Electronic Business: Implementation and Effects

ELECTRONIC BUSINESS: IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTS Odd Fredriksson E-Business, also called digital business, has an increasingly recurring role in daily transaction facilitation in marketing channels and dyadic trading relationships. These developments imply that the findings of this thesis are more relevant than ever. Managers in various positions need to deeply understand ELECTRONIC BUSINESS the mutual interrelations between marketing and IT use conditions. IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTS The thesis aims at answering two research questions:

RQ 1: What are the conditions influencing e-Business system implementation processes?

RQ 2: What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e-Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance?

The thesis comprises five case studies focusing on different e-Business forms in four Swedish marketing channel contexts. The five empirical studies were conducted in different contexts (B2B, B2G and B2C), exploring different levels of analysis, and span across a 20-year period, from 1988 to 2008.

A literature review was conducted after the five case studies were published. Knowledge and findings identified from mainly the relationship view and information systems literature were synthesised and applied to the five publi- Odd Fredriksson cations in retrospective.

The overall conclusion drawn from this thesis is the crucial importance of human success conditions. The degree of commitment and pro-active actions of human beings – individually and collectively among all stakeholders involved – and their competencies decisively influence the degree to which the e-

Business implementation and diffusion process will be successful, and in turn the business value outcomes that can be attained. ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

ODD FREDRIKSSON is a teacher at Karlstad Business School. Odd Fredriksson’s main research interests are in the intersection area of primarily marketing and IS perspectives on implementation, diffusion and impacts of digital innovations.

ISBN 978-91-7731-206-2

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, SWEDEN 2021 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS: IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTS Odd Fredriksson E-Business, also called digital business, has an increasingly recurring role in daily transaction facilitation in marketing channels and dyadic trading relationships. These developments imply that the findings of this thesis are more relevant than ever. Managers in various positions need to deeply understand ELECTRONIC BUSINESS the mutual interrelations between marketing and IT use conditions. IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTS The thesis aims at answering two research questions:

RQ 1: What are the conditions influencing e-Business system implementation processes?

RQ 2: What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e-Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance?

Business implementation and diffusion process will be successful, and in turn the business value outcomes that can be attained. ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

ISBN 978-91-7731-206-2

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, SWEDEN 2021

Electronic Business

Implementation and Effects

Odd Fredriksson

Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av ekonomie doktorsexamen vid Handelshögskolan i Stockholm framläggs för offentlig granskning onsdagen den 9 juni 2021, kl 10.15, sal Ragnar, Handelshögskolan, Bertil Ohlins gata 5, Stockholm

Electronic Business

Implementation and Effects

Electronic Business

Implementation and Effects

Odd Fredriksson ii

Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D., in Business Administration Stockholm School of Economics, 2021

Electronic Business: Implementation and Effects © SSE and the author, 2021 ISBN 978-91-7731-206-2 (printed) ISBN 978-91-7731-207-9 (pdf) Front cover illustration: © Minerva Studio/Shutterstock.com Back cover photo: Linn Malmén, 2014 Printed by: BrandFactory, Gothenburg, 2021 Keywords: Electronic business, marketing channel, buyer-supplier relationship, relational view, diffusion of innovations, interactive innovation, implementation process, diffusion process, critical success conditions, human-centred management, effects, business value, interactive innovation, critical mass, enterprise system, digitalisation

To Hanna, Cajsa and Magnus

Foreword

This volume is the result of a research project carried out at the Department of Marketing and Strategy at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE). The volume is submitted as a doctoral thesis at SSE. In keeping with the policies of SSE, the author has been entirely free to conduct and present his research in the manner of his choosing as an expression of his own ideas. SSE is grateful for the financial support provided by The Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen), Vinnova, Torsten och Ragnar Söderbergs Stiftelse, and Föreningen för MA-forskning, which has made it possible to carry out the project.

Göran Lindqvist Hans Kjellberg Director of Research Professor and Head of the Stockholm School of Economics Department of Marketing and Strategy

Acknowledgements

This research has been financially supported by The Foundation for Distri- bution Research (currently Center for Consumer Marketing) at the Stock- holm School of Economics, Torsten och Ragnar Söderbergs Stiftelse, Föreningen för MA-forskning, Vinnova and The Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen). I am most grateful to all these organisations for providing financial support of my research. First of all I want to express that I am eternally grateful to my main supervisor throughout my whole Ph.D. journey, Claes-Robert (Case) Julander, who genuinely practices humanistic leadership. There is no one more suitable to handle “the odd case” than Case. Case, you have enthusiastically supported, pushed forward, and believed in me throughout my whole process. What a remarkably odd performance by you Case! I am also immensely grateful for the very inspiring support and forward- looking actionable guidance by supervisor Micael Dahlen, my former corridor mate. You were highly instrumental in setting up the third supervisor dream team. Additionally, you also warmly and intelligently pushed me to sharpen and deepen my thinking and writing of this thesis overview and synthesis text (Part I) in your role as the mock seminar opponent. I am also very grateful to supervisor Magnus Söderlund. You are the most solid counsellor rock that you can ever imagine when making all the thesis overview and consistency decisions. Without the joint pushing forward, encouragement and coaching from you in the wonderful CMM supervisor team the present thesis would not have been possible to present. Of significant importance was also the valuable feedback that I received from all participants during the mock seminar: Thank you! Besides Case, my first supervisor team until my licentiate degree in business administration, consisted of Karl-Erik Wärneryd, who established the viii economic psychology field in Sweden, and my former corridor mate, P-G Holmlöv, a master in the art of writing. It was tremendously inspiring to have dialogues with the two of you on almost a daily basis, during some years. Besides Case, my second supervisor team consisted of Lars-Gunnar Mattsson and Lars-Erik Gadde. I learned tremendously much from the two of you! To all seven supervisors I very gratefully say: I could not have had better growth mindset supervisors than you! Since writing is learning you learn particularly much from co-writing. Particularly, I want to express how rewarding and enjoyable it was to co-write with Mats Vilgon (publication 2) and Lennart Ljung (publication 5). Moreover, I want to gratefully thank the co-authors of the other co-authored publications throughout the time span of this journey of learning: Lars Albert, P-G, Case, Michael Kaplan, Peter Docherty, Ragnvald Sannes, Gösta Steneskog, Catharina Lindblad, Bo Enquist, Ulrika Mollstedt, Linda Bergkvist, Marko Arola, Shumei Liao, Shenghua Xu, and Tord Larsson-Steen. Föreningen för MA-forskning, partly financing Study 1, appointed a reference group with the following members: Leif Andersson, Ingvar Axelsson, Kennert Johansson, John Landborn, Thomas Persson and Hans Sarv. Thank you all for the insightful comments that you all provided during the reference group meetings. Handelsbanken’s head office (represented by Lars O Grönqvist), being a co-financier with Vinnova (formerly Nutek) of Study 3, appointed a reference group for the “Revolutions in Banking: Real or Virtual Worlds” project, placed at Institute for Management of Innovation and Technology (IMIT): Trued Holmquist and Anders Johannesson. Thank you Trued and Anders for the insightful comments that you provided during the reference group meetings. I really enjoyed all cooperation activities with the three peers in the Study 3 research team. Peter Docherty was the project leader, creating a cheerful atmosphere with his great sense of humour. Study 4 and Study 5 resulted from two sub-projects within a research programme financed by KK-stiftelsen called ”The New Service Economy” at the Service Research Center (CTF), at Karlstad Business School. I want to thank all researchers participating in this research programme for very good cooperation, and particularly Bo Edvardsson and Patrik Larsson conducting the project management role in a very professional way. The Study 4 project ix was agreed with Ulrika Obstfelder Peterson and Ulf Ljungdahl, the management of Wermland Chamber of Commerce. I am grateful for the generous time offered by Ulrika, Ulf Borg and Rolf Åström, who formed the project management team for Portal Meetingpoint Wermland during this research project. The Study 5 project was agreed with Hans Karlander and Christer Simrén, board member and CEO of Wermland Paper. The latter and my co- author Marko Arola formed the informal reference group for this research project. Also, I want to thank Peter Björkman, the then-CEO of ComActity. For researchers in social science disciplines understanding of the practice is improving their abilities to relate practice and theory to each other in many loops. Consequently, continuous interactions through “rubbing your shoul- ders with” practitioners are contributing significantly in absorbing empirical knowledge and experiences, which are harder to collect and absorb from reading research articles. Thus, meeting and discussing with practitioners is a complementary activity for social science researchers that is really called for. I warmly thank Ulf Strömsten for recommending me for teaching and tutoring in IFL’s AIM programme. After my first teaching role as assistant of Rita Maldonado-Bear, I then interacted with course participants in higher managerial positions during some 15 years. In these AIM programmes for managers in higher positions I was privileged to co-operate with really great bosses and tutoring peers: Anders Lindström, Malin Broman, Carol Ranby, Lena Zander, Emma Stenström, Lars Fredriksson, and many others. In the programme director role at IFL’s general management programme (“Före- tagsledning-programmet”) I co-operated in a most enjoyable way with my bosses: Lars Ågren and then Bengt Kristensson-Uggla, and with all participating first-class teachers and tutors. Those six week learning journeys along with participants in higher managerial positions were, to keep it short, fan- tastic experiences (which words can not describe)! Additionally regarding interaction with practitioners, I warmly thank Göran Liljegren for inviting me to assist him in his ERFA group (arranged by Marketing Technology Center; MTC). These “immersing into the real problems workshops” for managers in industrial trade and agency businesses during some years increased my understanding of business development in practice. I thank Anna Nyberg, who had the same role in Göran’s other x

ERFA group, for good mutual backup cooperation. Furthermore, I highly value the very stimulating dialogues during many years with Tord-Larsson- Steen (LearningWell) and Jonas Andersson (HerbertNathan & Co). I want to warmly thank Nils-Erik Wirsäll, who welcomed me − in tan- dem with Case − on this Ph.D. journey. Nils-Erik, you were sharing advice and experiences very generously, and you were always very encouraging. In sports you say: A good start is always good. When I started as a Ph.D. candidate in economic psychology, Karl-Olof Hammarkvist had recently quit at SSE for a higher managerial bank position. Case trusted Lars Albert and me to take on and continue Karl-Olof’s newly started research project focusing on “ICT’s effects on efficiency and effectiveness in distribution systems”. The primary purpose of the already ongoing project was to analyse the efficiency and effectiveness of the Swedish floor distribution system. With Case as our leader, Lars and I presented our results, analyses, and proposed new directions for about 150 representatives for all players in the Swedish floor distribution system at hotel Snäck in Visby. I subjectively perceived this finale of my first research experience as a success, which made me want to continue with doing more research work. I want to warmly thank the about 980 respondents across the five studies for your willingness to provide primary empirical data. Without the participation from all of you respondents there would be no thesis. Perhaps the most effective method for learning is to teach others. Co- teaching is particularly rewarding and fun. I have been blessed to co-teach with Hans Kjellberg, Mats Vilgon, Per Håkansson, Anders G Nilsson, Bengt Walerud and Case (of course) at Stockholm School of Economics. In my role as course coordinator for the “Service management and IT: e-Business” course (annually since 2000) at Karlstad Business School I have over the years continuously learnt a lot from Bo Edvardsson, Peter Magnusson, Per Kristensson, Jörg Pareigis, Anders G Nilsson, John Sören Pettersson and, during recent years, from Martin Hamilton. The work environment at the Foundation for Distribution Research was the best you can experience. I thank all of you: Christina Holm, P-G Holmlöv, Carina Holmberg, Per Håkansson, Per-Göran Persson, Anne Mägi, Micael Dahlen, Fredrik Lange, Magnus Eliasson, Jonas Gunnarsson, xi

Mikael Hernandt, Richard Wahlund, Pia Bergman, Agneta Carlin and Re- becca Gruvhammar, Case, and Per-Jonas Eliæsson (who always encouraged us in our corridors). A special thank you to Richard Wahlund and Magnus Eliasson for supporting me with handling and using the PLS software (which Claes Fornell in 1996 initially taught us in his doctoral course) in a proper way. A special thank you to Gunnar Åkesson for all our dialogues. I would also like to thank all former and current colleagues at the Infor- mation Systems department at Karlstad Business School. Particularly I want to thank Anders G Nilsson, who always was very supportive and informed. During the long wrapping up phase of the Part I writing process of this thesis, my sincere warm thanks go to Lennart Ljung and Rodney Clarke for your wise coaching, comments on previous manuscripts, and encouraging words. Additionally, I want to thank Linda Bergkvist and Mikael Johnson for your very appreciated feedback on my multi-level model. The encouragement and support from Martin Löfgren is also very much appreciated. I want to thank Richard Wahlund for all preparations required for setting up the public defense seminar, Sarah Westwood for proofreading the manu- script, and Helena Lundin for her most delightful way of seeing to it that all book details were in place. I want to express gratitude to my beloved sisters Catharina and Anette for your support and cheering. Finally my warmest thank you to my children Hanna, Cajsa and Magnus for all your support and love, you are everything to me. I love you very much!

Karlstad, April 24, 2021

Odd Fredriksson

List of appended publications

Publication 1 Fredriksson, Odd (1992a), Datorkommunikation i distributionssystem. Erfarenheter och effekter vid införande av två multilaterala interorganisatoriska informationssystem − exemplet BASCET Infolink AB. Licentiatavhandling, EFI Research Report 351, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, Stockholm (in Swedish).

Publication 2 Fredriksson, Odd and Vilgon, Mats (1996), “Evolution of Inter-organisational Information Systems in Industrial Distribution: The Cases of Luna and Pappersgruppen”, European Journal of Information Systems, 5 (1), 47–61. DOI: 10.1057/ejis.1996.11

Publication 3 Fredriksson, Odd (2005), “Relationship and Loyalty Attitude Differences among Swedish Retail Bank Clients: E-banking versus Branch Office Users”, in: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Retailing and Consumer Services Science (EIRASS), July 21–24, 2005, Orlando, FL, USA. Received the Managing Service Quality Highly Commended Award (one of four awarded conference papers out of a total of 120 papers).

Publication 4 Fredriksson, Odd (2007), “IT-supported Inter-Organisational Services – The Case of a Swedish E-Business Portal for Electronic Invoicing for Regional SMEs”, in: Advances in Information Systems Development: New Methods and Practice for the Networked Society (Magyar, G, Knapp, G, Wojtkowski, W, Wojtkowski, WG & Zupančič, J; Eds.), Volume 2, 469–480. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD 2006), xiv

August 31–September 2, Budapest, Hungary, Springer Science+Business Media, New York, NY.

Publication 5 Fredriksson, Odd and Ljung, Lennart (2010), “Critical Success Conditions for Enterprise Systems Change Projects”, in: Proceedings of 16th Americas Con- ference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2010, August 12–15, Lima, Peru, Paper 413. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1417&context=amcis2010 Volume 2, 1487–1495. ISBN: 978-1-61738- 952-8.

