbetweenconstructs(FornellandLarcker1981).AscanbeseenfromTable2ItemConstructstoOwnConstructCorrelationvs.CorrelationswithOtherConstructItemAKCMASTDCIECNAdaptivecreationknowledgeAKC1AKC200.220.25AKC30.820.200.210.130.09AKC40.0.68.84780.290.350.190.230.320.030.070.160.050.18MutualadaptationMA1MA20.260.330.180.04MA30.4500.130.0.80.91810.360.370.190.010.100.33UsebusinessofstandardinterfaceselectronicSTD1STD20.160.40STD30.200.200.4100.210.210.280.0.85.93840.340.200.410.37CollaborativeexchangeinformationCIE1 CIE2 0.270.13CIE3 0.060.090.080.250.130.140.0600.360.0.91.69830.020.11CooperativenormCN1CN20.140.16CN30.180.180.100.240.060.210.330.420.1200.200.0.87.8689 Indexcomputedasmeanscoresofassociateditems.

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSTable3MeasurementPropertiesofConstructs

ConstructMean(SD)12345

1.Adaptivecreationknowledge 40 2798 0.77

2.Mutualadaptation 31 9193 0.330.84

ebusinessofstandardinterfaceselectronic 51 8662 0.210.420.87

4.Collaborativeexchangeinformation 51 0108 0.250.150.310.80

5.Cooperativenorm 41 6512 0.240.170.400.130.87

Note.SquarerootofAVEisshownalongthediagonal.

Table3,theAVEforeachconstructwashigherthantheconstructs’correlationwithotherconstructsasrequiredforvalidatingdiscriminantvalidity(Barclayetal.1995).Table3alsoprovidesthemeanandstan-darddeviationvaluesforallconstructs.

monMethodBiasAssessmentWetriedtominimizetheconcernofcommonmethodbiasbyrequiringtheRosettaNetchampionsateachenterprisetodrilldownwithintheirenterpriseand ndtheexecutive(“keyinformant”)responsiblefortheday-to-dayfunctioningofthepartnershipunderinvestigation(adifferentkeyinformantforeachrela-tionshipifmultiplesurveyswere lledbyacom-pany).Thekeyinformantthenassignedvarioussectionsofthesurveytobecompletedbymanagerswhotheyfeltweremostlikelytoprovideaccurateresponsesforalineofquestioning.So,ineffect,differentrespondentswereassignedto lloutdifferentportionsofourquestionnaire.How-ever,therewasstillsomeconcernaboutthepossi-bilitythatasinglerespondentmayhavecompletedthewholesurvey.Toallaysuchconcern,wecon-ductedtheHarmon’sone-factortest.Anexploratoryfactoranalysisrevealeda ve-factorstructure(Eigenvalue>1)whereallitemsdidnotloadonthe rstfactorandthe rstfactordidnotexplainmostofthevarianceinthedata(～40%oftheoverall76%varianceexplained).Therefore,theconcernaboutcommonmethodbiasinthedatacollecteddoesnotseemtobeanissue.Further,notallthehypothe-sizedpathsweresigni cantinthemodel,andthesigni cantpathsvaryintheirlevelofsigni cance.271Therefore,thecommonmethodbiasseemstobeevenlessofaconcern(Patnayakunietal.2006).4.3.MediationAnalysisOurresearchmodel(Figure1)proposesmediatedimpacts.Therefore,wefollowedtheprocessoutlinedbyPatnayakunietal.(2006)andSubramani(2004)totestformediationeffects.Westartedoutbycompar-ingourresearchmodel,whichproposesadirecteffectandmediatedeffectoftheuseofstandards,againstacompetingmodelthatproposesfullmediation(i.e.,theeffectoftheuseofSEBIsisfullymediatedthroughCIE).Theaimofsuchanalysisistostatisticallytestwhetherthedirecteffectoftheindependentvariables(IVs)explainsadditionalvarianceinthedependentvariable(DV)aboveandbeyondthemediatedeffectsthroughthemediatingvariable(MV).Theproposedfullmodel(directandmediatedeffects—partialmedi-ation)canbecomparedagainstthenestedmodel(fullmediation—mediatedeffectsonly)statisticallyusingPLSresults(Patnayakunietal.2006,Chinetal.2003,Subramani2004).AscanbeseeninTable4,theR2foradaptiveknowledgecreation(DV1 andMA(DV2 inthepartiallymediatedmodels(modelsthatincludedirecteffectsofuseofstandardinterfaces)were0.245and0.287,respectively,comparedwithR2of0.067and0.199inthealternatenested(fullymediated)models.Thisdifferentialeffectinpartialandcompletemedia-tioncanbefurtherinvestigatedbyaproceduresimilartostepwiseregression(Chinetal.2003,Patnayakunietal.2006).Apseudo-FstatisticcanbecalculatedbyusingthedifferenceinR2betweenthefullmodelandthenestedmodel.3Thef2statistic(calculatedbasedonthedifferenceinR2betweenfullandnestedmodel)forthetwodependentvariables(DVofSEBIs(directpaths)1andDV2 ,withrespecttouseis0.06and0.304.Therefore,thepseudo-Fstatisticis2.07(notsigni cantat0.05level)and10.34(signi cantat0.05level).Thisanalysissuggeststhattheaddi-tionaldirectpathfromtheuseofSEBIs(STD)toMAexplainsadditionalvarianceandaddssigni cantlytotheexplanatorypowerofthemodel.However,thereisalackofevidencesupportingadirectrelationship3F=f2 n k 1 ,with1, n k degreesoffreedom.n=samplesize,k=numberofconstructsinthemodel,andf2= R2partial

