Determinants of construction companies' use of web‐based interorganizational information systems

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of two categories of determinants -those tied to the characteristics of the organization and those tied to the characteristics of its supply chain relationships -on construction firms' use of web-based interorganizational information systems (IOISs) to support interorganizational processes with their key suppliers. Design/methodology/approach -Empirical evidence is gathered through an electronic survey conducted with 67 senior managers of Canadian construction companies. Findings -Findings indicate that both categories of determinants strongly influence each of the facets of construction firms' use of web-based IOISs to support interorganizational processes with their key suppliers. Findings also indicate that the two facets of the use of web-based IOISs to support collaborative processes are influenced by the same characteristics of supply chain relationships while the use of both types of web-based IOISs are not influenced by the same characteristics of the supply chain relationships.Practical implications -This study shows construction managers that a supply chain approach may facilitate firms' adoption of IT to support their interorganizational processes with their suppliers. This research also exposes practitioners to the different ways web-based IOISs can be used by construction firms to support their relationship with suppliers and emphasizes the need for managers to consider the characteristics of their supply chain relationships and not only technological factors while developing and implementing their web-based IOISs strategy. Originality/value -This study is amongst the few empirical studies on the use of information technology to support supply chain processes between construction companies and their suppliers. By proposing an approach to web-based IOISs measurement comprising five facets, this research also makes a theoretical contribution to the field of IOISs.

Contractor practices for managing extended supply chain tiers

“…Although there are different ICT technologies available to enable transaction, information exchange and collaboration between firms (such as Electronic Data Interchange, Project Extranets and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems) (Anumba and Ruikar, 2008;Cheng, 2009;Hadaya and Pellerin, 2010) there is scarcity of empirical research that examines contractor firms' use of any particular ICT facilitated relationship management technologies to provide them with assistance during and after the supplier selection process. What is most intensely talked about and used are web-based inter-firm collaboration technologies which are beginning to encapsulate different forms of interaction (such as tendering, procurement, design, project planning, and project management) within a common collaboration platform (Anumba and Ruikar, 2008).…”

“…In relation to the technological and physical interfaces ICT technologies are recognised as crucial to coordination and integration of supply chains (Hadaya and Pellerin, 2010). The core function of ICT in each of the above relationships is to support wide range of needs ranging from automation of a task and facilitation of a collaboration process to enabling of inter-firm and intra-firm communication of information between individuals (Alshawi and Ingirige, 2003;Gohil et al, 2009;Benton and McHenry, 2010).…”

“…There are various factors that effect a firm's decision to adopt and deploy ICT technologies (Anumba and Ruikar, 2008) however as demonstrated by Hadaya and Pellerin (2010) characteristics of the supply chain relationships (dependency, bargaining power, collaboration, and relationship length) are the main determinants of ICT adoption for different interaction needs at each interface (organisational, individual and physical). As have been argued by Dubois and Gadde (2000) and Bankvall et al, (2010) different supply chains exist in a project so each relationship that a contractor firm has with a supplier will exhibit different characteristics.…”

“…What is most intensely talked about and used are web-based inter-firm collaboration technologies which are beginning to encapsulate different forms of interaction (such as tendering, procurement, design, project planning, and project management) within a common collaboration platform (Anumba and Ruikar, 2008). For example Hadaya and Pellerin (2010) argued that the main function of inter-firm ICT technologies is to support transactional and collaborative interorganisational processes, such as exchange technical documents and drawings, and share inventory information between a construction company and its key suppliers.…”

“…ICT technologies support a wide range of needs in supply chain interaction processes, including automation of a task, facilitation of collaboration process, and the enabling the communication of information (Benton and McHenry, 2010;Hadaya and Pellerin, 2010). However there is a lack of research into the adoption of these technologies to manage inter-firm relationships with extended supply chain tiers (Hadaya and Pellerin, 2010). It is argued that through an understanding of inter-firm relationships ICT technologies can better facilitate cooperative, collaborative and non-adversarial supply chain interactions between contractor firms and their extended supply chains.…”