Effects of information technology alignment and information sharing on supply chain operational performance

The paper aims to investigate the effects of information technology (IT) alignment and information sharing on operational performance in the context of supply chain. Based on the resource-based view, this study identifies IT alignment and information sharing as specific resources/capabilities for supply chain partnership. Data from 141 Chinese manufacturers are collected to test the relationships among IT alignment, information sharing, and operational performance. The results show that (1) both IT alignment and information sharing have direct and positive effects on operational performance, (2) IT alignment has an indirect effect on operational performance through information sharing, and (3) IT alignment and information sharing have different emphases in operational performance improvement. The resource-capability-performance paradigm is extended to supply chain context in the emerging economy. Chinese managers may have different emphases on IT resource/information sharing capability deployment for operational efficiency and effectiveness. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.