Contents

Part I: Dissertation Overview and Synthesis 1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Electronic business (e-Business) ...... 6 1.1.1 The name chosen for the discussed phenomenon ...... 7 1.1.2 Specific e-Business forms employed across the five studies ...... 10 1.1.3 The e-Business definitions chosen for each study ...... 11 1.1.4 Characteristics of the multilateral e-Business phenomenon ...... 13 1.1.5 Enterprise systems (ES) ...... 16 1.1.6 E-Business and ES ...... 17 1.2 A multi-phase technology innovation implementation model...... 18 1.2.1 A broader perspective on the implementation process ...... 19 1.2.2 Implementation and use combined ...... 21 1.3 Business performance effects from e-Business use ...... 23 1.3.1 The adoption is not ‘the thing’ ...... 23 1.3.2 Potential business opportunities attainable from the use of e-Business systems ...... 24 1.3.3 The multi-dimensional concept of success ...... 26 1.4 Positioning ...... 27 1.5 Research questions ...... 28 1.5.1 Purposes ...... 30 1.6 Two chosen perspectives ...... 30 1.6.1 Proactive versus reactive approaches to e-Business use in dyadic relationships ...... 30 1.6.2 A top management perspective on the e-Business phenomenon ...... 32 1.7 Research design ...... 32 1.8 Case studies ...... 34 1.8.1 Overview of the five studies, including the e-Business system forms used .. 34 1.8.2 Overview of the e-Business system forms and use ...... 35 1.9 Summaries of the appended publications ...... 39 1.10 Outline of Part I of the thesis ...... 41 xvi

2. Literature review ...... 43 2.1 Introduction to the review ...... 43 2.2 Research question 1...... 44 2.2.1 The relational view and e-Business implementations ...... 45 2.2.2 Relationship variables with e-Business relevance ...... 47 2.2.3 Diffusion of innovations theory and e-Business implementations ...... 56 2.3 Research question 2...... 59 2.3.1 Firm-level and marketing system-level (i.e. multi-level) benefits ...... 60 2.3.2 Strategic-level performance effects in dyadic trading relationships ...... 61 2.3.3 Process-level performance effects in dyadic trading relationships ...... 62 2.4 Summary and synthesis of the review ...... 63 2.4.1 Synthesis of the research questions ...... 65 2.4.2 Synthesis of DOI and relational view theories ...... 66 3. Research methodology ...... 71 3.1 Some methodological notes ...... 71 3.2 Primary data collection processes ...... 73 3.3 Study background and methods ...... 76 3.3.1 Study 1: BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B ...... 76 3.3.2 Study 2: Luna one-to-many ordering B2B ...... 78 3.3.3 Study 3: Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C ...... 79 3.3.4 Study 4: Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G ...... 81 3.3.5 Study 5: Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal B2B ...... 83 4. Summaries of the primary study findings ...... 85 4.1 Study 1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering − B2B) ...... 85 4.1.1 Summary of the primary findings in Study 1 ...... 85 4.1.2 Performance effects ...... 86 4.2 Study 2 (Luna one-to-many ordering − B2B) ...... 94 4.2.1 Primary critical success conditions ...... 94 4.2.2 Performance effects ...... 97 4.3 Study 3 (Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking − B2C) ...... 98 4.3.1 Summary of the primary findings in Study 3 ...... 98 4.3.2 Performance effects ...... 102 4.4 Study 4 (Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing − B2G)...... 103 4.4.1 Primary critical success conditions ...... 103 4.4.2 Performance effects ...... 104 4.5 Study 5 (Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal − B2B) ...... 106 4.5.1 Primary critical success conditions ...... 106 xvii

4.5.2Performance effects ...... 110 5. Cross-case comparisons ...... 113 5.1 Choice of reference model ...... 113 5.2 Reasons for this choice of reference model ...... 116 5.3 Pre-conditions ...... 120 5.3.1 Volume ...... 120 5.3.2 Inter-firm trust ...... 121 5.3.3 Joint expectations ...... 122 5.4 E-Business use ...... 124 5.4.1 E-Business diversity ...... 125 5.4.2 System-to-system integration ...... 125 5.5 Relationship strength ...... 127 5.5.1 Inter-personal trust ...... 127 5.5.2 Bonds ...... 129 5.5.3 Coordination...... 131 5.5.4 Cooperation ...... 132 5.5.5 Conflict resolution ...... 133 5.6 Performance effects ...... 134 5.6.1 Increased profitability effects ...... 135 5.6.2 Multi-level overview of identified performance effects at the strategic-level ...... 137 6. Contributions ...... 143 6.1 Contributions to research question 1 ...... 143 6.1.1 Contributions to marketing and IS theory ...... 143 6.1.2 Contributions to marketing and IS practice ...... 147 6.1.3 Contributions to marketing practice ...... 151 6.1.4 Contributions to IS theory ...... 151 6.1.5 Contributions to IS practice ...... 155 6.2 Contributions to research question 2 ...... 158 6.2.1 Contributions to marketing and IS practice ...... 158 6.2.2 Contributions to marketing practice ...... 159 7. Conclusions ...... 161 7.1 Conclusions research question 1 ...... 161 7.1.1 Human-centred e-Business implementation management ...... 162 7.1.2 Developing a more holistic picture of impeding and driving conditions .... 165 7.2 Conclusions research question 2 ...... 166 7.3 Limitations ...... 169 xviii

7.4 Further research ...... 172 References ...... 175 Appendix 1 ...... 211

Part II: The Publications ...... 217 Publication 1. Datorkommunikation i distributionssystem. Erfarenheter och effekter vid införande av två multilaterala interorganisatoriska informationssystem − exemplet BASCET Infolink AB Publication 2. Evolution of Inter-organisational Information Systems in Industrial Distribution: The Cases of Luna and Pappersgruppen Publication 3. Relationship and Loyalty Attitude Differences among Swedish Retail Bank Clients: E-banking versus Branch Office Users Publication 4. IT-supported Inter-Organisational Services – The Case of a Swedish E-Business Portal for Electronic Invoicing for Regional SMEs Publication 5. Critical Success Conditions for Enterprise Systems Change Projects

Part I:

Dissertation Overview and Synthesis

Chapter 1

Introduction

This thesis focuses on the implementation and use of electronic business (e- Business) to influence the processes and relationships between actors within marketing channels and distribution systems. It also addresses the perceived performance effects that result from using these e-Business systems. The thesis is comprised of five mainly empirically oriented studies conducted within four different Swedish business contexts. Swanson (2020:115) suggests that “information systems have come to rule the world through their transaction facilitation”, a ubiquitous but mun- dane revolution that has taken place over the last seven decades and continues to guide the actions taken by organisations. In recent decades, the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (IT) has continuously changed business conditions worldwide. One well-known illustration of this is Moore’s law, which is based on empirical observations, stating that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles roughly every two years. Concurrently, another development is that IT has become more commonplace, more standardised, and cheaper (Carr 2003). “Since IT is embedded in modern organisational life as well as in the wider environment, not surprisingly IT is a vast industry of both producers and consumers” (Beynon-Davies 2020:30). To provide a concrete example, the turnover size of SAP, the German enterprise systems (hereafter abbreviated as ES) vendor, in 2019 corresponded to about 4% of the Swedish GNP. The profit margin of this massive ES vendor consistently over time fluctuates around 30%, demonstrating that IT is embedded in the 2 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

“modern economy, society and polity in a number of ways” (Beynon-Davies 2020:168): Increasingly, your activity as an economic actor is driven through IT [ICT]. Or- ganisations of all forms are increasingly dependent upon their IT to produce value. As much as 70% of the value produced by advanced economies is in in- tangible goods and services, many of which are amenable to digitisation. As a member of a modern nation-state you cannot function effectively as a citizen without access to IT. IT is a key business driver in the 21st century (Agarwal & Lucas 2005), and IT is creating critical changes in how business is organised and conducted (Kohli & Grover 2008:24). With capacities such as providing timely or real- time correct information, the efficient and effective use of IT has contributed to the higher performance of both individual firms and trading partners within a marketing channel (Jin 2006). As Stern et al. (1996:141) begin their chapter on the logistics of distribution: In all marketing channels the product must be moved in the right quantity at the right time to a specific place in order to be delivered most efficiently to the end- user. The authors add that logistics or supply chain management are widely-used terms that refer to “the management of the flow of goods and services and related information” (ibid.). Stern et al. (1996:1) define a marketing channel as “sets of interdependent organisations involved in the process of making a product or service available for consumption or use”, and devote one chapter in their “marketing channels bible” to “information systems and channel management”, which opens as follows (p. 401): The collection, creation, management, and communication of information are critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of any marketing channel. For overall channel performance with a macro-level perspective, Stern et al. (1996:448) define effectiveness as “the worldwide ability of channels to deliver the service outputs required by end-users as cost effectively as possible” and characterise efficiency as “how cost effectively a society’s resources are being used to accomplish specific outcomes” (p. 449). The authors add that effectiveness and efficiency are “intimately tied together” because “the[se] specific outcomes are generally the provision of service outputs to target consumer segments” (ibid.). CHAPTER 1 3

From a firm marketing perspective, Day (1994:37) postulates that “the most distinctive features of market-driven organisations are their mastery of the market sensing and customer linking capabilities”. One such tool is an e- Business system, allowing firms to improve their linking capabilities not just with their customers but also with suppliers and other actors in their marketing channels and distribution systems. One of the six capability areas that Day identifies as most capable of enhancement is the creative use of IT. Relatedly, e-Business systems have made it possible for marketing channel partners to share information on product demand and availability, which the supplier in turn can share with its upstream suppliers – thereby creating a more efficient marketing channel. From their 2002 literature review, Srini- vasan et al. (2002:58–59) conclude that “despite its [e-Business] wide-reaching effects on marketing practice, there is limited academic research in marketing on e-Business”, an IT archetype which they perceive as an essential radical technology. Despite this IT revolution (see Swanson 2020), the degree − and magni- tude − of perceived failures in information systems (IS) implementations is still unacceptably high. DePietro et al. (1990:151) offer a concise explanation of implementation: “the move from decision to action”. Rogers (1995) elab- orates: “implementation occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) puts an innovation into use” (p. 20); “implementation involves overt behavior change, as the new idea is actually put into practice” (p. 173). All too frequently, IS implementations end in disaster. Over time, innovation implementation success measurements consistently show that around two- thirds of all IT implementations are perceived as failures (e.g. Devadoss & Pan 2007, Sar & Garg 2012). These grim statistics have not been improving over time (e.g. The Standish Group International 2016), and Business2Com- munity (2018) posits that a considerable proportion of e-Business business- to-business (B2B) projects are not meeting the ex-ante business goals: only 5% of e-Business B2B initiatives within organisations are meeting their objectives. The set of criteria most frequently applied for deciding whether an IT or IS project is a success is “the classical project triangle” (or “business-oriented iron triangle”): if the promised functionalities are delivered, before the deadline and within the budget established ex-ante the project. 4 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

When reflecting on the general aggregate level, there seem to be few improvements in lowering these statistics over time, which is surprising given the extensive attention paid to learning, research knowledge accumulation and consulting, and other activities regarding IS implementation processes. IS implementation failures can occur at epic magnitudes, of which there are numerous examples. For instance, after a five-year SAP implementation process throughout 2010–2015 with Target Canada as the implementing client, the US mother firm decided to close down its Canadian daughter firm at a close-down cost of $7 billion (ZDNet 2016, Dolfing 2020). Target is one of the largest and most successful retailers in the US. However, when Target US expanded across the Canadian border (Dolfing 2020), it became apparent that the US-based inventory system was not designed to handle Canadian currency and the different product packaging size standards. For an IT system tracking the amount of data that a firm the size of Target needs, substantial system development and customisation is typically required. Once the ordering process began in 2012, a “raging inferno threatening to destroy the firm’s supply chain” emerged. The underlying cause of this breakdown was that “the data contained within the firm’s supply chain software, which governs the movement of inventory, was riddled with flaws” (Dolfing 2020). One among many e-Business-related problems, “the technology governing inventory and sales was new to the organisation; no one seemed to fully understand how it all worked” (Dolfing 2020:63). The sum of all SAP-related problems manifested in the frustration of consumers who were confronted with empty store shelves (Dolfing 2020:64). Secondly, during 2009–2015, Woolworth Australia spent AU$200 million on the 6-year SAP implementation of a merchandising system, which caused enormous problems (Financial Review 2016). The “highest-profile problems” emerged when the SAP system went live in 2015. Then, Wool- worth’s discount department stores were unable to put purchase orders through to its suppliers (ibid.), and “suppliers were furious as the system glitches prevented them from selling products at a time when shelves were empty”. Another well-known failure case is FoxMeyer Drugs’ bankruptcy (Scott 1999). FoxMeyer Drugs was a $5 billion firm and one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical distributors prior to its ES implementation fiasco: “In 1993, CHAPTER 1 5 the distributor firm began an implementation of an ES software package by SAP [R/3], and within four years the firm was bankrupt” (Motiwalla & Thompson 2012:265). The distributor aimed to use the new ES technology to increase efficiency (Scott 1999). According to the interpretive case study conducted by Scott (1999), this resulted in an implementation fiasco due to management failure, as opposed to a failure of automation or the commercial ES software. Its top managers did not understand the role of organisational change and business process redesign in ES implementation. Consequently, Motiwalla and Thompson (2012:265) conclude that since “an enterprise-wide implementation is such an expensive undertaking, the role of organisational change cannot be overlooked”. Scott (1999:224) notes the managerial implications of this example of massive failure: There are high risks involved when adopting new technologies, especially in a unique situation that [ES] vendors cannot adequately test prior to actual use. On the other hand, customers should be aware of the risks and be compensated with discounts or other incentives for early adoption. Additionally, an eight-year SAP implementation conducted by the Swedish Armed Forces throughout 2008–2016 has cost Swedish taxpayers SEK 1 billion more than the budgeted SEK 2.3 billion, raising concerns about whether any value for money was attained (Computer Sweden 2016). The main explanation for the severe implementation problems encountered, outlined in Hoekstra and Hörnström’s (2012) case study, is identified as the odd organisational culture of the Swedish Armed Forces, which meant that many cultural barriers needed to be bridged. More importantly, the large ES was perceived as intricate and had a low degree of fit with the organisational processes. Despite such public failures, when Episerver (2019) surveyed 700 B2B decision-makers globally, more than two-thirds of respondents predicted that most B2B revenue would be derived via e-Business in 2025. Interest- ingly, the empirical data collected in Episerver’s global survey (2019) show that the Swedish respondents as a group distinguished themselves. For example, they “were the most likely to agree they deliver a poor digital experience to their customers (75%) compared to British (30%), Australian (33%), American (48%), and German (36%) peers”. Swedish B2B decision-makers 6 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS also differentiated themselves as the only country group where most respondents (61%) replied that “providing our salesforce with digital selling tools” is the most significant opportunity for their business in the next three years. Thus, a highly prioritised business objective for Swedish B2B decision- makers in the coming years is to provide e-Business-based sales processes. Based on the responses of Swedish respondents, Episerver (2019) classified them as “advanced thinkers”. However, this same group of respondents stated that “they deliver a poor digital experience to their customers (75%)”, triggering an alternative view: Are Swedish B2B decision-makers lagging be- hind managers in other countries? Traditionally, IS technology innovations are applied within the IS department to improve efficiency among functions that include payroll systems, databases, and software development (Moore & Benbasat 1991). Even to implement just a stand-alone IS internally was perceived initially as a complex endeavour, as noted by Kwon & Zmud (1987:244): The “needs” precipitating an MIS implementation effort […] span a broad range of individual and organisational motives. As a result, the difficulty in successfully implementing an IS lies in the complexities of the organisation’s internal and external environments. Consequently, this thesis focuses on e-Business, a costly IS and IT archetype that is more complex to implement and use than the stand-alone internal IS archetype. One explanation for the higher complexity associated with e-Busi- ness is that the marketing channel typically involves many additional players in inter-firm (interactive) e-Business implementation processes compared to intra-firm (stand-alone) IS implementation processes.

1.1 Electronic business (e-Business)

The use of e-Business continues to grow at a high rate, with an expanding scope and regularly increasing level of importance. At the end of 2018, For- rester (2019) estimates US e-Business to have reached $1.1 trillion and represent 12% of total B2B sales in the US, forecasting that “US B2B eCom- merce will reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the US by 2023”. CHAPTER 1 7

Today, the rapidly increasing e-Business share of all sales indicates the regular and continual implementation of e-Business processes. On the one hand, this has resulted in alarming failure rates and potentially costly failures associated with e-Business implementation. On the other hand, e-Business plays an increasingly recurring role in daily transaction facilitation in marketing channels and individual, dyadic trading relationships. In combination with potentially radical performance effects, these developments imply that the findings of this thesis are more relevant than ever. The e-Business phenomenon is far from new. A decade ago, Lyytinen and Damsgaard (2011) had established that the e-Business systems that facilitate e-Business transactions between organisations had existed for at least half a century. The authors argue that implementation problems are an old headache. As early as 1967, Ackoff posited in his article “Management Mis- information Systems” that coping with complex IT projects had been a difficult and important problem for many years.