mediation R2fullmediation / 1 R2partialmediation).

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272Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMS

Table4

DirectpathTestforMediation—Fullvs.NestedModelAnalysisGraphicmodel

R2fullmodel0.245R2nestedmodel0 199f2value0 06Pseudo-F 1 35 2 07

STD→AKC(0.235 ,t=1 188)

STD→MA(0.518 ,t=3 642)0.2870 070 30410 34

Signi cantatp<0 05level.

betweentheuseofSEBIs(STD)andadaptiveknowl-

edgecreation(AKC).Inotherwords,thereisadirect

effectofuseofSEBIsonMA,andthereisalsoan

indirecteffectmediatedthroughcollaborativeinfor-

mationexchange.Ontheotherhand,theeffectofthe

useofSEBIsonAKCisfullymediatedthroughcol-

laborativeinformationexchange(CIE).

Further,wealsoassessedthemediationeffectof

CIEonthetwoDVs(AKCandMA).Todothis,

weusedthepathcoef cientsandstandarderrorsbe-

tweentheuseofSEBIsandtheMV(CIE)andbetween

CIEandtheDVsobtainedfromthePLS(Patnayakuni

etal.2006,HoyleandKenney1999,Subramani2004).

Themagnitudeofmediationistheproductofpath

coef cientsbetweentheIVandMVandbetweenMV

andDVs.Themagnitudeofthetwomediationeffects

is0.103(STD CIE AKC)and0.087(STD CIE

MA).Thez-statistic4forthetwopathsis2.06and1.98

(signi cantatthep<0 05level).

