The Role of Complementary Resources in the Development of E-Supply Chains and the Firm’s Performance

Abstract

E-supply chains (e-SCs), which are Internet-enabled supply chains, are progressively being implemented by companies to improve their operational and financial performance. Several studies exist where the association between the development of an e-supply chain and the performance of a firm have been investigated. However, there is a paucity of literature that describes how information technology (IT) resources interact with other complementary resources to e-supply chains that positively impact a firm’s performance. This paper seeks to adopt a resource-based view of the firm (RBVF) and empirically tests a framework that identifies and validates the relationships among IT resources, complementary resources to e-supply chains, and performance of a firm. This study utilizes secondary data from two sources – data collected by the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) and financial data from the Korea Exchange. The data from a total of 170 firms representing 10 industries in South Korea was analyzed using a partial least-squares technique (PLS). The results of the analysis confirm that IT resources do not directly influence supply chain performance. However, when associated with a complementary resource, IT resources positively affect both supply chain operations and a firm’s financial performance. The findings of this research support the current existing literature on the RBVF approach with regard to the domain of supply chain management, and can provide additional insights to industry practitioners on how to effectively utilize complementary resources in developing e-SCs to deliver improved performance.