1.1.1 The name chosen for the discussed phenomenon We have many names for the things we love. The e-Business phenomenon has been given many different names, or labels, in the research literature over the years (Appendix 1 lists 58 different terms for the same IT archetype phenomenon, which is not an exhaustive list). Of course, there are variations of e-Business characteristics across the different sources included in Appendix 1. As one example, Turban et al. (2006:5) classify e-Business into three broad categories: electronic markets, inter-organisational information systems (IOSs) and intra-business e-Business (intra-organisational information systems): E-Business can be conducted in an electronic market where buyers and sellers meet online to exchange goods, services, money or information. Electronic markets may be supplemented by interorganisational or intraorganisational information systems. IOSs are those where only routine transaction processing and information flow take place between two or more organisations. E-Business activities that take place within individual organisations are facilitated by intrabusi- ness e-Business. This thesis focuses on the second of these three e-Business categories. 8 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Here, e-Business (which in the research literature often is referred to as inter-organisational information systems and often abbreviated as IOS) is most often used to refer to e-Business use (cf. Kraemer et al. 2005) in B2B and B2G (business-to-government) contexts. In this thesis, e-Business therefore includes the ES phenomenon as a sub-category because ESs wholly or partly are used to create more advanced forms of B2B and B2G e-Business systems, such as electronic data interchange systems (EDI), which support the batch exchange of structured business documents (Iacovou et al. 1995). Emmelhainz (1992:4) defines EDI, the most automated form of e-Business, as the “inter-firm, computer-to-computer exchange of business documenta- tion in a standard, machine-processable format”. When choosing to use the term e-Business − instead of the increasingly used digital business − in this Part I of the thesis, I lean on the following remark made by Peppard and Ward (2016:xi): “Many [IS/IT] vendors, suppliers, an- alysts and consultants now promote their wares under the label of digital and would you believe that it is somehow different from IS/IT of old. It is not.” Another important reason for this choice is that the e-Business term has been frequently used in the marketing and business management literature, specifically in the following studies: Mahajan and Venkatesh (2000), Srinivasan et al. (2002), Buttriss and Wilkinson (2003), Geoffrion and Krishnan (2003), Wagner et al. (2003), Wu et al. (2003), Zhu et al. (2003, 2004), Lay and Yang (2009), Osmonbekov et al. (2009), Wiengarten et al. (2011), and Bi et al. (2017). In the IS literature, the e-Business term has also been frequently used, by, for example, Kalakota and Robinson (1999), Turban et al. (2008), Chaffey (2009), Schneider (2013), Motiwalla and Thompson (2014), Peppard and Ward (2016), and Beynon-Davies (2020). Turban et al. (2000:5) conclude that many authors writing before the year 2000 used e-Business to refer to “a broader definition of e-Commerce, not just buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners, and conducting electronic transactions within an organization”. The authors also quote the then-CEO of IBM, Lou Gerstner, who explained e-Business as follows (Turban et al. 2000:5): “e-Business is all about time cycle, speed, globalisation, enhanced productivity, reaching new CHAPTER 1 9 customers and sharing knowledge across institutions for competitive advantage”. In this work, I subscribe to Chaffey’s (2011:xiii) definition of e- Business: All electronically mediated information exchanges, both within an organization and with external stakeholders supporting the range of business processes. The central business process element (for e-Business) is defined by Daven- port (1993:5) as “the specific ordering of work activities across time and space, with a beginning, an end, and clearly identified inputs and outputs”. Examples of business processes include order fulfilment, materials acquisition, and new product development (Davenport 1993, Hammer & Champy 1993). Chaffey (2011:xiii–xiv) explains the motivations for e-Business as well as its components and the main requirements for its successful management: E-Business is aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of an organization by deploying innovative information and communications technology throughout an organisation and beyond, through links to partners and customers. It does not simply involve using technology to automate existing processes, but should also achieve process transformation by applying technology to help change these processes. To be successful in managing e-Business, a breadth of knowledge is needed of different business processes and activities from across the value chain such as marketing and sales, through new product development, manufacturing and inbound and outbound logistics. Based on this explanation, Chaffey (2011:xiv) concludes that firms need to manage the changes required from new and redesigned inter-firm and intra- firm business processes and new e-Business technology through human resources management. Relatedly, Bala and Venkatesh (2007:341) define an inter-firm business process as “a set of interrelated and sequential activities that are shared and executed by two or more trading entities to achieve a business objective that is of value to the trading partners”. The term interrelated is used to identify the influences, direct or indirect, of one activity on another or a larger group of activities. The implementation of e-Business in the domain in question “invariably involves changing things” (Beynon-Davies 2020:309), which requires change management (see more in chapter 2). Many writers have, over time, used the concepts e-Business and e-Com- merce as synonyms, which may create additional confusion. Beynon-Davies 10 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

(2020:30) explains the main difference between these two concepts as follows: Electronic business (e-Business) involves any ICT-enablement of an organisation’s internal value chain, as well as its external value network. In contrast, electronic commerce is a subset of e-Business, and refers to ICT-enablement solely of aspects of the external value network of some organization. However, e-Commerce is not the focus of this thesis. The stance taken in this thesis is that e-Business is, per its definition, used in external business relationships (cf. Meier & Chismar 1991, Wang & Seid- mann 1995, Hart & Saunders 1997). Nevertheless, e-Business within a firm is not the focus of this thesis, even though it is acknowledged that trade within larger firms can substantially impact internal efficiency and effectiveness. The core basis for e-Business is a joint will and decision between two trading partners to improve inter-firm cooperation (Bensaou 1997, Grover et al. 2002) or inter-firm co-ordination (Malone et al. 1987, Henderson 1990, Lyons et al. 1990). In the same vein, Miles and Snow (1992) argue that the degree of success of an e-Business system is based on relational cooperation rather than competition. The establishment of a sophisticated computer linkage, such as an EDI link, signifies a specific relationship commitment.

1.1.2 Specific e-Business forms employed across the five studies The primary data collected across these five empirical studies are different animals (cf. Tilson et al. 2010): Study 1 and Study 2 consider pre-Internet e- Business, Study 3 and Study 5 concern Internet e-Business, and Study 4 contain both e-Business types (see chapter 3). Another variation across the five empirical studies that constitute this thesis is that different levels of analyses were chosen (see chapter 3). Given that multiple stakeholders are involved in each particular e-Business implementation process, conditions on macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis all have a significant effect (Johnston & Gregor 2000, Gregor & Johnston 2001, Zhu et al. 2006b). Study 1 was conducted with both a macro perspective (a survey study among dealers on the buyer side) and a micro (firm) perspective (among producers and distributors on the supplier side). Study 2 mainly involved a firm perspective. Study 3 included a macro perspective (a private client survey) CHAPTER 1 11 and a firm perspective (of the service provider). Study 4 applied a vertical dyadic, or inter-organisational, perspective between one municipality in its buyer role towards four of its suppliers. In the marketing channel context, “the term vertical refers to relationships and activities that take place between different levels of distribution” (Reve & Stern 1986:99). Study 5 also applied a dyadic perspective of the firm sourcing a web-based e-Business system and its ES and e-Business system vendor. The following business contexts were included in the studies: Study 1 and Study 2 concern the hardware goods distribution system (B2B), Study 3 addresses private banking services (B2C), Study 4 discusses the purchasing side of goods and services for municipalities (B2G), and Study 5 reviews the change to a web-based ES for speciality sack paper (B2B). This design allows for the evaluation of various types of implementation issues over time. The specific issues encountered by different e-Business applications were examined in studies 1–4, while ES change, or migration, issues were analysed in Study 5. One important characteristic of e-Business (including ES) implementation processes is their associated complexity, driven by the fact that organisational change processes often occur concurrently (e.g. Boudreau & Robey 1999, Zhu et al. 2006b). This intricacy implies that conditions on multiple levels of analyses often are involved in inter-firm and intra-firm relationships.

1.1.3 The e-Business definitions chosen for each study As noted earlier, different forms of e-Business in varying business contexts have been reviewed in the five empirical studies. As a result of this multi-year approach that spans two decades, different concepts for the specific e-Busi- ness phenomena focused upon were chosen. Publication 1, focusing on e-Business B2B, distinguishes itself from the following four publications in terms of the language used. It is written in Swedish, and the Swedish concept used is “datorstödd affärskommu- nikation” (with the synonym “interorganisatoriska informationssystem”; Publication 1:9), which can be translated into computer-supported business communication and inter-organisational information systems, respectively. For “computer-supported business communication”, the following definition by Ben- jamin et al. (1988:8–9) has been adopted: 12 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

By inter-organisational information systems is meant when computer machine readable data are electronically sent between different juridical persons. In publication 2, which focuses on e-Business B2B, the concept inter-organisational information systems (IOS) is used. My co-author and I use the following definition by Benjamin et al. (1990:48) when to define IOS and EDI, respectively: An umbrella term for both transaction processing applications and non-routine task-support applications, regardless of whether they are applied in an electronic hierarchy or in an electronic market setting. The most common type of IOS is electronic data interchange (EDI) systems (Benjamin et al. 1990, Sprague 1991), which can be defined as inter-organisational transaction processing applications in established buyer−seller relationships. In publication 2 (p. 48), we propose the following definition of EDI: inter-organisational transaction processing applications in established buyer- seller relationships. Publication 3, concerning e-Business B2C and consumer channel choice, compares two significant retail bank client segments (Mols 1999): e-banking users versus (physical) branch office users. The study contrasts these groups’ perceptions regarding the different perceived behavioural and attitudinal characteristics of the contact person and the clients’ attitudinal loyalty. The e-Banking concept is not defined in this publication, which is one weakness. In publication 4, focusing on e-Business B2G, the chosen research questions comprise two e-Business concepts: e-Invoices and e-Business portal. The definition of portal is adopted from Carlsson and Hedman (2001:1052): A portal is designed as a single entry point for its user to all the internal and external applications, information, and services necessary for completing their work task. Publication 5 discusses an ES change, or migration, which enabled the focal case firm’s new ES, studying in particular the web-based sales portal offered to customers making online orders, and access to various business data. Shanks and Seddon (2000) describe ESs as a new type of configurable computer-based information system for enterprise integration. ESs are sold as comprehensive software solutions that help integrate business processes through shared information and data flows. The integration of core business functions, including order management, logistics, and finance, is achieved by CHAPTER 1 13 creating a single system with a shared database (Lee & Lee 2000). Thus, an ES supports a firm in managing its relationships within the marketing channel and distribution system of which it is a part. An ES also supports processes such as, e.g. customer and purchase order management, inventory management, production planning, accounting, and human resource management (Somers & Nelson 2003). In publication 5 (p. 1), the ES concept is defined as follows: Enterprise systems (ESs) are standardized computer-based information systems for enterprise integration, internally and externally. ESs can be customized in principally two ways: traditional parameter-driven systems and the new type of systems built up by a user-friendly application generator. ESs are characterized as all-embracing administrative information provision in organisations supporting the integration of business processes through shared information flows (cf. Shanks & Seddon 2000). The integration of core business processes, for example accounting, order management, logistics and human resources, is achieved through the creation of a single system with a shared database.

1.1.4 Characteristics of the multilateral e-Business phenomenon E-Business systems are configured as one-to-one links, one-to-many links, or many-to-many links (here called multilateral). The multilateral e-Business configuration is presented in the following because it is the most complex configuration. Specifically, this multilateral phenomenon is a networking character innovation, meaning that it builds upon interactions between different network members. “An interactive innovation means that the value for a single actor or individual of linking to it to a great extent is dependent upon that others also are linked” (Publication 1:20). One important characteristic of interactive innovations (e.g. multilateral e-Business systems) is that the more users are linked to the system, the greater the value of joining the interactive innovation – from both benefit and profit perspectives. In comparison with stand-alone innovations (such as, for example, product innovations), an interactive innovation initially is adopted and diffused at a slower rate. Once a sufficient number of users have linked to the interactive innovation, and the value of linking to it is perceived to exceed the cost, critical mass has been attained (Schelling 1978, Markus 1987, Mahler & Rog- ers 1999, Van Slyke et al. 2007). Rogers (1995) define critical mass as “a 14 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

[threshold] point in the diffusion [of innovation] process when diffusion becomes self-sustaining” (p. 313) and argue that “until there is a critical mass of adopters, an interactive innovation has little advantage (and considerable disadvantage) for individual adopters” (p. 319). When a perceived critical mass situation has been attained, the interactive innovation diffusion is then more or less self-sustaining. A minimum level (volume share) of the product range demanded by the buyer must be offered by the supplier or the network of suppliers in order for the buyer to be willing to link to it. Correspondingly, a minimum number of buyers representing a minimum level (volume share) of the product range offered by the supplier must (be willing to) link to the system for a supplier to be willing to invest in the e-Business system. Thus, two critical masses need to exist (Quelch & Yip 1985), consisting of one on each side of the interactive e-Business system innovation. To attain a successful self-sustaining diffusion process, both critical mass situations must be attained. Gaining first-mover advantages is probably more critical for interactive innovations than for stand-alone innovations. Concerning the two types of critical mass, it is essential to create win-win situations, where suppliers and buyers evenly or fairly split the profits created from their e-Business use. One of the significant differences for interactive innovations, compared to the non-interactive product innovations critical to the diffusion process, is how two-way interaction influences the individual firm perspective and the system perspective (i.e. the industry perspective). For non-interactive innovations, it is sufficient to consider the individual firm perspective, while for interactive innovations, there is also a need to consider the industry perspective due to the mutual dependence between the micro and the macro levels. Thus, an individual firm may act in a way that seems rational in order to fulfil its individual goals (i.e. as seen from an internal perspective), but at the same time not fully consider the harm it may cause itself and other parties in the same network if an industry perspective instead is applied. E-Business is certainly a multi-level phenomenon. The five studies in this thesis jointly meet the call of Zhang and Gable (2017) to explore conditions on macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis. Focusing on multi-level theo- rising, Zhang and Gable (2017:223) conclude that most IS studies investigate phenomena at a single level of analysis at a time, adding: CHAPTER 1 15

Although IS phenomena usually span multiple levels of analysis, many such multilevel research questions have never been answered or explored in the IS discipline. This opens a great range of opportunities for entering an untapped domain of multilevel phenomena. Thus, according to Zhang and Gable (2017), there have been relatively few multi-level studies conducted in the IS literature. In their concluding “Impli- cations for IS research” section, Zhang and Gable posit that multi-level research questions remain to be explored and answered. Similarly, the research review of Kurnia et al. (2019:422) shows that existing e-Business implementation studies typically have considered only one or two levels of analysis. They have only identified three published qualitative e-Business implementation studies (p. 424): Guo et al. (2014), Reimers et al. (2014), and Kurnia et al. (2015). These studies stress the value of combining three levels of analysis to understand variance in e-Business implementation outcomes better. Multilateral e-Business systems have, according to Reimers et al. (2014; which they call industry-wide information infrastructures), only recently at- tracted broader scholarly attention in the IS literature (e.g. Tilson et al. 2010). Studying the healthcare sector in China, Reimers et al. (2014) argue that the emergence and evolution of multilateral e-Business systems – i.e. the e-Busi- ness subject matter being studied in Study 1 – is poorly understood. The authors posit that this was partially because the IS literature had applied much smaller units of analysis than the industry level, including projects, organisations, or small networks of firms. They conclude that more attention needs to be paid to development dynamics at the industry level. In order to exemplify how IT implementation at the firm level may fail to result in the use of integrated e-Business systems, Reimers et al. (2014) refer to a study by Kellerman and Jones (2013). In their study of health IT systems in the United States, the latter find that “the expected savings were not achieved, largely because systems were not interoperable and processes were not aligned across healthcare organisations” (p. 418). Therefore, Reimers et al. (2014:384) propose a combined industry-level and firm-level constructs model to understand the emergence and evolution of multilateral e-Business systems. 16 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

In addition to the rarity of applying a multi-level approach, the research review of Nambisan et al. (2019) demonstrates that, when multi-level models – or perspectives – are applied, the issue of analysis across levels has received little attention.