Thez-scoreiscalculatedusinganapproximationforthestandard

errorofthemediatedpath.Theapproximatedstandarderroris

222222computedusingtheformulasqrt p1s2+p2s1+s1s2 ,wherep1isthe

pathcoef cientofthepathfromIVtoMV,p2isthepathcoef -

cientfromMVtotheDV,ands1,s2arethecorrespondingstandard

deviations.44.4.StructuralModelThe nalresultsofthePLSanalysisareshowninFig-ure2.WeevaluatedthestructuralmodelbasedontheR2valuesandstructuralpathsforeachoftheendogenousconstructs.AscanbeseenfromFigure2,themodelexplainsasubstantialamountofvarianceintheDVs:MA(R2=0 28)andAKC(R2=0 24)betweensupplychainpartners.Thesigni canceofthepathswasobtainedthroughthebootstrappingproce-dureinPLS.Theresults(Figure2)providesupportformostofthehypothesizedpathsintheresearchmodelshowninFigure1.ThereissupportforHypothesis1,asthepathsfromCIEtoMA( =0 33,p<0 05)andAKC( =0 32,p<0 05)arestatisticallysigni cant.TheuseofSEBIshasapositiveeffectonCIE( =0 32,p<0 05),providingsupportofHypothesis2.Hypothe-sis3ispartiallysupported,astheuseofSEBIshasasigni cantdirecteffectonMA( =0 53,p<0 05)butdoesnothaveastatisticallysigni cantdirecteffectonAKC( =0 24).Asdiscussedearlier,theMAshowsthattheeffectoftheuseofSEBIsonmutualadapta-tionbetweensupplychainpartnersispartiallymedi-atedandtheeffectonAKCisfullymediatedthroughCIE(i.e.,thereisnodirecteffect).ThepathsfromthecontrolvariablestotheDVswerenotsigni cant.

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMS273Figure2ResultsofPathAnalysis

0.28

0.24

Notes.Allsolidpathsshownaresigni cantatthep<0 05level.Thedottedpathisnotsigni cantatthep<0 05level. Signi cantatp<0 05level.5.OurresultsdemonstratethattheuseofSEBIscan

indeedin uenceadaptivenessofsupplychainpart-

nerships.Hypotheses1and2aresupported,while

Hypothesis3ispartiallysupported.CIEbetweensup-

plychainpartnersmediatestheeffectoftheuseof

SEBIsonadaptivenessofsupplychainpartnerships.

TheresultsalsoshowthattheuseofSEBIshasbotha

directandindirectassociationwithMAandanindi-

rectassociationwithAKC(mediatedthroughCIE).

Incombination,theseresultshaveseveralimplica-

tionsforunderstandingadaptivesupplychainpart-

nershipsindigitallyenabledextendedenterprisesand

thedesignofSEBIs.

5.1.UnderstandingAdaptiveSupplyChain

PartnershipsThroughtheUseofSEBIs

Thestudyhasidenti edandarticulatedtwodiffer-

entaspectsofadaptivesupplychainpartnershipsin

thedigitallyenabledextendedenterprise.MArequires

focusingattentiononconnectingtwodisparateenter-

prisesusing exiblestructuringmechanisms.OntheImplicationsoftheStudyotherhand,AKCemphasizesmindfulnessoflearning-relatedgoalsintherelationship.Wehaveuncoveredtwounexpected ndingsinexplainingthetwosalientcharacteristicsofadaptivesupplychainpartnerships.First,althoughweexpectedSEBIstohaveadirecteffectonbothdimensions,wefoundthatattainingthelearning-relatedoutcomeiscontingentonCIEintheextendedenterprise.Broad-ranging,privileged(toalargeextent),andhigh-quality(toalesserextent)informationexchangewiththesupplychainpartnersisthebasisfordeeperunderstandingaboutthemar-ketenvironmentsbyanenterprise.Themoretypesofinformation(range)areexchanged,themorecom-pletepictureaboutthemarketenvironmentemergesforthereceivingpartner.Similarly,privilegedinfor-mationmaybemoretrustedandmayrequirelesscognitiveefforttodigesttounderstandthemarketdynamic.Fromtheresult,italsoseemsthatrangeandspeci cnatureofinformationexchangeismorevalu-ablethanthequalityofinformation.TheresultalsosuggeststhatwhentheuseofSEBIsresultsinCIE,acommonunderstandingisestab-lishedthatcanthenbeusedasaspringboardforfur-

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships274

therAKC.Also,withoutuseofstandardinterfaces,

thepartnersmaybefavorablydisposedtoexchange

broader-rangeandprivilegedinformationwitheach

other(exhibitbonding),buttheyfaceobstaclesincon-

nectingtootherstodrawoneachothers’knowledge

bases(lackbridging).Bridgingandbondingareinex-

tricablyintertwinedintheireffectsonadaptiveness

ofsupplychainpartnershipsinthedigitallyenabled

extendedenterprisewhenSEBIsareinvolved.

