Internal Infrastructural Impacts on RFID Perceptions and Commitment: Knowledge, Operational Procedures, and Information-Processing Standards

For many firms, radio frequency identification (RFID) suggests not only a new alternative to existing tracking methods but also a means to a range of previously cost-prohibitive internal control and supply chain coordination innovations. In any event, and even in light of possible external pressures to adopt, the full potential of RFID for an individual firm must ultimately be viewed in consideration with the infrastructural capabilities of that firm. Furthermore, because adoption decisions are fundamentally based on managerial perceptions, it is critical to consider how certain forms of infrastructure provide the necessary transparency into other infrastructural characteristics to augment such decisions. We use multisource survey data in this work to consider several elements that contribute to this infrastructure and subsequently to perceptions of RFID benefit and actual commitment to adoption. Results demonstrate that the complementary effects of these infrastructural capabilities significantly impact both perceptions of and commitments to RFID. Subject Areas: Enterprise Resource Management, Knowledge Networks, Operations Management–Information Systems Interface, Radio Frequency Identification, and Technology Adoption.