Toward creating competitive advantage with logistics information technology

Purpose - Successfully implementing and exploiting the right information technologies is critical to maintaining competitiveness in today's supply chain. However, simply adopting off-the-shelf technologies may not necessarily induce this competitiveness unless the organization combines these technologies with additional complimentary resources. This study draws on the logistics innovation literature, resource-advantage theory, and the resource-based view of the firm with the purpose of investigating performance outcomes of logistics information technology (LIT) adoption and the proposed moderating effect of a complimentary resource. The paper posits that combining LIT with positive buyer-supplier relationships may set the stage for organizations to achieve competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach - A meta-analysis of 48 studies that report outcomes of EDI or RFID adoption was performed. Regression was used to investigate the moderating effect of the buyer-supplier relationship on the relationship between LIT adoption and performance outcomes. Findings - The findings suggest that adoption of LIT promotes enhanced levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and resiliency for the adopting firm and that the quality of the buyer-supplier relationship moderates the degree of efficiency and resiliency realized via adoption. Research limitations/implications - The results of this study suggest that adoption of a logistics innovation by itself may not necessarily produce a sustained competitive advantage. Instead, when combined with complimentary firm resources, the innovation may yield a sustained competitive advantage for the adopting firm. Originality/value - Logistics innovation needs greater theoretical development in the literature. This research extends a foundational logistics innovation model by incorporating relevant theory to propose and test an additional dimension of the model.