5.2.BridgingandBondingThroughSEBIsin

theDigitallyEnabledExtendedEnterprise

Therearetwoopposingviewsonhowanorganiza-

tion’slearningandadaptationarein uencedbythe

networkinwhichitisembedded(Kraatz1998):the

strengthofweaktiesandthestrengthofstrongties.

Theliteratureonstrengthofweaktiesholdstheview

thatweaklytiedentitiesinanetworkaremorelikely

tohavenonoverlappingknowledgebasesthatpro-

videdistinctivevalue(Burt1982;Granovetter1973,

1982).Basedonthelogicofrequisitevariety,thelarger

thevarietyoftiestheenterprisehas,thebetteroffitis

intermsoflearningandadaptation.TheuseofSEBIs

byenterprisesinsupplychainsmakesiteasytolink

tonewpartnerswhentheneedarises.Inthisway,the

useofSEBIsbyenterpriseswillhelpthemcapitalize

onthestrengthofweakties.

However,atthesametime,theliteratureonthe

strengthofstrongtiessuggeststhatstrongtiesenable

betteradaptation(Kraatz1998).Suchtiesexhibithigh

interactivitybetweenenterprisesandhighinterdepen-

dence(Granovetter1982,Krackhardt1992).Although

thisviewdoesnotrefutetheclaimthatstrongerties

mayreducethenumberofinformationsources,it

doeshoweverpointtoseveralbene tsofstrongties

thatovercomethisdrawback(Kraatz1998).Strong

tiesencouragethecreationofhigh-capacityinfor-

mationlinksbetweenenterprisesandallowsthem

toshareinsightsandexperienceswitheachother

(Kraatz1998).

Our ndingssuggestthattheuseofSEBIsbetween

partnersletsthemleveragestrongtiesbyenabling

high-capacity(broader-rangeandmoreprivileged)

informationlinks.Thesharedunderstandingcreated

throughtheSEBIsalsoleadstobetterunderstand-

ingofthespeci cinformationneedsofpartners.At

thesametime,theveryactofadoptingandusingInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSstandard(but exible)interfacesbuildsastrongbondbetweenpartners,motivatingtheirMA.TheuseofSEBIsletsanenterprise’spartnerknowthattheenter-priseisactinginthepartner’sbestinterestandthatthepartnerisnotlockedintoapartnershipbyadopt-ingandusingSEBIs.Thus,standardized(yet exible)interfacesbeingdevelopedandpromotedbyinstitu-tionssuchasRosettaNetreconcilethestrengthsofweakandstrongties.Therefore,theuseofSEBIscanfacilitatebridgingandbondingwithoutbindinginthedigitallyenabledextendedenterprise.TheuseofSEBIsactsasabridgingmechanismandallowspart-nerstobringperspectivesfromdifferentpartnershipsthatenrichtheCIEbetweenpartners.Thus,theuseofSEBIsisadual-purposemechanismofenablingnet-workeffectsintransactionalexchange,whileitmayalsosignalthewillingnesstocollaborateandadapttotheneedsofthepartner.5.3.DesigningandEffectivelyDeployingSEBIsOurstudysuggeststheimportanceofnurturingtheCIEtodevelopanunderstandingofhowtoadapttochange.Thisrequiresaninvestmentinbuildingawarenessofhowcompetencecanbeprocuredfrompartners(throughsharingofbroad-rangingandpriv-ilegedinformation)andblendedwithorganizationalexpertise.Italsorequiresafoundationallevelofknowledgetobeabletoseekoutandevaluatepart-nerskillsandtheabsorptivecapacitytoassimilateit(CohenandLevinthal1990,Malhotraetal.2005).Theroleofinformationsystemsincapturinganddissemi-natingknowledgeandsupportingitsinterpretationisimportant,especiallywhenabroad-rangeofinforma-tionissharedwithpartners.Suchknowledge-creationfocusedsystemsneedtobedesignedto exiblyrep-resentknowledgeandtoallowemployeestoiden-tifytheirassumptionsaboutpartnersandenvisiontheimpactofchangesinthevaluenetworkinwhichtheirenterpriseresides(Malhotraetal.2005).InadditiontotheseprerequisitesfordesigningandeffectivelydeployingSEBIsinthecontextofthedigitallyenabledextendedenterprise,thestudyhasimplicationsforthetightnessofspeci cationforthefunctionalrequirementsofSEBIs.Theuseofstan-dardsalsoprovidesstructureforinformationex-changestobecodedandprovidesagrammarforinformationtobeexpressed.Tosustainbroad-ranging

