Adopting new technologies for supply chain managem

AdoptingnewtechnologiesforsupplychainmanagementKirkA.Pattersona,CurtisM.Grimmb,ThomasM.Corsic,*aDepartmentofOperationalSciences,GraduateSchoolofEngineeringandManagement,AirForceInstituteofTechnology,USAbRobertH.SmithSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark,MD20742,USAcSupplyChainManagementCenter,RobertH.SmithSchoolofBusiness,UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark,MD20742,USAAbstractIntegrationofsupplychainactivitiesandthetechnologiestoaccomplishithavebecomecompetitivenecessitiesinmostindustries.Accordingly,thetrendtowardgreateruseofsupplychaintechnologiesisonaclearpathforward.Asonemanagerhasnoted:‘‘Withalmostdailytechnologyadvancementgloballyineveryfacetofthebusiness,organizationsneedtosynchronizebyadoptingandimplementingnewelectroniccommerceandsupplychaintechnologyinordertoprotectmarketshare,nottomentionimprovemarketpenetration’’.Thispaperdevelopsamodelofthekeyfactorsinfluencingtheadoptionofsupplychaintechnology.Thefollowingsetofvariableswerehypothesizedtohaveasignificantimpactuponthepaceoftechnologyadoption:firmsize,organizationalstructure,integrationofsupplychainstrategywithoverallcorporatestrategy,pastfinancialperformance,supplychainpartnerpressure,transactionclimateandenvironmentaluncertainty.Themodelprovidesabetterunderstandingofthesupplychaintechnologydiffusionprocess.Thepaperalsoincludesasurvey,whichhasbeendevelopedtotestthemodel.
2003ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Supplychainmanagement;Technologies1.IntroductionBusinessorganizationstodayfaceamorecomplexandcompetitiveenvironmentthaneverbefore(Ellram,1991;Srinivasanetal.,1994;PorterandStern,2001).Astradebarrierscrumbleandlessdevelopedcountriesenterthecompetitivemarketplace,firmsnowconfrontagreaterTransportationResearchPartE39(2003)95–121*Correspondingauthor.Tel.:[phone].E-mailaddresses:kirk.patterson@afit.edu(K.A.Patterson),[e-mail](C.M.Grimm),[e-mail](T.M.Corsi).1366-5545/03/$-seefrontmatter
2003ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.PII:S1366-5545(02)00041-8numberofcompetitorsabletointroducenewproductsandservicesfasterandcheaperthaneverbefore(Garten,1998).Theever-expandingcapabilitiesofinformationtechnologywiththecon-comitantreductionininvestmentcostsallowcapitalandinformationtoflowalmostinstantlythroughoutmanypartsoftheworld.Furthermore,asconsumershavebecomemorediscrimi-natinganddemanding(Ellingeretal.,1997),productlifecycleshavebeenshortened,forcingfirmstocontracttimetocommercialization(Lovelaceetal.,2001)andprovidehigherlevelsofcustomerserviceandcustomizedproducts.Consequently,mostindustriesandfirmshaveenteredintoa‘‘hyper-competitive’’marketplacecharacterizedbyanincreaseincompetition,uncertainty,andcomplexity(D
Aveni,1994;D
Aveni,1999;Merrifield,2000).Inthisbusinessenvironment,innovationoforganizationalprocessesandproductsisamajorbusinesschallenge(TornatzkyandFleischer,1990)andcriticalforfirmsuccess(D
Aveni,1994;VeliyathandFitzgerald,2000).Innovationhasbeendefinedas‘‘...adoptionofaninternallygeneratedorpurchaseddevice,system,policy,program,process,product,orservicethatisnewtotheadoptingorganization’’(Damanpour,1991,p.556).Merrifield(2000,p.42)argues,‘‘Themostviablestrategyforbothgeneratingandsustainingacompetitiveadvantagehasbecomeoneofbothcontinuousinnovationandcorporaterenewal’’.Inthepast,businessorganizationsfo-cusedonreducingcostsandimprovingqualitytogainacompetitiveadvantage.Today,however,‘‘companiesmustbeabletoinnovateattheglobalfrontier...andcreateandcommercializeastreamofnewproductsandprocessesthatshiftthetechnologyfrontier,progressingasfastastheirrivalscatchup’’(PorterandStern,2001,p.28).Oneareaofinnovationthathasbeenthefocusofsignificantdiscussionisinformationtech-nologyadoption.USexecutivesallocate40%ofnewcapitalequipmentinvestmenttotechnology(HittandBrynjolfsson,1996).Innovativeinformationtechnologieshavethecapacitytoimpactorganizationalstructure,firmstrategy,communicationexchange,operationalprocedures,buyer–supplierrelationships,andbargainingpower(BowersoxandDaugherty,1995;LewisandTal-alayevsky,1997;Williamsetal.,1997;ClemonsandRow,1991).Informationtechnologymayalsoincreaseorganizationalproductivity,flexibility,andcompetitiveness(CashandKonsynski,1985)andstimulatethedevelopmentofinterorganizationalnetworks(Daughertyetal.,1995).Informationsystemshavebecomesopervasivethattheyarenowconsideredtobearequirementfordoingbusinessintoday
scompetitivemarketplace(ClemonsandMcFarlan,1986;Dawe,1994;Rogers,1990;Rogersetal.,1992).Supplychainmanagementisrecognizedasanimportantareaforinformationtechnologyin-novationandinvestment(BowersoxandDaugherty,1995).SupplychainmanagementhasbeendefinedbyTheGlobalSupplyChainForumas‘‘...theintegrationofkeybusinessprocessesfromenduserthroughoriginalsuppliersthatprovidesproducts,services,andinformationthataddvalueforcustomersandotherstakeholders’’(Lambertetal.,1998,p.1).Withimplementationofsupplychainmanagement,thenarrowfocusofmanagersandtheadversarialrelationshipsbetweenlogisticsproviders,suppliers,andcustomersarereplacedwithstrategicalliancesandlong-term