1.1.5 Enterprise systems (ES) Some scholars who have employed the enterprise system (ES) concept from its introduction include Davenport (1998, 2000) and Markus and Tanis (2000). Davenport (2000:2) describes ESs as “packages of computer applications that support many, even most, aspects of a firm’s information needs. […] From accounting to manufacturing, from sales to service, ES modules support thousands of business activities”. Typically, the ES uses one central database for the entire organisation to ensure information commonality, guaranteeing that information is the same throughout all departments (p. 3– 4). One core purpose of implementing and using an ES is to integrate different business functions within the firm. Motiwalla and Thompson (2012:29) employ the title of Davenport’s (2000) book in the beginning of their definition of ESs, which they term: mission-critical information systems in today’s business organisation. They replace an assortment of systems that typically existed in those organisations […]. In addition, they solve the critical problem of integrating information from various sources inside and outside the organisation’s environment and make it available, in real time, to all employees and partners of the organisation. Further, the authors maintain that the ES acts as a central repository for information in the organisation and integrates the different departments “onto a single infrastructure that serves the needs of each department” (p. 28). The potential benefits of using ESs are considerable, but traditional ESs that streamline and integrate internal business processes improve efficiency only within the firm (Davenport 1998). Because each member firm of a marketing channel has a value chain that increasingly extends beyond the firm boundaries, including activities performed by other channel members, all channel members need to focus on improving overall channel performance (Stern et al. 1996:447). The rate of inventory turnover and profitability depend on improved business processes and information flows inside the focal firm and between CHAPTER 1 17 firms (Melville et al. 2004). The full potential of an ES cannot be realised if its integration and coordination capabilities are internally confined (Swaminathan & Tayur 2003).

1.1.6 E-Business and ES Focusing on ES from a managerial perspective, Motiwalla and Thompson (2014:14–15) argue that e-Business and ES are complementary rather than competing technologies. E-Business is extending the firm by targeting inter- firm, or external, business processes, while ES address internal business processes. Motiwalla and Thompson (2014:14) posit that the primary goals regarding e-Business are increased external business process integration and effectiveness (by sharing data), while the main goals for ES are increased internal business process integration and efficiency (by sharing data). Additionally, e-Business is classified as a disruptive technology and ES as an adaptive technology (Motiwalla and Thompson 2014:14): E-Business practically transformed the way business operates in terms of buying and selling, customer service, and its [the customer’s] relationships with suppliers. This caused a lot of disruptions in organizational strategy, structure, power. Motiwalla and Thompson (2014:14) conceptualise these two technologies as partly overlapping. They label the intersection of e-Business and ES business strategy alignment to convey the message that, together, the two technologies enable “aligning business processes with information processing logic and in transforming these organisations […] to matrix and other hybrid or flexible organizational structures” (p. 15). E-Business technologies are intended to enable the sharing of business information, which should be easily accessible from the respective trading partner’s ES and shared among the firms within the marketing channel (Ash & Burn 2003, Swaminathan & Tayur 2003). Thus, e-Business enables ES-based firms to build more digitally interactive relationships with their trading partners within the marketing channel (Ash & Burn 2003). 18 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

1.2 A multi-phase technology innovation implementation model

The comprehensive literature review of organisational innovation and IS implementation research conducted by Kwon and Zmud (1987:232) demonstrates that the organisational innovation process often has been modelled as a longitudinal three-phase process (Kwon and Zmud refer to this as a three- stage process) that follows a temporal sequence: initiation, adoption, and implementation. DePietro et al. (1990:151) and Wolfe et al. (1990:182) define adoption as: “the process by which a firm defines a problem to be solved, searches for solutions, and finally makes a choice among alternatives”. Rogers (1995:392) identifies the adoption decision as a necessary, but not sufficient, central event within the innovation process in an organisation. Rogers labels the broad activity before the adoption decision as initiation and the broad activity after the adoption decision as implementation. Prior to Rogers, the organisational innovation and IS implementation models typically did not consider post-adoption and post-evaluation phases. Adoption and implementation are often viewed as two separate consec- utive phases in an organisational or technological innovation process. During the initiation phase, which precedes the adoption phase (see Figure 1), the pressure to change can arise from “either need-pull or technology-push forces”. Zhu et al. (2006b:1559) define the [e-Business] initiation phase (the authors call this a stage) as: “evaluating the potential benefits of e-Business to improve a firm’s performance in value chain activities such as cost reduction, market expansion and supply chain coordination”. The adoption phase involves deciding to invest the (often massive; Stern et al. 1996:401) resources appraised as necessary to support the intended change effort within the marketing channel. The [e-Business] adoption phase is defined as “making the decision to use e-Business for value chain activities (i.e. allocating resources and physically acquiring the technology)” by Zhu et al. (2006b:1559; modified formulation). CHAPTER 1 19

1.2.1 A broader perspective on the implementation process According to Kwon and Zmud (1987:232), the implementation stage “refers to development, installation and maintenance activities”: It is in this stage that resources are expended to promote novel behaviors to diminish opposing forces, and to otherwise insure that expected benefits from investments in new technologies are realised. Based on their research review, Kwon and Zmud (1987:233) present their proposed multi-phase technology innovation implementation model, consisting of six phases (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: A six-phase view of the IS implementation process Source: Kwon and Zmud (1987:233)

Kwon and Zmud (1987:241) define an IS as “a formal, deliberately planned technological innovation composed of man, machine, and procedures that is introduced into an organisation in response to a perceived need on the part of one or more organisational members”. They define IS implementation as “an organisational effort to diffuse an appropriate information technology within a user community” (p. 231). The three change-process stages of Lewin’s (1952:472) model, based on social change activities, are included at the top of Figure 1 (Kwon & Zmud 1987:233): unfreezing, change (originally moving), and refreezing (originally freezing). Over time, most studies have focused on predicting adoption and ignoring what happens after adoption (Kimberly 1981:90, Chwelos et al. 2001, Zhu & Kraemer 2005, Zhu et al. 2006c, Park et al. 2014, Veiga et al. 2014). 20 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Kimberly’s (1981) explanations for this dominant focus in the research literature are the widespread assumption that the adoption of innovations is a positive development and that organisations adopting innovations respond to changing business environments. Adoption and use processes are related, as different subsequent phases within an implementation (Kwon & Zmud 1987:233) or assimilation process (Fichman & Kemerer 1997). Chatterjee et al. (2002:66) define [technology innovation] assimilation as “the extent to which the use of a technology dif- fuses across organisational work processes and becomes routinised in the activities associated with those processes”. Without adoption, there is no implementation. Similarly, Zhu et al. (2006b:1558) use the assimilation concept. They define e-Business assimilation as: a series of stages from a firm’s initial evaluation of e-Business at the preadoption stage (initiation), to its formal adoption, and finally to its full-scale deployment at the postadoption stage in which e-Business becomes an integral part of the [intra-firm] value chain activities [routinisation]. The stance taken in this thesis is that the adoption (decision phase) is not ‘the thing’ (elaborated on below). Kwon and Zmud (1987:232) propose four assessment dimensions for evaluating the degree of innovation implementation success (see phases 4 and 5 in Figure 1): acceptance, use, performance, and satisfaction. These four outcome dimensions play a decisive role within their IS implementation model as they jointly provide the basis for determining whether an innovation is appropriate for the organisation in question. Among these four postadoption assessment processes is the acceptance (assessment) process, which is assumed to precede the use−performance−satisfaction (assessment) process (see Figure 1). Thus, according to Kwon and Zmud’s implementation process model, use is one of the outcome dimensions of an effective technology innovation implementation process. Incorporation is the final phase in the model (based on Rogers 1983:233), occurring: when the [technological] innovation becomes embedded within an organisation’s routines and when the innovation is being applied to its full potential within an organisation. CHAPTER 1 21

The model also incorporates feedback loops, which have both positive and negative influences. Early on, Leonard-Barton (1988:626) posited that the implementation process is about innovation in itself: The implementation of organisational innovations, of which new technologies are a subset, is an extremely complex management problem, requiring much skill. Leonard-Barton (1988) contends that, to a great extent, the implementation process for an innovation relates to innovation in itself. A related argument is provided by Kimberly (1981:91), who concludes that a recommended internal-diffusion strategy is that managers “encourage each subunit [of an organisation] to experiment with the innovation on its own and in the context of its own needs”. Rogers (1995:5) defines diffusion (which will be discussed further in chapter 2) as: “the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system”. At the micro-level, Sullivan (1985:6) defines diffusion as “the degree to which IT [technology] has been disseminated or scattered throughout the firm: in organizational terms, in physical terms, in terms of responsibility”. More ex- pansively at the macro-level, Wareham et al. (2005:324) explain diffusion similarly to Rogers: “the degree of use and spread of an innovation in a defined population”.

1.2.2 Implementation and use combined The close inter-relationship between the terms (technology innovation) implementation and use − two of the core concepts in this thesis, is clearly illustrated by the very brief diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory’s definition of (innovation) implementation provided by Rogers (1995:20, 2003:474): “that which occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) puts an innovation into use”. Thus, use is perceived as a part, or one phase, of an implementation process and an outcome of the implementation process. From a process view perspective on (innovation) implementation (e.g. Kwon & Zmud 1987), the use phase is (one of) the most significant phases of an (innovation) implementation process. Staehr et al. (2012), however, use “implementation and use” as a pair of related but distinctly separate concepts. 22 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Meyer and Goes (1988:903) have previously identified the use stage as one of three substages in what they named as the “adoption-implementation stage” within a broader assimilation process. The authors (Meyer and Goes 1988:903) use acceptance stage as the name of the use substage, which they further explain as: “the equipment becomes well accepted and frequently used”. Rogers (1995:392; emphasis added) classifies (innovation) implementation as: “all of the events, actions, and decisions involved in putting an innovation into use”, conveying the message that the main focus during an innovation implementation process is placed on how to increase the degree of use of the innovation. Similarly, Meyers et al. (1999:295) illustrate the overlap between the implementation and use concepts: “the early use activities that often follow the adoption decision”. Consequently, when Meyers et al. (1999) posit that implementation determines whether buyers realise the full benefits of process innovations, this can be interpreted as use determining the outcomes. Leonard-Barton (1988) implies that the degree of technology use and other outcomes depend on implementation activities that must be coordi- nated and synchronised internally across many individual co-workers within a firm. Likewise, IT-enabled organisational changes implemented internally by each e-Business partner (Markus 2004, Harison & Boonstra 2009) typically occur as processes over time (Staehr et al. 2012) during the e-Business use phase. Wu et al. (2011:1416) define e-Business systems use as: “the ability of a focal firm to motivate itself and its suppliers and/or customers to crea- tively use a B2B e-Business system and information provided by the system”. The implementation processes of e-Business and large-scale systems, such as ESs, are still associated with the complexity created since many different stakeholders at various levels of analysis are involved. Therefore, implementing these large-scale systems is a complex and risky endeavour due to their broad scope, the unstructured implementation nature, and complex characteristics of the technology (Akkermans & van Helden 2002, Bajwa et al. 2004:86, Davis et al. 2009:26, Supramaniam & Kuppusamy 2011:16). As noted, ES implementation failure costs are significant, and the number of failures is much too high (Motiwalla & Thompson 2014). Therefore, Moti- CHAPTER 1 23 walla and Thompson (2014:22) conclude that: “it is critical to assess and understand the organisation’s capacity for implementing such a complex system”. Hung et al. (2012:412) similarly stress the implications of the high costs associated with e-Business implementation, which they describe as “expensive and irreversible. Thus it is important for firms to be as successful as possible in their implementation efforts”.

1.3 Business performance effects from e-Business use

System use can realise value manifested in improving firms’ performance and new capabilities (Soh & Markus 1995, Zhu & Kraemer 2005, Zhang & Dhali- wal 2009, Nevo & Wade 2010). The process-theory-based approach proposed by Soh and Markus (1995) suggests that the impact of IS and IT on organisational performance is mediated through use.

1.3.1 The adoption is not ‘the thing’ As Staehr et al. (2012:427) phrase it: “there can be a temptation to think that the e-Business [ERP] project is complete when the system goes live”. Para- phrasing Child (1987), Pettigrew and Whipp (1993:171) posit that “technology of itself confers nothing until it is used by somebody. Human choice is central to its development and exploitation”. Devaraj and Kohli (2003) maintain that the driver of IT-enabled performance effects (Kohli & Grover 2008 call this IT-based value) is not IT investment but the actual usage of the technology. If systems are not used, the intended performance effects will not be realised (e.g. Silver et al. 1995). This conclusion appears throughout the IS literature focusing on the individual as the unit of analysis (e.g. Jasperson et al. 2005, Liang et al. 2015). Additionally, studies focusing on intra-firm work system-level conditions (e.g. Gallivan et al. 2005, Hsieh et al. 2011) and inter-firm level conditions (e.g. Vijayasarathy & Robey 1997, Wu et al. 2011) likewise have drawn this conclusion. Efficient and effective use of the e-Business [ERP] system is one of three conditions that positively drive performance effects, according to the model of Staehr et al. (2012:426). Performance effects are also driven by business 24 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS process redesign and new projects that leverage the new system (ibid.). So in their view, efficient and effective use of the e-Business system is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for attaining performance effects. Clark and Stoddard (1996) recommend starting with a business process redesign before undertaking the digitalisation of business processes. Veiga et al. (2014) perceive the actual use (phase) during the implementation process as the central mediating variable through which expectations before the adoption influence the degree of proficient use. Veiga et al. (2014:694) operationalise proficient use as “the extent to which individuals fully utilize the core, integrative applications within a specific software platform that are designed and intended to enhance their performance on essential, job-related tasks”. Thus, the authors stress full utilisation, as suggested by Marcolin et al. (2000).