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSandmoreprivilegedinformationexchange,standardspeci cationsshouldallowforsomedegreeoffree-domwhileenforcingtemplates.Thus,generativetem-platescouldconsistofstructuralspeci cationsofinformationexchangeandprocesssequences,butleavethespeci cdataelementsandactivitiestobeselectedfromanadmissiblesetofcontingentpossibil-ities.Forinstance,thehigh-levelspeci cationsmightlayoutpartlyspeci eddocumentstobeexchangedtocompleteapurchaseprocesswithasupplier.Thedetailedschemainformationforadocumentforapar-ticularrelationshipcouldbepartofasupplier-speci cdocumenttypede nition,whichwouldenablethedocumentstobecompletelyspeci ed.Thisextensibleandquasi-openspeci cationofSEBIsisacriticalele-menttobridgingandbondingwithoutbindinginthedigitallyenabledextendedenterprisecontext.

5.4.LimitationsandUnansweredQuestionsFinally,wehavetoacknowledgesomelimitationsofourstudy.Whilefocusingonpartnershipsasaunitofanalysis,wedidnotdirectlyaccountfornetworkeffects,suchastheeffectofotherpartnershipsonthefocalpartnership.Inanetwork,partnershipsaremoldedandin uencedbasedonotherpartnerships.Veryoftenpoliticalanglesareatplayinsuchnet-works,whichfurtherimpactsvariouspartnerships.Itwouldhavebeenidealforustoeithercontrolfornetworkeffectsortofullytakethemintoaccountandnotonapartialbasis.Unfortunately,thewaythedatawerecollectedandanalyzedpreventedusfromdoingso.Thisresearchhastobeextendedtostudytheimpactofthenetworkonthewholewithinwhichdiversesupplychainsexist.Suchstudiescanusenet-workanalysismethodologiestoanswerthefollowingquestions:Areenterprisesthatexchangeinformationwithseveraldiverseplayersinasupplychainbetterabletoexchangeandassimilatericherinformation?Doesanenterprise’sdiversi edportfolioofpartner-shipsimpactthenatureofinformationheexchangeswithhispartners?Howarerelationshipportfoliosandnetworkbene tsimpactedbytheuseofSEBIs?Byobtainingdataonallpossiblepartnerships,the ndingsfromdyadicanalysiscanbeextendedtothenetworkasawhole.Futureresearchcanalsovali-dateour ndingsinotherindustrieswithlargersam-plesizes.Itispossiblethatsomeoftherelationships275thatwerefoundtobenotstatisticallysigni cantwerethatwaybecauseofthelimitedsamplesizeusedinthisstudy.Itisalsoimportanttoclarifytheimplica-tionsofthemannerinwhichweconceptualizeandmeasuretheuseofSEBIs.WeonlytreatSEBIsasanemergentphenomenaandmeasurevarianceintheextenttowhichenterprisedyadsconformordeviatefromthespeci cationsfortheirotherpartnerships.Thisdoesnotshedlightontheprocessbywhichsuchastatewasaccomplished.Wealsohavenotdistin-guishedbetweenanexplicitadoptionofformalstan-dardsoraninformalstructuringthatoccursovertimegivingrisetoaSEBI.Futureresearchcanuseaprocessmethodologytobetterunderstandtheimplicationsofboththesepathways.Finally,weacknowledgethatthereareseveralothersigni cantfactorsthatcanimpactCIEbetweenpartners.Futureresearchshouldfocusonexplor-ingthepolitical(powerasymmetriesinpartnerships),social(human-to-humaninteractions),andtechnolog-ical(howlongSEBIshavebeenusedbypartners)impactonCIE.6.WhileConclusiontherehasbeenconsiderableresearchonunder-standingthedriversofdynamicvaluecreationattheenterpriselevel(e.g.,Teeceetal.1997,EisenhardtandMartin2000,KingandTucci2002),therehasnotbeenasmuchexaminationofthecapabilitiesandprocessesneededtodrivevaluecreationininter-enterprisearrangements(DuystersandHeimeriks2002),andevenlesssointhecaseofthedigitallyenabledextendedenterprise.Thisstudyhasattemptedtoshiftthefocustowardpartnershipsthatadigitallyenabledextendedenterpriseisembeddedinandhowtheycanbeenabledtoregeneratecompetitiveadvantageunderconditionsofrapidchange.Intheirstudyofproductinnovation,BrownandEisenhardtfoundthatenterpriseswithsuccessfulproductportfolioswerethosethatblendedlimitedstructurewithexten-sivecommunication.Theyfoundrhythmictransitionsfromoneprojecttoanothercapturedbythefollow-inganalogy:“Successfulmanagersarelike‘Tarzan’5—theyswingonthecurrentvine,lookingforthenext,andmakingtheswitchbetweenthetwo”(1997,p.7).5Tarzanisa ctionalliterarycharacterwhosuccessfullycopedwith

