How do IT-enabled capabilities influence firms' ability to leverage customer involvement and shape the amount of firm innovation? This study theorizes that effective processing and management of customer information flows requires organizations to possess "relational information processing capability" (RIPC) and "analytical information processing capability" (AIPC). Drawing on and extending the theories of absorptive capacity and complementarities in the context of innovation, we posit that RIPC and AIPC complement product-focused customer involvement (PCI) and informationintensive customer involvement (ICI) practices, respectively, to enhance the amount of firm innovation. To test our hypotheses, we collected archival data from more than 300 large U.S. manufacturing firms and mapped their RIPC and AIPC to specific IT applications. Consistent with our theorizing, we find that RIPC positively moderates the relationship between PCI and amount of firm innovation and that AIPC positively moderates the relationship between ICI and amount of firm innovation. In further exploratory analysis, we find a positive three-way interaction between AIPC, RIPC, and PCI. Taken together, the results suggest that configurations of IT-enabled capabilities alone are not enough for innovation; instead, firms benefit more when specific configurations of IT-enabled capabilities are leveraged in unison with specific types of customer involvement. The study contributes to theory and practice by shedding light on important complementarities between specific types of customer involvement (PCI and ICI) and specific IT-enabled capabilities (RIPC and AIPC).

Research in operations management and information systems suggests that information technology (IT) can play an important role in managing operations that support environmentally sustainable (green) growth. Yet, few studies have empirically assessed the efficacy of green IT investments and initiatives, particularly in emerging economies such as India. This study examines the performance consequences of green IT investment and implementation in terms of energy conservation and profit impact. We analyze an archival dataset constructed from a survey of nearly 300 organizations in India, matched partially with objective data from a secondary source. We find that green IT investment is positively associated with a higher profit impact and that this association is partially mediated by a reduction in IT equipment energy consumption. In addition, we find that operations‐oriented green IT implementation is positively associated with both IT equipment energy consumption reduction and profit impact, whereas supplier‐oriented green IT implementation is positively associated only with reduction in IT equipment energy consumption. Our findings are robust to objective measures of firm‐level total income and profit after tax. We highlight opportunities for further research and discuss the implications of the study for managerial practice to encourage the implementation of green IT initiatives that promote greater environmental sustainability.

Practice and Policy Abstract:

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a b s t r a c tResearch at the nexus of operations management and information systems suggests that manufacturing plants may benefit from the utilization of information systems for collaborating and transacting with suppliers and customers. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which value generated by information systems for collaborating versus transacting is contingent upon demand volatility. We analyze a unique dataset assembled from non-public U.S. Census Bureau data of manufacturing plants. Our findings suggest that when faced with volatile demand, plants employing information systems for collaborating with suppliers and customers experience positive and significant benefits to performance, in terms of both labor productivity and inventory turnover. In contrast, results suggest that plants employing information systems for transacting in volatile environments do not experience such benefits. Further exploratory analysis suggests that in the context of demand volatility, these two distinct dimensions of IT-based integration have differing performance implications at different stages of the production process in terms of raw-materials inventory and finished-goods inventory, but not in terms of work-in-process inventory. Taken together, our study contributes to theoretical and managerial understanding of the contingent value of information systems in volatile demand conditions in the supply chain context.