1.3.2 Potential business opportunities attainable from the use of e-Business systems The focal point of this thesis, the enormous potential business opportunities stemming from the effective use of e-Business systems and IT, have been noted in early works by Buzzell (1985), Julander (1987), and Keen (1988, 1991). Concretely, e-Business systems offer the potential for business performance effects such as reduced costs and increased sales for all marketing channel members. In inter-firm business relationships, trading partners need to evaluate the influence of inter-firm e-Business use on business performance favourably for their relationship to survive (cf. Vijayasarathy & Robey 1997). Based on their analysis of “the impact of IT over five decades”, Bjørn- Andersen and Raymond (2014) conclude that cost reductions result from the consistent overall performance effect of IT use. This overall relative cost change from deploying IS or IT has, over time, affected how marketing channels, business relationships, and individual firms organise their business models and processes. Simultaneously, e-Business marketing channel systems (called electronic channels by Christiansee & Venkatraman 2002) also may increase the risk to the channel intermediaries, such as distributors. These e-Business systems CHAPTER 1 25 pose a dis-intermediation threat for the channel intermediaries since they potentially enable business information and transaction flows directly between retailers and manufacturers (El Sawy et al. 1999, Yao et al. 2007). E-Business systems have the potential to improve firm and marketing channel-wide performance by increasing efficiency (e.g. reduced costs from increased transaction efficiencies) and effectiveness (e.g. increased revenues and coordination effectiveness). One crucial innovation characteristic of the e-Business archetype is that it supports various critical business processes along the marketing channel (Straub & Watson 2001). E-Business is broader than EDI, which supports the batch exchange of structured business documents and, as a result, improves operational efficiencies. E-Business also supports customer individu- alisation, may improve after-sales services, and enables two-way information exchanges in real-time (Barua et al. 2004). E-Business use can result in relative competitive advantages based on both strategic benefits (e.g. increased sales) and operational benefits (e.g. reduced costs). Zhu and Kraemer (2005:67) propose the following definition of e-Business use: “the extent to which e-Business is being used to conduct value chain activities”, including value chain activities at both the front-end (selling) and the back-end (procurement). Investing resources in reorganising the organisational structure and redesigning the business process, which often is needed when implementing e- Business systems (Zhu et al. 2006b), increases the associated costs. These costs may significantly inhibit e-Business use by the participating firms, and the cost condition is therefore a prominent barrier to e-Business use. E-Busi- ness forms, such as EDI (which Day 2000 calls an interactive technology), also typically require inter-firm alignment and the integration of business processes. Seggie et al. (2006) conclude that shortcomings in cultivating and attaining effective business−IT alignment processes (cf. Venkatraman 1994) among marketing channel partners impede the attainment of potential positive performance effects of IT implementation processes for individual firms. Relatedly, the central finding in Al-Surmi et al.’s (2020:47) study, focusing on the performance impact of triadic strategic alignment among business, marketing, and IT strategies, is that the successful implementation of 26 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS marketing and IT strategies is required to adapt a business strategy for superior performance. When EDI is perceived as an integral part of a firm’s business strategy, “then the EDI system is said to be strategically embedded” (Bjørn-Andersen & Krcmar 1995:302). Markus (2004) proposes the concept of technochange (technology-driven organisational change). The objective of technochange is to attain the following characteristics (Markus 2004:4): a complete intervention consisting of IT and complementary organisational changes, an implementable solution with minimal misfits with the existing organisation, and an organisation primed to appropriate the potential benefits of the technochange solution. An implementable solution is a complete approach that is likely to be adopted and used (Markus & Keil 1994). Markus (2004:10) stresses the potential of improved effectiveness that can result from well-designed and well- implemented technochange: The real payoffs of technochange come from creating new products and processes that exploit the potential of IT, rather than just fitting IT to the way processes are currently done.

1.3.3 The multi-dimensional concept of success Wu et al. (2011:1415, 1418) propose that e-Business success is attained “when a firm has used e-Business systems to provide IT support to intra- and inter- firm operation and management and have produced [IT-enabled] collaborative advantage with its business partners”. Thus, Wu et al. (2011) adopt a relationship, or dyadic, perspective on e-Business success. Different stakeholders have various objectives regarding what they expect from e-Business use, given their different assumed roles in marketing channels or distribution systems. That means that one actor can perceive the implementation of one specific system as a success while another actor views the same system as a failure. Therefore, Silver et al. (1995) conceptualise success as an illusory multi-dimensional concept. What is acknowledged as successful depends on who is asked (Markus et al. 2000). The performance effects of using an IS “are not necessarily uniform. Some may be desirable while others may not. Performance effects may be at odds with people effects; for example, a system might improve profits at the CHAPTER 1 27 expense of the quality of worklife for co-workers” (Silver et al. 1995:368). In addition, perceived success is not a binary variable. On the contrary, it is continuous. Thus, it is relevant to consider different perceived degrees of success among the different stakeholders involved in a specific e-Business system. Measurements are critical for evaluating business performance effects of e-Business use. The systematic measurement of key business processes and performance effects provides a basis for new action and continuous improvement (Kaplan 1996).

1.4 Positioning

Two of the most commonly used theories in this thesis are the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory (Rogers 1963) and the relational view (Dyer & Singh 1998). These theories are presented in chapter 2 alongside earlier e- Business studies that are also based upon these theoretical approaches. The five case studies were conducted in various business context settings (i.e. B2B, B2G, and B2C), with different units of analysis chosen and different e- Business forms studied. Therefore, different sub-theories of the relational view theory found most appropriate have been chosen across the five studies. Study 1 is based upon the theoretical premises outlined in the following: marketing channel theory (Stern & Kaufmann 1985, Stern & El-Ansary 1988), economic distribution channel theory (Bucklin 1966), relationship marketing perspective on e-Business (Cunningham & Culligan 1989, Cun- ningham 1990), critical mass theory for interactive innovations (Markus 1987, 1990), organisation innovation theory (Baldridge & Burnham 1975, Downs & Mohr 1976, Meyer & Goes 1988), and the competititive position and marketing strategy approach (Porter 1980, 1985). Study 2 references the following theories: marketing and distribution channel theory, more specifically in the form of the theory of differential advantage from marketing (Alderson 1957); the relationship view theory (e.g. Gadde & Mattsson 1987, Johanson & Mattsson 1994); and the business−IT alignment theory (Venkatraman 1991, 1994, Scott Morton 1991, 1992). 28 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Study 3 applies the following theories: service marketing management B2B (Paulin et al. 1999, Paulin et al. 2000, Mulligan & Gordon 2002, Bolton et al. 2003), consumer satisfaction (Fornell 1992, Mols 1998), consumer loyalty (Johnson et al. 2001), consumer service quality (Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1988, Zeithaml et al. 1988), self-service technology and service loyalty and quality (Dabholkar 1996, Selnes & Hansen 2001), and distribution channel structure theory (Mols 1999). Study 4 draws upon the following theories: the relationship view on e- Business literature (Reekers & Smithson 1995, Kumar & van Dissel 1996), IT use in IS theory (DeLone 1988, Tuunainen 1998), and IT adoption in IS theory (DeLone 1988, Iacovou et al. 1995, Premkumar et al. 1997). Given the small firm size of many e-Business target suppliers in Study 4, empirical studies focusing on small businesses were prioritised. Finally, Study 5 is based upon the following more methodological approaches: project management methodology in IS theory (Chow & Cao 2008), information system development (ISD) agility theory (Lyytinen & Rose 2006), and process−system (IS) alignment theory (Sia & Soh 2007).

1.5 Research questions

Given that e-Business and ES investments are the most costly ventures for firms and, if effectively implemented step-by-step, may provide high firm- level and marketing channel benefits, their alarmingly high failure rates are serious business. Thus, top (senior) executives must continually increase their knowledge of how to manage impeding implementation conditions or forces (Keen 1981, Soh & Markus 1995, Granstrand et al. 1997, Galliers et al. 2012, Luftman et al. 2013, Peppard & Ward 2016, Al-Surmi et al. 2020, Beynon- Davies 2020) and how to avoid the implementation pitfalls for these costly, and often risky, investments. Hung et al. (2012:412) call for increased research because “e-Business implementation is expensive and irreversible. Thus it is important for firms to be as successful as possible in their implementation efforts”. The work across all five studies has been guided by and focused upon two general research questions of particular relevance due to the continuously increasing scope and importance of the e-Business phenomenon: CHAPTER 1 29

Research question 1 (RQ1): What are the conditions influencing e-Busi- ness system implementation processes?

It is of great importance that we increase our finer-grained understanding of the conditions that drive or impede (improved) e-Business systems implementation processes. Given the high failure rates for IT implementation processes, one plausible conclusion is that a focus on system use processes is more relevant than focusing on the adoption decision process. Put simply, if systems are not used, the intended performance effects will never be realised. Similarly, Beynon-Davies (2020:201) comments on the desired value of IT use: the value or the worth of IT cannot be divorced from the question of what it delivers: that is, data for use in information systems. The value [worth] of IT is also directly related to the degree to which IT systems are used and the impact they have on organisations. This quote connects to the second research question outlined below.

Research question 2 (RQ2): What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e-Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance?

Many firms do not know whether they have attained e-Business-related performance effects (Markus & Tanis 2000, Davenport et al. 2004), which pre- sents a related problem: How should the attained e-Business-related performance effects be measured? However, measurement issues are not a focus of this thesis, with the brief exception of the survey in Study 1. The outlined research questions are linked via e-Business use. The potential benefits of e-Business system use (RQ2) cannot be attained unless the implementation process is perceived as successful by two (since e-Business by definition is implemented in dyadic relationships) or more among the involved stakeholders (RQ1). Thus, RQ2 is linked to RQ1. Regarding RQ1, e-Business use is perceived as the primary dependent variable affected by the independent variables influencing the e-Business implementation process (RQ1). E-Business use is also an independent variable 30 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS influencing e-Business-related performance effects (part of RQ2). In other words, e-Business use is an intermediary variable in-between an e-Business implementation process (RQ1) and e-Business-related performance effects (RQ2), as proposed by, for example, Benbasat and Zmud (2003), Kohli and Grover (2008) and Robey et al. (2008).

1.5.1 Purposes Purpose 1 of this Part I of the thesis is to answer the two research questions presented above. Since the most recent underlying publication was published in 2010 and e-Business technology develops continuously over time, it is in this Part I of the thesis relevant to account for some of the e-Business studies conducted after 2010. This review also enables comparisons between my studies and some of the relevant research publications that have appeared during the last decade. This research review is also a significant contribution.

Purpose 2 is to conduct and present a literature review that centres on the two research questions. The research review has been conducted after the five studies had been published.

1.6 Two chosen perspectives

1.6.1 Proactive versus reactive approaches to e-Business use in dyadic relationships Cash and Konsynski (1985) suggest that it is necessary to distinguish between initiating and proactive e-Business leader firms (here called e-Business source firms; Ciborra 1992, 1994) and the reactive e-Business follower firms (here called the e-Business target firms; O’Callaghan et al. 1992). The e-Business source firm is often the dominant party in a relationship (cf. Wang & Seid- mann 1995). Meier and Chismar (1991:511) have noted that the source firm benefits substantially more, in terms of process benefits, from EDI use compared to the target firm. The authors also conclude that there tends to be a lag between the times that process benefits accrue (earlier) to the proactive source firm and (later) to the reactive target firm. Additional studies have also shown that CHAPTER 1 31 source firms, being proactive in initiating and implementing e-Business, benefit more from e-Business use than reactive, or passively waiting, firms (Riggins & Mukhopadhyay 1994, Premkumar & Ramamurthy 1995, Wilson & Vlosky 1998). Riggins and Mukhopadhyay (1994) reference a working paper by Hwang et al. (1991), who find that source firms typically invest more in their EDI systems than target firms, resulting in greater benefits from EDI use. Wilson and Vlosky (1998:228) conclude from their study that introducing an e-Business system “is an uneven process as the buyer gains more than the seller”. In addition, the reacting target partner has lower expectations of benefits from developing and implementing an e-Business system than the initiating source partner (Wilson & Vlosky 1998). Similarly, Bala and Venkatesh (2007) distinguish between dominant and non-dominant ﬁrms when explaining systematic differences in how inter-firm innovations (focusing upon inter-firm business process standards) are assimilated. Subramani (2004) concludes that previous research has focused primarily on the benefits attained by the sourcing network leaders in their buying role. Conversely, little attention was paid to the benefits attained by the target suppliers and the mechanisms that enable these actors to accrue benefits. If the relational strength (relationalism) is high between an e-Business source firm and a target firm, the target firm may be more likely to take advantage of resources, such as knowledge and standards, to understand its own needs for e-Business applications better. This process may improve its chance of attaining both higher commitment during the implementation process and higher business performance (Sividas et al. 2012). This development leads Sividas et al. (2012:39) to conclude that “target firms want to feel positive toward the source firm, well treated, and not worried about conflict over goals, perceptions, or routines”. Since implementation costs for traditional EDI have reduced the incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) implementation of EDI, Iacovou et al. (1995) find early on that small firms tend to be reactive in adopting e-Business related to EDI. As a result, traditional EDI has often been imposed on SMEs by their larger trading partners. In all five studies, the e-Business source firm perspective was applied. Study 1 and Study 4 included the target firm perspective, while in Study 1 32 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS and Study 5, an e-Business or ES vendor implementor (i.e. third-party) perspective was integrated.

1.6.2 A top management perspective on the e-Business phenomenon One common denominator among the five studies is the application of a top management, or managerial, perspective on e-Business. Schein (1989:1) provides the following argument for the relevance of applying a business management perspective: “Few people would question the assumption that CEOs have a major impact on the changes that occur in their organisations”. Love et al. (2005:947) argue for the importance of a business management perspective to capture value from IT investments: “The benefits, costs and risks of IT need to be identified, managed, and controlled if businesses are to derive value from their investments”. A classic problem in organisational theory concerns how to sensibly manage less understood phenomena (Perrow 1986:42–46). IT is a black box for some top managers, and they therefore delegate responsibility for it. Despite this possible level of discomfort, the strategy researchers Mintzberg and Quinn (1992:137) conclude that systems are a powerful tool in the hands of top managers, asking: “Do you want to understand how an organisation really does (or doesn’t) get things done? Look at the systems”. Thus, systems must be reviewed regularly by top managers when governing their firms.

1.7 Research design

The research design chosen for this thesis consists of five studies on different e-Business forms in four different business and marketing channel contexts. They were also conducted at different points in time. The five empirical studies together stretch across a 20-year period, from 1988 to 2008. What is the relevance of including early empirical studies in this thesis? The following cross-case comparison presentation (chapter 5), the identification of the studies’ contributions (chapter 6), and overall conclusions (chapter 7) will illustrate that the e-Business forms − with the common purpose of facilitating transactions (cf. Swanson 2020) − have changed over time. However, the general truths about impeding and driving conditions, and the realised effects of e- CHAPTER 1 33

Business use, to a large degree, produce consistent results over time. Taken together, the five studies illustrate the multi-dimensionality, and thus the complexity, associated with the e-Business phenomenon. A research study design including a broad business context scope (as in this thesis), in terms of B2B, B2G, and B2C contexts, provides opportunities for more rich collected primary empirical data on e-Business implementation conditions and the performance effects of e-Business use. This approach will contribute towards a more holistic understanding of the e-Business implementation phenomenon. The e-Business sourcing organisations in the five cases studied include the following:

Study 1: BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B • Luna and Järnia (distributors) • BASCET e-Business alliance (five manufacturers and one distributor) • BASCET Infolink (e-Business platform provider, or VAN, with implementation consultancy services)

Study 2: Luna one-to-many ordering B2B • Luna (Pappersgruppen, i.e. the other distributor in Study 2 is not a focus here)

Study 3: Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C • Handelsbanken (a universal bank): two of its branch offices (Sydfors and Nordfors)

Study 4: Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G • Wermland Chamber of Commerce (e-Business platform provider, or VAN, with implementation consultancy services; the regional trade association organisation of Wermland)

Study 5: Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal B2B • Wermland Paper 34 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

1.8 Case studies

This thesis is based upon the five appended publications (see Part II), each covering a particular case. The common denominator for the five mainly empirically oriented studies is their focus on e-Business use between firms and their customers (professional or consumers) or suppliers from a C-suite management perspective. The five publications illustrate in different ways that many impeding and driving conditions influence the implementation processes of e-Business systems. These numerous implementation conditions exert their influence at different levels of analysis, which significantly contributes to complex implementation problems confronted by all involved stakeholders. The five studies also illustrate how the use of e-Business systems may result in performance effects.

1.8.1 Overview of the five studies, including the e-Business system forms used Thus, all five studies focused on traditional businesses (hardware, tools, banking, municipality operations, and speciality paper products) that were perceived as success stories by the focal case organisations (as described in chapter 3). Admittedly, the scope of e-Business-enabled enterprise-wide change was relatively limited in Study 3, Study 4, and Study 5. One salient characteristic for the e-Business phenomenon is that impeding and driving conditions of e-Business implementation and diffusion processes operate at different levels of analysis: the marketing channel and distribution system-level (macro), the focal net and the dyadic buyer−supplier relationship level (meso), and the firm, inter-department, project group, and individual levels (micro), as listed in Table 1.

