An Empirical Investigation of the Business Value of Inter-Organizational Information Sharing in Supply Chain

The Internet combined with mobile technologies and wireless devices permit organizations to access widely distributed information that is not restricted by business-unit or organizational boundaries. Large volume and high frequency data exchange as well as a wide variety of data sources characterize the new Business-to-Business commerce environments. Supply chain management (SCM) is very important for businesses’ success. In order to achieve effective and efficient SCM, information sharing is necessary among supply chain partners. This article addressed the business value of information sharing in the supply chain. Using an international manufacturer survey data set, we empirically tested the relationship between different patterns of information sharing in supply chain management and the business performance. Our finding showed that the greater level of information sharing with both suppliers and customers is positively associated with higher performance improvement. Conclusions, limitations and future research are also discussed.