theperilsandconstraintsofthecomplexjungleenvironment.

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnerships276

Ourstudyadvancessimilarideasfordigitally

enabledextendedenterprisesinjointlytransitioning

throughchangesinbusinessconditions.Weshow

thatSEBIscanprovidethestructureatenterprise

boundariestoallowpartner-relatedknowledgetobe

representedandtransformed.Enterprisesmaythen

proceedfromthisexternalspeci cationanddesign

theirinternalprocesses.Thisensuresthatthatchange

proceeds“outside-in,”triggeredbychangesatthe

interfacesofenterprisesinthevaluenetwork,result-

inginconditionswhereenterprisesareonlypar-

tiallyembeddedintheirvaluenetworks.Wehave

shownthattheuseoftheseprocessandinformation

exchangeinterfacespositivelyimpactsMA(acoordi-

nationgoal)aswellasAKC(alearninggoal).The

useofsecond-generationSEBIscanindeedbelever-

agedtobuildadaptivesupplychainpartnershipsin

thecontextofdigitallyenabledextendedenterprises.

AsnewformsandgenerationsofSEBIsemerge

withricherextensibilitiesthatareenabledthrough

newarchitectures(suchasservice-orientedarchitec-

tures,real-time“publishandsubscribe”architectures,

andmultimediainstantmessagingprotocols),we

anticipatethattheuseofSEBIswillfurtherenhance

adaptivesupplychainpartnerships.Tarzanwillhave

evenmorewaystoswingonhisvinesandbridgeand

bondwiththerestofthejungle.

AcknowledgmentsThepaniesauthorsthankMr.FadiChehade

authorsin

manuscriptalsothethankRosettaNetProfessorConsortiumand

ArunRaiforexecutivesatcom-

fortheirhelpinginsights.The

bamurthy,throughseveralphases,andProfessorsre neV.the

forRituAgarwal,BobZmud,andM.S.KrishnanSam-

Workshop.theircommentsandsuggestionsattheISRSpecialIssue

AppendixA.ConstructScales

MutualInageyourAdaptationrelationshipwith

other’s1.of partnercompany whatpercent-

productsandservicesarecustomizedtosuiteach

other’s2. needs?inventory(MA1)procedureswerechangedtosuiteach

other’s3. needs?(MA2)

