The use of e-business technologies between supply chain organizations has been thematic in recent literature. Organizational collaboration, the foundation of supply chain management, has been enabled by the development and use of e-business technologies. Organizational collaboration and information sharing, in turn, are expected to improve organizational performance. We propose and test a model of the relationship between organizational use of e-business technologies, organizational collaboration, and performance, using empirical data. Our model differs from past studies in that collaboration is viewed as two unique constructs, differentiating between intra-and inter-organizational collaboration. Our findings show that use of ebusiness technologies impacts performance both directly and indirectly by promoting both measures of collaboration. Intra-firm collaboration is also found to have a direct impact on organizational performance. However, the impact of inter-organizational collaboration on performance is found to be only indirect, through the impact of intra-organizational collaboration. These findings reveal the complexity of organizational collaboration, underscore the importance for companies to promote internal collaboration, and invest in information technologies that facilitate it. #

Advancements in the capability of information technology (IT) have rapidly changed the face of industry over the past decade. Functions that have been particularly impacted, at least from a theoretical perspective, are supply chain management (SCM) and logistics. Supply chain management, founded on collaboration between supply chain partners (Golicic, Foggin, and Mentzer 2003; Narasimhan and Jayaram l998;Stank, Keller, and Daugherty 2001), is intended to bring performance benefits to the organization. Consider the recent collaborative relationship between Sears and Michelin which has resulted in a 25% reduction in inventories for both companies (Steerman 2003). Similarly, General Motors' new collaborative relationship with its suppliers has reduced vehicle development cycle times from four years to eighteen months (Gutman 2003). This type of collaboration is only made possible through the sharing of large amounts of information along the supply chain, including operations, logistics, and strategic planning data.Information sharing provides firms with forward visibility, improving production planning, inventory management, and distribution. This collaboration is facilitated by the existence of an efficient and effective information technology (IT) system. Information technology (IT), which allows for the transmission and processing of information necessary for synchronous decision making, can be viewed as the backbone of the supply chain business structure (Grover and Malhotra l999; Kent and Mentzer 2003). For this reason the literature often refers to IT as an essential enabler of SCM activities (Mabert and Venkataramanan l998).Advancements in IT capabilities have significantly improved the extent of internal and external organizational information sharing. IT capability has been positively linked to firm performance (Bharadwaj 2000;Kearns and Lederer 2003) and shown to have the potential of providing a significant competitive advantage to firms (Earl l993; Ives and Jarvenpaa l99l; Kathuria, Anandarajan, and Igbaria l999). Similarly, firm collaboration has been shown to have a positive impact on performance (Stank, Keller, and Daugherty 2001). However, the collective relationship between JOURNAL

The use of information technologies between supply chain organizations has been shown to promote organizational coordination and have a positive impact on performance. Drawing from organizational theories of learning, we build on this research by proposing a model that relates the pattern of supplier use of IT to specific types of supply chain coordination activities and a comprehensive set of organizational benefits. Specifically, we evaluate how two patterns of IT use by suppliers (exploitation and exploration) relate to two specific types of coordination activities with their buyers (operational and strategic coordination), which in turn are posited to promote specific organizational benefits. Using data from 241 first-tier OEM suppliers in the computer industry, our findings show that each pattern of IT use directly promotes a specific type of coordination activity. Although both types of coordination activities are needed to achieve both strategic and operational benefits, we find each coordination activity to be uniquely promoted by a specific pattern of IT use. IT use for exploitation is found to be an antecedent to operational coordination; IT use for exploration is found to be an antecedent to strategic coordination. No crossover between pattern of use and coordination activities is found. Our findings show that to achieve a complete set of benefits, suppliers must ultimately use IT for both exploration and exploitation. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism of how the pattern of IT use can result in a comprehensive set of organizational benefits for supplier firms. #

T he connectivity and communication requirements of leading supply chains have created the emergence of a more advanced role for third-party logistics providers 3PLs. They have evolved from providing logistics capabilities to becoming orchestrators of supply chains that create and sustain a competitive advantage. This article uses a theoretical perspective based on resource-based theory, network theory and transaction cost economics, and a thorough literature review, to develop a model with seven propositions. Finally, using structured interviews of industry executives from a leading 3PL, we offer empirical support for the model and propositions that can be used to define the orchestrator role of a 3PL.