The effect of investment in interorganizational information technology in a retail supply chain

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to empirically test a theory based supply-chain relationship model. The model was constructed to determine the effect of investment in interorganizational information technology (IOIT) on a long-term retail supply-chain relationship. The nomological network for the model consisted of the eight primary constructs; relationship trust, extant retailer investment in IOIT, perceived extant supplier investment in IOIT, relationship commitment, logistics effectiveness, logistics efficiency, relationship dependence, and long-term relationship.

The research design incorporated a mail survey methodology. Approximately 1200 logistics executives within several retail formats were asked to respond to questions regarding their most and least advanced suppliers in the use of information technology. The model and its associated hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling.

The findings supported four of the eight hypothesized relationships. A fifth hypothesis was not support, however it revealed a significant negative relationship. The three additional hypotheses were not supported. Additionally, the overall fit of the supply-chain relationship structural equation model was supported by a comparative fit index (CFI) of .906.