needs?delivery(MA3)procedureswerechangedtosuiteach

[1=NoneofThemto7=AllofThem]InformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSAdaptiveWorkingKnowledgeCreationintentions1. helpedwith partnercompany has ofyouryoucompetitors.betterunderstand(AKC1)thecapabilitiesandchannel2. helpedyoubetterunderstandtheevolvingrolesofroles3. helpedplayers.you(AKC2)learnhowtoperformnewcesses4.in theledchannel.yourcompany(AKC3)(additional)mancelinkedofthechanneltochannelonthepartnerstoanalyzewhole.to(AKC4)improveandredesigntheperfor-pro-[1=StronglyDisagreeto7=StronglyAgree]CollaborativeInformationExchangeBreadthofInformationExchangeuct1.orExtentservice-relatedtowhichyouexchangedetailsofupcomingprod-promotion2.Extenttowhichchangesyouwithexchange partnercompany .capitalandmarketingplans,long-termfutureproductionplanssuchplans,ascompanyinvestments,andcapacityutilizationwith market3.Extent .partnerdemandtowhichtrendsandyouforecastsexchangewithinformation relatedtoshifts4.Extenttowhichyouexchangeinformationpartnercompanyondemand .companyandchangesincustomerpreferenceswith partnerto5. .droppingchangesExtent partnerofintopartnersupplywhichcompanies,chainyoustructureexchangeinformationrelatedmerger,,suchandasalliances,additionorneeded6.Extentcompanytowhich .withyouexchangeprocess partnertocompanysupportchanges .inproductfeaturesorvolumesinformationwith[1=NotAtAllto7=VeryFrequently]QualityHow partnerwouldofInformationyourateExchangetheinformationexchangedwithinformation1. relevancycompany intermsofits exchangedtoyourwithbusinessothersimilarneeds,comparedwithwith2. valueaddedtoyourbusinessneeds,partners?rmation timeliness,exchangedcomparedwithwithothersimilarpartners?exchanged4.other itssimilarwithcompleteness,partners?informationexchangedothersimilarcomparedpartners?withinformation[1=Worseto7=Better]Privilegedvide1.nessproprietaryInourInformationrelationshipExchangeinformationwithif wepartnerfeelitcompanycanhelp ,ourwepro-con dential2.partner.busi-

Inourrelationshipwith partnercompany ,

rmationifwefeelitcanhelpourwebusinessshare

supply chain management

Malhotra,Gosain,andElSawy:LeveragingSEBIstoEnableAdaptiveSupplyChainPartnershipsInformationSystemsResearch18(3),pp.260–279,©2007INFORMSinformation3.Inourrelationship

sources.witheachotherwiththat partnerisnotcompanyavailable from,weshareother

mation4.In

perspectiveexchangeourrelationshiphelpsuswith partnercompany ,theinfor-

own.thatneitherofprovideuscouldeachhaveotherdevelopedwithauniqueonour

[1=StronglyDisagreeto7=StronglyAgree]

Use

linkedpartner1.ofExtentStandard

companytowhichElectronicBusinessInterfaces(STD)

arethesimilarbusinesstoprocessinterfaceswith

procedures.withotherchannelpartners—inthetermsprocessofinterfacesrulesand

reporting,2.Extent(STD1)

toryproducttowhichinformationexchanged(e.g.,sales

converted/translatedinformation,etc.)information,with partnerproductcompanyavailability, inven-

(STD2)tobeinterpretedbyyourneedscompany.tobe

(e.g.,3.Extent

ability,salesreporting,towhichproductcontentinformation,ofinformationexchanged

caninventoryinformation,etc.)with partnerproductcompanyavail-

otherbepartners.interpreted(STD3)similartoinformationexchangedwith

[1=NotAtAllto7=toaLargeExtent]

CooperativeInNorm

joint1.our relationship nomatterwhowithis partneratfault,companyproblems are considered

itability.2.responsibilities. bothsidesare(CN1)concernedabouteachother’sprof-

(CN3)3. both(CN2)sidesarewillingtomakecooperativechanges.

[1=StronglyDisagreeto7=StronglyAgree]

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