CHAPTER 1 35

Table 1: Overview of the five studies and the e-Business systems used

Study 1 Study 2 Study 3 Study 4 Study 5 (Luna persp.) Industry Hardware Hardware Banking Municipality Speciality pa- and tools sector per products Phenome- e-Business e-Business e-Banking e-Invoicing ES & e-Busi- non: B2B B2B B2C B2G ness B2B e-Business (e-Ordering) (e-Ordering) form Distribution Distributor & Distributor Universal Platform pro- Manufac- system role Manufac- bank vider turer of e-Business turer alliance source or- platform ganisation provider Level(s) of Macro & Mi- Firm Macro & Mi- Organisa- Firm & analysis cro cro tional & Dy- Dyadic cli- applied adic (suppli- ent−consult- er−munici- ant (sup- pality buyer) plier−ES implementor) Methods Question- Personal in- Question- Personal Personal applied naire & Per- terviews naire & Per- interviews interviews sonal inter- sonal interviews views

1.8.2 Overview of the e-Business system forms and use This section provides a short overview of the e-Business systems in use and some e-Business use data from the five cases. Overview of e-Business systems in Study 1 These main e-Business forms were offered and used in Study 1: handheld computers (HHC), EDI (proprietary), and online. More than one thousand (1,027) target buyers used the file transfer forms of e-Business in November 1991 in the case discussed in Study 1. The distributors, Luna and Järnia, heavily dominated the number of connected buyers (352 and 295, respectively) and use degree (79.7% and 14.7%, respectively). For example, 450 target buyers were using the online e-Business form in November 1991, which together 36 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS had 874 online connections (p. 129–130). Thus, the average number of suppliers connected to each target buyer via BIL was 1.9. Regarding the online e-Business form via BIL, the adoption degree among Järnia’s buyers was 75%, among Luna’s buyers 70%, and for the BASCET suppliers, the adoption degree among their potential target buyers ranged between 75% and 5% (p. 129). There were different causes for the varying adoption degrees across the source suppliers. For example, Bahco Verktyg provided a too small share of the purchase needs for the majority of the target buyers, and the supplier Slip Naxos had not yet set up its internal IS to offer online e-Business (p. 130). Technically, the connection to the online e-Business platform overall worked very well for the supplier Gull- fiber, but the use degree on the buyer side was to a high degree very individual-dependent (p. 130). Concerning the e-Business use degree for the 73 survey respondents, 45% of all incoming purchase orders were received via the batch e-Business forms (handheld computers and EDI) and 5% online (p. 169). The survey results show that 89% of the total e-Business transaction volume (for the 73 surveyed buyers) consisted of HHC use. Among the 73 surveyed target buyers, 72 dealers used the batch form, and 23 dealers used the online form (p. 169). The system-to-system integration degree ranged from high (EDI) to low (online and HHC). The e-Business systems were initially proprietary, transaction-oriented, and highly centralised. An open industry-wide and hierarchical e-Business B2B network and platform was established during a later diffusion phase. The capabilities of the third-party e-Business platform provider BIL made the multilateral e-Business network increasingly hardware and software independent, thus lowering the degree of technology lock-in dependency. Overview of e-Business systems in Study 2 Concerning the diversity of e-Business forms used, three different forms were offered by Luna: HHC, EDI (proprietary), and online. The source distributor designed different e-Business systems for different needs of service output levels and inventory turnover rates (based on an annual requirement value categorisation: A, B, and C products). The LAGER (Electronic Data CHAPTER 1 37

Access; EDA) system contained information about purchase order, prices, stock levels, and terms of delivery, among other factors, for all inventory- held products. The e-Business use degree (at the point in time for the study) in 1993 was that about 75% of the source distributor’s customer orders were received electronically. The source distributor received more than two million customer orders annually at that point in time. The system-to-system integration degree ranged from high (EDI) to low (online). The online customer order-entry system was the first e-Business method launched (in 1977) when the source distributor opened up its cata- logue and inventory databases for its target buyers. Regarding the e-Business design situation, it resembled the one described in Study 1. Overview of e-Business systems in Study 3 Concerning the diversity of e-Business forms, there was only one e-Business form in use (in 2000, when the survey data were collected): simple payment e-Banking services online via the web. The e-Business adoption degree, measured as connections to the e-Bank- ing service, was 29% among the private clients of the Sydfors branch office and 26% among the private clients of the Nordfors branch office. The system-to-system integration degree is not relevant in the B2C context of Study 3 since there is no need for this condition when serving private clients. Overview of e-Business systems in Study 4 Three different e-Invoice solutions were offered and used: EDI, the web, and print capture. There were six different EDI standards in use via the e- Business platform. At the time of this study, 2005–2006, the e-Business use degree was 2%, measured as the number of suppliers connected as a share of the source buyer’s supplier base, representing 8% of the source buyer’s total transaction volume. Torsby kommun, the focal municipality, had more than 2,000 suppliers at the time of the study. One pre-condition influencing the potential for the degree of system-to- system integration was that 20% of the total incoming invoice transactions from the source buyer consisted of subscription invoices. From the source 38 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS buyer’s perspective, these invoices were particularly appropriate for automatic e-Invoicing flows (EDI). However, one of the interviewed target suppliers lacked internal system-to-system integration between its accounting system and ES, implying double indata registrations and impeding the potential cost-saving effect. The e-Business design involved an open region-wide (the Wermland region) e-Invoicing B2G network that was established, implemented, and diffused. This project was initiated, sourced, and run by a neutral third-party platform provider (taking both the e-Business platform provider role and external implementor role) and financed by government funds. Overview of e-Business systems in Study 5 One main e-Business form was used: online (the web). The initial ES change and migration scope was focused on customer orders, stock data, and invoices. In terms of the e-Business use degree (at a later point in time during the study), 40% of the source supplier’s buyers were connected to the sales portal. One pre-condition influencing the potential for the degree of system-to- system integration was the requirement of manual approval for the target buyers’ incoming orders (after using the new e-Business system). This implementation illuminated the critical influence of production planning optimisation on the profitability of the source supplier. Regarding the e-Business design, the modern (or novel) system characteristics, including service-oriented architecture (SOA) and the use of open standards, of the chosen ES enabled the development of the system in close dialogue with the grassroots of the source supplier, i.e. the location of its core business process competencies and skills. Concisely, the source supplier’s ownership of the source code, SOA, and use of open standards lowered the technology lock-in dependency of the ES vendor. CHAPTER 1 39

1.9 Summaries of the appended publications

In this thesis, the primary publication for each of the five studies have been selected for inclusion (see Part II). Table 2 outlines the main focus and overall content of the five appended publication presented. This illustrated multi- case comparison provides a map to allow the reader to understand the text following in this dissertation overview and synthesis.

The primary findings from each study will be elaborated in chapter 4.

Table 2: Focus of the appended publications

Publica- Focus Type of Main methods Overall content tion study 1 - Diffusion of a mul- Empirical - Personal interviews - at the distribution system macro level, identifying impeding and tilateral system - Survey of 85 hardware dealer driving conditions when multilateral e-Business systems (both online - Perceived profita- CEOs (65.4% response rate) and batch communication) were implemented − RQ1 bility effects (B2B) - at the firm level, measuring the influence strength of independent variables on the perceived profitability effects of e-Business use (PLS model’s explained variance = 0.61) – RQ2 2 Comparing two Conceptual - Conceptual comparisons - at the distributor firm level, conceptually integrating e-Business (IS) strategically suc- - Personal interviews and relational view perspectives to identify impeding and driving cessful e-Business- conditions explaining strategic success, partly built on e-Business based distributors capabilities, for two focal distributors in different distribution systems (B2B) − RQ1 & RQ2 3 Comparing e-Bank- Empirical - Personal interviews - at the bank branch office level and the private client group level, ing and office us- - Survey of 822 private bank cli- identifying significant differences between e-Banking and office ers’ perceptions of ents (68.5% response rate) users in their perceptions of the brand strength of the branch of- two branch offices fice, the relationship-orientation factors of its contact persons, and (B2C) attitudinal loyalty − RQ1 & RQ2 4 Exploring imple- Empirical - Personal interviews - at the dyadic supplier−municipality level, both SME suppliers and mentation pro- smaller municipalities face implementation challenges that are dif- cesses of ferent from larger private firms. Although e-Invoicing is a relatively e-Invoice portal simple e-Business application, many impeding conditions needed (B2G) to be overcome in order for the focal municipality studied to lower its invoice administration costs substantially − RQ1 & RQ2 5 Agile development Empirical - Personal interviews - at the dyadic supplier−ES implementor level, identifying the rein- and implementa- forcing synergies between new modern system characteristics and tion of a web- the agile project management approach to implementing a web- based sales portal based sales portal (B2B) - identifying the three primary critical implementation success conditions − RQ1 & RQ2

CHAPTER 1 41

1.10 Outline of Part I of the thesis

Part I of this thesis provides a comprehensive synthesis and adds value by reflecting on the five individual studies jointly instead of reflecting on them one by one. The remainder of Part I of this thesis proceeds as follows. In chapter 2, two main theories – per research question – that capture some of the main concepts drawn from the five studies and some earlier e-Business research based on these two theories are briefly presented. Chapter 3 outlines the research methodology, and chapter 4 discusses the primary findings from the five studies. Cross-case comparisons between the findings from the five conducted studies are offered in chapter 5. Subsequently, the contributions of this thesis are reviewed in chapter 6, and in the final chapter, two overall conclusions are presented, followed by limitations and proposals for further research.

Chapter 2

Literature review

The primary purpose of this chapter is to present a more updated research review regarding the two research questions that apply to the five case studies included in the thesis, specifically: 1. The perceived conditions that influence e-Business implementation processes 2. The perceived performance effects of e-Business use and how the use of e-Business systems affects dyadic performance

2.1 Introduction to the review

I have not applied a deductive approach to any of the five studies; that is, I have not started with any specific theory, or sub-theory, with the ambition to test it or propose the extension of its use. Instead, the work has been mainly inductive; specifically, I have used knowledge and findings in different research articles to match the issues identified in each study as I developed its theoretical framework. Thus, these different research articles, which are relevant across the five publications when seen as a collective, are based on many different theories or sub-theories. I have worked more deductively for the two survey studies (being central parts of publication 1 and publication 3). Thus, the theoretical framework for each study is made up of different research articles on e-Business implementation and the performance effects 44 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS of e-Business use. The articles used have been based on a few different theories. Thus, the referenced articles across the studies have not been based on one specific theory. These two theories, partly influencing the focus and content of the studies, will be briefly introduced and presented in the following: 1. The relational view (Dyer & Singh 1998) has been used as the primary methodology applied from publication 2 to publication 5. As noted above, the relational view (e.g. Dyer & Singh 1998) has not served as the basis of any of these four publications, but different versions of a dyadic relationship perspective (or other dyadic relationship theories) were applied as a lens. In the following text, some e-Business studies based on the relational view, alone or in combination with other theories, are presented. 2. The diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory (Rogers 1963) has been used as the overarching theoretical domain for publication 1.

There is a vast research literature on the implementation of e-Business systems and the associated ES (also called ERP systems) sub-category − the latter IS archetype serves as a building element of e-Business − published over the last decades. There is also an extensive body of research on the performance effects (or outcomes) that result from the use of e-Business (and ES) systems (see, e.g. Robey et al. 2008, Wright et al. 2017). In the remainder of this chapter, the relational view and the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory are briefly presented. Also, some of the e-Business studies based on these two theoretical lenses are discussed.

2.2 Research question 1

RQ1: What are the conditions influencing e-Business system implementation processes?

The findings from the studies of Mukhopadhyay et al. (1995) and Teo et al. (1997) indicate that EDI and e-Business resources dedicated to integrating CHAPTER 2 45 inter-firm business processes enable firms to increase efficiency in their marketing channel, or supply chain, operations. However, many e-Business studies do not consider the complexities of inter-firm relationships (IORs) and the potential for competitive advantage from the strategic implementation of shared resources that may be valuable, scarce, and difficult to implement.

2.2.1 The relational view and e-Business implementations Beginning with early studies of business relationships, scholars have claimed that traditional adversarial, or arm’s length (market exchange), relationships increasingly are being substituted for closer and more collaborative exchanges (McFarlan 1984, Johnston & Lawrence 1988, Konsynski & McFar- lan 1990, Matthysens & Van den Bulte 1995). A dyadic relationship exchange is less price-driven than a market exchange and is based on the greater recognition of mutual commitment between business partners (Frazier et al. 1988). Managing collaboration involves several complex strategic, economic, social, and conflict management issues (Kumar & van Dissel 1996). Often, collaboration between firms requires establishing information and communication systems between the firms in the marketing channel (Konsynski & McFarlan 1990). Earlier studies have suggested that there are mutually reinforcing influences between effective e-Business use and strong existing inter-firm relationship quality, which result in advantages for the individual firm (Johnston & Vitale 1988, Cunningham & Tynan 1993, Reekers & Smithson 1995, Klein 1996, Chatfield & Bjørn-Andersen 1997, Stump & Sriram 1997, Hart & Saunders 1998, Chatfield & Yetton 2000, Naudé et al. 2000, Grover et al. 2002, Redondo et al. 2009). This proposition was put forward in publication 2. As an example from their survey on purchasing managers, Grover et al. (2002) find a highly significant positive association between relationism and e-Business use within the buyer−supplier dyad, defined as a reciprocal expectation of cooperative behaviour when engaging in the dyadic relationship. Interestingly, from the empirical findings from his survey study on two samples, retailers and their suppliers, Nakayama (2003:577) concludes that “EDI helps internally, but it can have a negative impact on business relationships”. In Nakayama’s (2003) study, the retailers perceived that as EDI use increased, the supplier partner became less helpful. This result contrasts with 46 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS some of the earlier research studies on EDI use, which find positive effects for trading relationships, at least for the smaller pool, or number, of suppliers that use EDI. These suppliers may attain a strategic effect because their relative power in relation to the buyers that use EDI may increase (Hart & Saunders 1997, Vijayasarathy & Robey 1997). As a result, the non-EDI suppliers will lose business to such EDI-using buyers. Teo et al. (2003) argue that under-developed relationships are one plausible cause for the frequent overestimates of EDI use and diffusion. The strong association between e-Business system characteristics and performance effects suggests that developing closer relationships with other member firms in the focal or the wider network may ease EDI implementations. Sivadas et al. (2012:41) argue that the slow diffusion of EDI depends partly on the challenges that source firms face in persuading other members of the focal network, the marketing channel, or the wider network, before more widespread adoption and use is achieved. The roots of relational thinking can be traced back to Macneil’s (1980) distinction between relational and discrete exchanges (Dwyer et al. 1987) and the work of the IMP school of marketing that began in the late 1970s (IMP Project Group 1982, Ford & Håkansson 2006). A relational view of competitive advantage Dyer and Singh’s (1998:661) relational view (of competitive advantage) theory focuses on inter-firm “routines and processes as an important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage”. This view emphasises information-sharing routines, relationship-specific assets, and effective governance for deriving advantage through partnerships. Within the management literature, Kanter (1994) argues that the first requirement for a successful partnership is that human aspects by both parties are perceived to be satisfactory. Dyer and Singh (1998:661) remark that “for the convenience of exposi- tion, we use two firms, rather than multiple firms, as the unit of analysis”. As a corollary, Dyer and Singh (1998:674) state that “a relational view considers the dyad/network as the unit of analysis and the [relational] rents that are generated to be associated with the dyad/network”. CHAPTER 2 47

With its roots in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (see, e.g. Barney 1991), this theoretical perspective suggests that critical resources often span firm boundaries and may be embedded in inter-firm routines and processes (Dyer & Singh 1998, Jap 1999, Malhotra et al. 2005, Dyer & Hatch 2006). These resources can generate what Dyer and Singh (1998) refer to as a relational rent. The term relational rent is Dyer and Singh’s (1998) renaming of Peterafs (1994:155) term quasi-rent, which he defines as: “returns that exceed a factor’s short run opportunity cost […] [and] are an excess over the returns to a factor in its next best use”. Quasi-rent implies that the rent is not permanent. In other words, relational rents are performance gains from inter-firm relationships. Dyer and Singh (1998) refer to previous studies suggesting that productivity gains in the marketing channel are possible when trading partners are willing to make relationship-specific investments and combine resources in unique ways (Dyer 1996). Similarly, Heide and John (1990) maintain that when reciprocal investments are built into specific dyadic relationships, this results in closer relationships, indicating that firms that combine resources in unique ways may realise an advantage over competing firms who are unable or unwilling to do so. Thus, a firm’s critical resources may span firm boundaries and be embedded in inter-firm routines and processes. As a result, idi- osyncratic inter-firm bonds may be created, resulting in relational rents and competitive advantage. The relational view seeks the potential sources of relational advantages. Dyer and Singh’s (1998:661) own argument for their proposed theory’s relevance is that: “This framework is valuable because it provides a theoretical basis for cumulative additions to our understanding of the sources of inter- firm competitive advantage”.

