ERIM Research Seminar LIS: Determinants of Inter-Organizational Collaboration and Inter-Organizational Systems Choice

Determinants of Inter-Organizational Collaboration and Inter-Organizational Systems Choice: An Empirical Examination Drawing upon transaction cost economics (TCE) theory, and research in inter-organizational systems (IOS), this study identifies the key determinants of inter-organizational collaboration (IOC), and the extent to which IOC impacts the choice from among various information technologies to support procurement activities. Unlike past Information Systems studies we conjecture that inter-organizational collaboration may mediate the relationship between its TCE-based antecedents and the choice of a procurement technology. Our conjecture is supported. The study finds a strong positive relationship between inter-organizational collaboration and the choice of EDI for procurement, and a significant negative relationship between IOC and Internet-based procurement technology (IBPT) support. We also find that key TCE variables (e.g. asset specificity, demand uncertainty, and product technology uncertainty) are key determinants of the extent of inter-organizational collaboration. A number of implications including the challenges that are faced in making procurement technology decisions, as well as limitations and future directions for extending this research are discussed.

Bio:

Carol Saunders served as General Conference Chair of ICIS99 and Telecommuting 96. She was the Chair of the Executive Committee of ICIS in 2000. She is a Fellow of AIS. Currently she is a Editor-in-Chief of MIS Quarterly. Her research is published in MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Information Resources Management Journal, Journal of MIS, Communications of the ACM, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Organization Science.

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Naima Zerhane

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