2.2.2 Relationship variables with e-Business relevance In the following section, I use a selection from the 17 relationship variables that Robey et al. (2008:505) identify in their research review of 51 empirical studies on e-Business systems published throughout the 1990–2003 period. These relationship variables were modelled as intermediary variables between antecedent e-Business implementation and use variables and dependent performance effect variables (ibid.). Robey et al. (2008) model these relationship 48 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS variables as influencing the e-Business implementation and use variables (corresponding to those proposed in publication 2). Some earlier e-Business studies that have collected findings on these relationship variables are used as references in the chapter on contributions (chapter 6).

Relative power. A variable that Hart and Saunders (1998) find partly determines whether an e-Business system will be adopted and, subsequently, how the e-Business is used. For example, scholars have generally believed that buyers have more relative power in e-Business relationships (Wilson & Vlo- sky 1998). If suppliers do not adopt a proposed e-Business system, it is assumed that buyers will seek alternative suppliers. Therefore, Wilson and Vlo- sky (1998) posit that the supplier in B2B or B2G relationships typically has a higher degree of dependence on the buyer.

Coordination. In the EDI context, Reekers and Smithson (1995) argue that the needs of the inter-firm coordination of activities largely determine the scope and intensity of EDI use. Online systems typically provide improved information visibility for buyers in inter-firm relationships. This benefit has been shown in previous IS research by, for example, Wang et al. (2013), who posit that attaining this outcome requires business partners to engage in a sufficient level of coordination.

Vertical interactions. Holland et al. (1992a) claim that the importance of an accurate and rapid information exchange between trading partners depends upon the level of interdependence between the business processes of the supplier and the buyer. The thesis that e-Business use strengthens existing inter-firm relationships is supported by, e.g. Stump and Sriram (1997), whose survey of purchasing professionals finds that the respondents’ degree of use of transaction processing correspondingly enhanced their supplier relationships. This relationship manifested as “closeness of inter-firm relationship”. One implication of this finding is that closer buyer−supplier relationships can result from trading partners who are locked-in by transaction-specific assets.

CHAPTER 2 49

Project management team. Orlikowski and Hofman (1997) stress the importance of configuring a good project management team balance, which will contribute to the attainment of a user-oriented e-Business (ES) project. This approach is a pivotal condition for attaining greater acceptance and a higher degree of effective internal use of a new e-Business system. To run a project at a high pace over an extended period is, of course, trying for all the individuals involved. However, running a long project at a low pace makes it long-winded, tiredness emerges, and setbacks appear. Thus, it is highly essential that an ES project is short and has a high pace. Further, projects must reach their milestones and continue to progress. It is psychologically essential that users perceive that progressions are made and that both the users and the system implementor consultant(s) experience that the change process unfolds positively. However, the pace must not be so high that there is no time for reflection. The positive benefits associated with setting milestones and meeting these before reaching the ultimate goal have been stressed by many researchers (e.g. Weick 1984 and Scott & Vessey 2000). A fundamental prerequisite for a high pace in an ES implementation project is that the super-users to a high degree are relieved from their ordinary work tasks. Some of the reasons for the problems associated with a large project size are increases in complexity, project length, and interruptions due to vacations or other breaks. When a project lasts for more than one year, the degree of implementation difficulty increases. As a result, Willcocks and Sykes (2000) stress the importance of defining focused and short ES projects. They argue that ES implementations should be finalised within a six-to-nine-month period. According to the authors, the advantages of focused short projects are that the risks for not meeting business needs will be reduced (cf. Kotter 1995, who promotes generating quick wins; i.e. step six in his “eight-step process for change”), protecting the project team so it can remain focused and fully staffed. On a related note, Bajwa et al. (2004:86) stress the importance of external project management tools to “facilitate collaboration with all external stakeholders to ensure that user and process requirements are accurately incorporated in implementation”.

50 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Top management commitment. The importance of the top management commitment and support condition has been demonstrated in numerous previous studies. Some authors have claimed that this commitment (to IT) is a necessary enabling pre-condition for IT-enabled success in firms, for example, to engage in different integration effort activities (e.g. Doll 1985, Raghunathan 1992, Stratman & Roth 2002, Sambamurthy et al. 2003, Nevo & Wade 2010, Quaadgras et al. 2014). Some earlier studies have found it critical that a triad of managers (e.g. top, process and functional, and IT and CIO managers) are deeply and jointly involved in the e-Business implementation processes (e.g. Premkumar et al. 1994, McKenney et al. 1995, Rama- murthy & Premkumar 1995, Markus & Benjamin 1996, Zhang & Dhalilwal 2009, Park et al. 2014). For example, Duchessi et al. (1989) find in their survey that more support is provided by top management teams at firms that successfully implement ESs than those that are less successful. One effect is that top management commitment and support increases the motivation of the co-workers using the system (Remus 2007, Françoise et al. 2009). The active involvement and high motivation of the firm’s top management can also play a decisive role in defining the work culture (Hasibuan & Dantes 2012). If the top management team is not aware of how to avoid potential pitfalls, things can go wrong. Sumner (2005:115) advises top managers to take an active role in reducing the risks associated with ES implementation projects, requiring the top management team to identify risks and assess their amplitude (Aloini et al. 2012a, 2012b, Joia et al. 2014).

Individual role-takers. The existence of champions is essential not only for e-Business adoption processes, but more importantly, to bring about successful e-Business use processes (Reich & Benbasat 1990, Grover 1993, McKenney et al. 1995, Publication 2). The term champion refers to an employee who contributes a solid personal commitment (Philips 1988:165). Concerning the critical importance of IT champions, Beath (1996:347) describes the role in the following way: “An enthusiastic, visionary champion works around and through the organisation, resolving turf disputes, overrid- ing established norms, ignoring anguished cries of ‘It won’t work!’ from those who stand to lose with the new system”. Wang et al. (2005) posit that CHAPTER 2 51 a qualified project team leader, both in technical proficiency and charismatic leadership, is critical to ES project team performance.

Standardisation. The standardisation of business processes, both inter-firm and intra-firm, provides efficiency advantages. If the inter-firm business process redesign efforts result in smarter ways of working together, effectiveness benefits are attainable. Materials management efforts strive for both efficiency and effectiveness improvements. Early on, Monczka and Carter (1989:28) have acknowledged the importance of materials management efforts, which they claim were not readily apparent at that point in time: “EDI implementation can be linked to a total systems integration effort within the materials management and manufacturing functions, targeted toward eliminating cle- rical duties and operating on a real-time basis”.

Win-win for all parties involved (incentive structure). The importance of attaining mutual benefits, or win-win situations, from e-Business (EDI) adoption and use have been stressed by, for example, Cash and Konsynski (1985), Bowersox (1990), Venkatraman and Zaheer (1990), O’Callaghan et al. (1992), Redondo et al. (2009), Rai et al. (2012), Sividas et al. (2012), and Radhakrishnan et al. (2018).

Stakeholder management. At the inter-firm level, a practical implication made by Nach and Boudreau is that the project champion’s main objective is to “ensure that everyone involved is on board” (2018:19). Similarly, the importance of managing stakeholder commitment has been highlighted by Benjamin and Levinson (1993).

Joint expectations. Motiwalla and Thompson (2012:268) define change management as “the process of developing a planned approach to change in an organisation”, positing that “the discipline of change management deals primarily with the human aspect of change, and is therefore related to pure and industrial psychology”. Change management regarding e-Business tends to grow in complexity as two (bilateral) or many (multilateral) actors need to change within a synchronised time window. Motiwalla and Thompson (2014:23) stress the importance of the change management role for setting 52 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS mutual expectations before significant system implementations. This role is pivotal since it prepares a firm for changes regarding its business approach. Motiwalla and Thompson (2014) argue that communicating, preparing, and setting expectations are important conditions in implementing any new system. Also, the effective communication of expectations typically reduces risks and improves the chances for the system to be accepted once implemented. During the implementation phase, change management plays a central role in integrating the co-workers in new redesigned processes enabled by technology innovations (e.g. Kettinger & Grover 1995). Given the complex nature of e-Business and ES implementation processes, change management is particularly important for these IT archetypes since they usually (according to Stratman & Roth 2002) encounter significant resistance to changes in business processes and job tasks.

Inter-firm cooperation. Belkhodja et al. (2012) maintain that client– consultant interactions often are challenging to understand and assess. Martinez et al. (2016) conclude that client and external consultant characteristics play an essential role in forming the dyadic client–e-Business implementor relationship. Martinez et al. (2016) also stress that studies on knowledge transfer in SME change processes must include individual consultant variables, such as personality and expertise. Elrakaiby et al. (2017) focus on ambiguities that surface during oral communication. They argue that “cases of ambiguity are particularly common in requirements elicitation interviews”. The requirements elicitation process, i.e., gathering system requirements from stakeholders (Distanont et al. 2012), is an important antecedent to e- Business implementation processes. This process can be performed through, for example, workshops and prototypes (Zowghi & Coulin 2005).

Learning. In e-Business implementation projects, it is crucial to attain symbiosis between competent system implementors (and developers) and super- users in the implementation project. The collaboration process within the e- Business implementation project team, which is conducive to collective CHAPTER 2 53 learning, is noted as one of the critical success conditions (CSCs) for implementation success in Akkerman and van Helden’s (2002) case study. Bullen and Rockhart (1981:385) define critical success factors (CSFs) as: the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organisation. CSF’s are the few key areas where “things must go right” for the business to flourish and for the manager’s goal to be attained. Such desired everyday professional cooperation between participating individuals is obtained if the project members work well together and toward shared goals. Feeny and Willcocks (1998) stress the importance of relationship-building to establish understanding, trust, and cooperation among end- users and IT personnel. The full potential of an e-Business system (ES) cannot be obtained without the strong coordination of efforts and goals across business and IT personnel. As Daghfous (2007) argues, a learning alliance is a fast and effective capability development mechanism, an important pre- condition for the user-driven process to become successful and result in positive outcomes. If users receive training and are involved during the implementation process, they are more likely to understand the capabilities of the e-Business system (Nevo & Wade 2010). User learning, attained from end-user training, is a critical success condition for innovation implementation success (e.g. Stratman & Roth 2002, Ward et al. 2005, Ngai et al. 2008).

Relationship climate. Scott Morton (1992), an early advocate for the business−IT alignment theory and one of the primary theoretical sources for publication 2, has claimed that relationship dynamics among individuals or groups are the most critical conditions in transformation processes. Similarly, Reve and Stern (1986) have argued that mutual trust is a necessary condition for building a positive relationship climate (they call this a transactional climate). Hung et al. (2012:412) stress the importance of building and maintaining a positive knowledge transfer climate within the firms of an inter-firm dyad, which allows the project implementation team to access the knowledge that is distributed across the whole organisation in order to be able to obtain a holistic understanding of the situation. Hung et al. (2012) also argue that 54 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS building a positive knowledge transfer climate encourages co-workers and external consultants at the client firm to share their knowledge. The importance of overcoming knowledge barriers in external consultant–client relationships regarding complex IT innovations have long been understood (e.g. Attewell 1992). Based on their survey of purchasing professionals from the buyers’ perspective, Sriram and Stump (2004) find a significant indirect effect of IT investments on purchasing performance, mediated by relationship quality. They conclude that this finding provides an empirical basis for arguing that the social role of IT assets is a mechanism that drives performance effects. Thus, Sriram and Stump (2004) argue that the social role (i.e. a central part of relationship strength or quality) of IT use is a driving condition for increased performance. Under the heading “future horizons for innovation research”, Barrett et al. (2015:149) suggest human-centred design, which they characterise as “the empathy by which designers are able to understand and interpret the perspectives of end users and the problems they face”. The authors recommend applying a practice theory lens in line with of “seeing design as a situated, local accomplishment involving diverse and multiple actors”, as proposed by Kimbell (2012:133) – who in turn builds on Suchman (1994) – adding that the design converges through a process that is “woven together in artful in- tegrations”. “This way of thinking of design sees it as a situated and distributed unfolding in which a number of people, and their knowing, doing, and saying, and a number of things, are implicated” (Kimbell 2012:135).

Trust. Dyadic marketing and distribution channel relationships with higher degrees of trust result in greater e-Business use levels (Hart & Saunders 1998), similar to dyadic relationships that engage in more joint problem-solv- ing (Chatfield & Yetton 2000). Hart and Saunders (1997) posit that the successful adoption and use of e-Business depends both on (high degrees of) mutual trust and control and the use of e-Business, which in turn, may reinforce trust and control (Gallivan & Depledge 2003). Social economics provides the foundation for Kumar et al.’s (1998) argument that trust and relationships increase opportunities to identify and create e-Business based win- CHAPTER 2 55 win strategies, leading to collaborative advantages (cf. Kanter 1994, Wu et al. 2011).

Human factors. The expression human factors, or people factors, is rather broad. Mengistie et al. (2013:9) find in their survey within the US public sector that the five most important factors for the degree of ES implementation success were all human factors: top management support, internal and external communication, effective end-user training and decision-making process, and dedicated resources (which is not only a human factor). In a study on conditions that impede successful ES implementations, Kim et al. (2005b) find that the five most critical barriers, in descending order of criticality, are: conflict of interest, inadequate human resources commitment, lack of organisational change management expertise, business processes not redesigned to take advantage of the ES, and user resistance. These impeding conditions are all human-centred. Supramaniam and Kuppusamy (2011) refer to Gordon’s (2006) consultancy experiences and his conclusion that two out of the three main conditions found as antecedents to the failure of ES implementation processes relate to top management: poor planning or management and a lack of business management support. Since ES implementation processes often lead to required business process redesign, Gordon (2006) posits that the careful use of communication and change management procedures is required (identified as one of the major causes for the massive failure of FoxMeyer Drugs mentioned in the introduction). The knowledge-based theory of a firm (e.g. Grant 1996) is a relevant theoretical lens to understand e-Business processes from a human conditions perspective. The knowledge-based theory of the firm considers knowledge the most strategically significant resource (Grant 1996). Candra (2012:143) defines knowledge capability as “the systematic process of understanding, assimilating and applying knowledge in a firm, to make the best use of knowledge to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and high performance”. Based on a low number of respondents (46) in her survey study focusing exclusively on knowledge capability, Candra (2012) finds that knowledge capability explained 28% of ES implementation success variance. 56 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Are human conditions truly the most critical dimension among all CSCs? This question is addressed in Jenko and Roblek’s (2016) study. When analys- ing the results from their survey with a low number of respondents (21 responses from various implementation project role holders in large or medium-sized Slovenian organisations), they find that competence had the most significant influence on ES implementation project success. Jenko and Roblek (2016:150) propose a human CSC model (they call this a two-levelled primary human CSFs model) for successful ES implementation. The primary conditions included in the model are identified from a research review of 60 articles that singularly address human CSCs. This model consists of four influential dimensions of human conditions: competence, behaviour (of individuals), team composition, and communication. The first two dimensions are primarily related to individual characteristics, and the following two dimensions are related to group (inter-individual) characteristics.

2.2.3 Diffusion of innovations theory and e-Business implementations The diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory is, according to Grover and Saeed (2007), one of the four main research streams focusing on e-Business use. DOI-based research predominantly focuses on perceptions related to technological attributes such as complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage in examining diffusion (Premkumar et al. 1994). Dearing et al. (1994:19) argue that the importance of human perceptions is underrated in the diffusion of innovations theory, noting that “what is easy for one person to use may be exceedingly difficult for another”. The diffusion of innovations theory and model The research literature on innovation focuses both on the processes when innovations are adopted and diffused among individuals and organisations (Rogers 1995, Fichman 2000, Frambach & Schillewaert 2002, Wejnert 2002, Zhu et al. 2006b, 2006c) and the process of innovation (Hislop et al. 2000, Urbinati et al. 2020). The diffusion of innovations has been studied since the 1940s (Ryan & Gross 1943). The classical diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory and model, pioneered by Rogers in 1962 (Rogers 2003), is used as a process-oriented perspective to CHAPTER 2 57 explain how an innovation can be accepted and disseminated among consumers. DOI theory contends that the adoption or rejection of an innovation be- gins with consumer awareness of that innovation. Simultaneously, diffusion – or the spread of an idea – is a process in which information regarding an innovation is conveyed via certain channels over time among consumers. Studies based on DOI theory encompass research that investigates the evaluation, adoption, and implementation of innovations. By 2003, Rogers (2003:xviii) estimates that DOI theory had been applied in more than 5,200 diffusion publications, including studies of business-level innovation technology adoption (Gatignon & Robertson 1989, Cooper & Zmud 1990, Frambach & Schillewaert 2002). Fichman (2004) considers Roger’s DOI theory to be the dominant paradigm in innovation studies. Prescott and Conger (1995:32) conclude from their DOI literature review study on IT innovation diffusion, including e-Business systems studies, that “DOI factors are not as appropriate for e-Business [inter-organisational information] technologies as they are for the others [information technologies]. There is already substantial indication that traditional DOI findings must be modified when applied to inter-organisational systems”. Further- more, Prescott and Conger (1995:20) maintain that e-Business innovations “appear to be more affected by contextual and environmental variables, and their differences may be better explained by economic influence or critical mass theories”. These conclusions indicate that applying DOI theory is not alone sufficient for understanding a complex and interactive inter-firm technology such as EDI. Rogers (2003:12) defines an innovation as “an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption”, noting that: it matters little, so far as human behavior is concerned, whether or not an idea is “objectively” new as measured by the lapse of time since its first use or discovery. […] If an idea seems new to the individual, it is an innovation. Further, Rogers (1983:34, 2003:5) describes diffusion (of innovations) as: the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion is a special type of 58 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

communication concerned with the spread of messages that are new ideas. Com- munication is a process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach a mutual understanding. Rogers (2003:6) also explains that diffusion (of innovations) is a type of social change: the process by which alteration occurs in the structure and function of a social system. When new ideas are invented, diffused, and adopted or rejected, leading to certain consequences, social change occurs. Rogers heavily stresses the social process character of diffusion of innovations in this way (ibid.:xx–xxi): The diffusion of innovations is essentially a social process in which subjectively perceived information about a new idea is communicated from person to person. The meaning of an innovation is thus gradually worked out through a process of social construction. Because many innovations require a lengthy period before growing popular, which frequently lasts for many years, DOI theory helps identify ways to accelerate innovation diffusion from the time an innovation becomes available to the time it is widely adopted (cf. Rogers 2003:221–222). Classic innovation characteristics A core presumption of DOI theory-based studies is that a specific innovation possesses certain general characteristics that may promote or act as barriers to IT adoption. The first element in Rogers’ (1983:16) DOI theory consti- tutes the most critical characteristics of innovations in explaining the adoption rate. Rogers (1983:15) argues that “the characteristics of innovations, as perceived by individuals, help to explain their different rate of adoption”. Then he defines and explains the five classic innovation characteristics (p. 15–16): relative advantage (+), compatibility (+), complexity (-), trialability (+), and observability (+). Fichman (2000:112) references Downs and Mohr (1976), Tornatzky and Klein (1982), Leonard-Barton (1988), and Moore and Benbasat (1991). They together have identified the following innovation characteristics influencing individuals’ technology adoption propensity: cost (-), communicability (+), CHAPTER 2 59 divisibility (+), profitability (+), social approval (+), voluntariness (+/-), image (+), usefulness (+), ease of use (+), result demonstrability (+), and visibility (+). Organisational adoption of technological innovations Rogers (1983:348) points out that the decision process for innovation processes in organisations is much more complicated than for consumers. An organisation is “a stable system of individuals who work together to achieve common goals through a hierarchy of ranks and a division of labor” (Rogers & Agarwala-Rogers 1976:26). Rogers (1983:349) identifies the following mechanisms for obtaining a stable and predictable organisational structure: pre-determined goals, prescribed roles, authority structure, rules and regula- tions, and informal patterns. Studies of e-Business adoption by organisations rely primarily upon Rogers’ (2003) DOI theory and related theories of technology acceptance and adoption. Previous research has identified many such characteristics (Fichman & Kemerer 1999, Fichman 2001, Rogers 2003). According to a study of US firms by Soliman and Janz (2004), factors that influence the adoption of e-Business B2B include pressure from trading partners, pressure from competition, costs (cf. Tornatzky & Klein 1982, Premkumar et al. 1997), top management support, trust, network reliability, data security, scalability, and perceived complexity. Wright et al. (2017), focusing on client−consultant exchanges, find that a client’s perceived complexity is a critical success condition for predicting the use of an IT innovation. In sum, DOI theory is an individual-level theory primarily applied to the adoption, assimilation, and diffusion of products among individuals (e.g. Fichman & Kemerer 1999, Fichman 2001). Except for the survey study in Study 3, this thesis does not focus on considering the individual user as the unit of analysis.

2.3 Research question 2

RQ2: What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e- Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance? 60 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

According to the research review conducted by Robey et al. (2008:505), studies of e-Business performance use a broad range of theories. Among those applied in e-Business performance studies, Robey et al. (2008) mention relational exchange theory, referencing Heide (1994). The authors conclude that “the theoretical foundations of e-Business research during this period are diverse, representing 17 different yet complementary theories” (p. 497). To review, the oft-cited relational view of competitive advantage theory by Dyer and Singh (1998) was presented above. In the following, the primary strategic-level, process-level, and benefits from e-Business use in dyadic trading partner relationships will be briefly presented. E-Business researchers applying the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework must pay careful attention to the characteristics of the specific technology used. Some integrative research (for example, Robey et al. 2008, Saeed et al. 2011), which does not apply the TOE framework deductively, have stressed the pivotal role of better understanding the nature of the e-Business system (i.e. the system’s characteristics) per se. Concerning selecting the right e-Business system (or ES), it is vital that the chosen e- Business system has the actual capability to deliver what the users genuinely need and demand. This condition is critical for a successful e-Business implementation process (Kræmmergaard & Rose 2002, Somers & Nelson 2004).

2.3.1 Firm-level and marketing system-level (i.e. multi-level) benefits When economies of scale and scope effects are attained (cf. Copeland & McKenney 1988) due to successful e-Business implementation, use, and diffusion, these effects drive an even stronger market position. Suppose a strong market position is combined with the successful diffusion of e-Business applications among the focal network of trading partners. In that case, it is possible (as for the distributors Luna and Pappersgruppen in publication 2) to attain a hub, or market leader, position in their respective distribution systems. The degree of success for such an e-Business-supported strategy also depends on the competitors’ moves. CHAPTER 2 61

2.3.2 Strategic-level performance effects in dyadic trading relationships The following four strategic-level performance effects related to the dyadic trading partner relationships have been found in the five case studies: • Increased dyadic profitability (Fearon & Philip 1998). Wang and Seidmann (1995) explain that when the source (buyer) firm’s e-Business (EDI) implementation costs consistently exceed the benefits attained, the use of e-Business (EDI) technology will have no positive effect on the profitability of the source buyer and its target suppliers. This situation is likely in business situations where the transaction frequency is low and timely communication is not critical. • Increased purchase and sales share (O’Callaghan et al. 1992, Wang & Seidmann 1995, Rai et al. 2012). More cooperative and long-term relationships often manifest in increased purchase and sales share effects. An increased purchase and sales share effect from the supplier’s perspective may appear as increased customer loyalty. One of the implications of the theory that Rai et al. (2012) propose from their study is purchase and sales share (which they call share of wallet) and buyer loyalty as proxies of relational value. Kohli and Grover (2008) note that existing firm performance measures (e.g. ROI or cost savings) cannot adequately capture the business value from IT-based inter-firm relationships, making it necessary to explore other measures of relational value. Melville et al. (2004:287) define IT business value as “the firm performance impacts of IT at both the intermediate process-level and the firm-wide level, and comprising both efficiency impacts and competitive impacts”. In the marketing research literature (e.g. Bowman & Na- rayandas 2004), it is argued that inter-firm relationships can exhibit very different levels of success, and purchase and sales share and loyalty are appropriate measures to capture success for both the supplier and buyer. • Increased dyadic competitive advantage (Fearon & Philip 1998). O’Callaghan et al. (1992:53) posit that the significance of relational benefits is system-dependent, but “whether the investment in EDI can be justified solely on that basis or solely on the basis of cost savings to the 62 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

source is a system-specific question”. The authors also conclude that the constructed structural bonds may result in competitive advantage effects (p. 54). It has been empirically observed that many buyers have reduced their number of suppliers as part of efforts to jointly coordinate marketing channels and build more cooperative and long-term relationships (Heide & Miner 1992). • Improved relationship strength/Higher quality relationship (Hammer & Mangurian 1987, Marcussen 1996, Stump & Sriram 1997, Vijayasarathy & Robey 1997, Fearon & Philip 1998, Zhang & Dhaliwal 2009). Wang and Seidmann (1995:401) argue that while EDI use reduces transaction costs for the source buyer, the target upstream market (its supplier base) “tends to become more concentrated as a result of increased cost differentials [between EDI users and EDI non-users]”. They maintain that this is one economic explanation of why many firms have reduced their supplier base.

2.3.3 Process-level performance effects in dyadic trading relationships The following four process-level performance effects related to the dyadic trading partner relationships have been found in the five case studies, when they are regarded collectively: • Savings in administrative time and money (cost reductions) are enabled by changes in inter-firm business processes, particularly in combination with EDI use (Clark & Stoddard 1996). The resulting cost reduction is well documented in the research literature: basic efficiencies accrue to a focal e-Business sourcing firm by connecting electronically to a trading partner. Cost reduction results from eliminating errors, reducing inventory, and significantly reducing manual data registration work (Mukhopadhyay et al. 1995, Teo et al. 1997). • Reduced cycle time is categorised as a strategic benefit according to Fearon and Philip (1998; they call this a faster trading cycle), but Staehr et al. (2012) attribute reduced cycle time to the process-level, classifying it as an operational benefit. The business benefits stemming from im- CHAPTER 2 63

proved dyadic information flows, as cited in the research literature, include the following: reduced order−delivery cycle times (Mukhopadh- yay et al. 1995, Sriram & Stump 2004), reduction in cycle times (Power 2005), process improvements (Sriram & Stump 2004), ability to connect to multiple suppliers and customers (Power 2005), improved speed of communication (Banerjee & Golhar 1994), and improved speed and quality of communication (Power 2005). • Improved customer service is categorised as a strategic benefit according to Fearon and Philip (1998), but Staehr et al. (2012:433) classify this effect as a process-level benefit. Improved customer service is a commonly realised benefit according to, for example, Banerjee and Golhar (1994). A strong positive effect on customer service from EDI use is found in Naudé et al.’s (2000) survey. • Improved e-Business-enabled information flow (e.g. prices, stock levels, and terms of delivery for all products held in stock) enables short delivery times, which is made possible by the improved coordination from e-Business system use. This process effect pertains not only to the dyadic inter-firm relationship but may also be systemic (i.e. extending to all actors along the marketing or distribution channel).

2.4 Summary and synthesis of the review

To conclude, a selection of findings from the extensive e-Business research literature relevant to the two chosen research questions of this project was conducted ex-post the publications of the five studies. This section briefly reviews the results of this synthesis. First, system use can realise value manifested in improving firms’ performance and new capabilities (Soh & Markus 1995, Zhu & Kraemer 2005, Zhang & Dhaliwal 2009, Nevo & Wade 2010). Cost reductions appear as a consistent overall performance effect of IT use, according to Bjørn-Andersen and Raymond (2014). This overall relative cost change from deploying IS or IT has, over time, had implications on how marketing channels, business relationships, and individual firms organise their business models and processes. Investing resources in reorganising the organisational structure and 64 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS redesigning business processes, which often is needed when implementing e-Business systems (Zhu et al. 2006b), increases the costs associated with the use of e-Business. These costs may significantly inhibit e-Business use by participating firms, and the cost condition is therefore a prominent barrier to e-Business use. Second, scholars have regularly called for research examining the steps between IT investment and the resulting firm business performance effects (e.g. Weill 1992). Prior research on IT-enabled value generation, or IT payoff (e.g. Cooper & Zmud 1990, DeLone & McLean 1992, 2003, Soh & Markus 1995, Devaraj and Kohli 2003, Melville et al. 2004, Zhu & Xu 2004, Zhang & Dhaliwal 2009) has found that firms investing appropriate resources in developing, adopting, and using technology innovations attain improved performance effects at the firm level. However, Radhakrishnan et al. (2018:560) argue that: While many prior studies have examined the firm level benefits of EDI and other open-standard e-Business [IOS] systems, there is no prior study that examines the benefits of e-Business [IOS] usage at the buyer−supplier dyadic level. Third, relational resources are the capabilities that a firm applies when bonding with its trading partners. From an RBV perspective, Wade and Hulland (2004) argue that these relational capabilities include the ability to collaborate within the marketing channel, which, if effectively managed and operated, may result in the competitive advantage and superior performance of a firm. Relatedly, better trading partner relationships is an important intermediary variable between e-Business investment and improved dyadic performance (Kohli & Grover 2008, Zhang & Dhaliwal 2009, Wu et al. 2011, Rai et al. 2012, Sivadas et al. 2012, Radhakrishnan et al. 2018). Wu et al. (2011:1415, 1418) propose that e-Business success is attained “when a firm has used e- Business systems to provide IT support to intra- and inter-firm operation and management and have produced [IT-enabled] collaborative advantage with its business partners”. Thus, Wu et al. (2011) adopt a relationship, or dyadic, perspective on e-Business success. Fourth, various stakeholders have different objectives regarding what they expect from e-Business use, given their distinct assumed roles in the marketing channels or distribution systems. As a result, one actor can perceive the implementation of a specific system as a success, while another CHAPTER 2 65 actor can perceive the same system as a failure. Therefore, Silver et al. (1995) conceptualise success as an illusory multi-dimensional concept. What is acknowledged as successful depends on who is asked (Markus et al. 2000). Per- ceived success is a continuous variable. Thus, it is relevant to consider different perceived degrees of success among the different stakeholders involved in a specific e-Business system.

2.4.1 Synthesis of the research questions In the Research question 1 sub-chapter, a selection was made from the 17 relationship variables identified by Robey et al. (2008:505), which were modelled as intermediary variables between antecedent e-Business implementation and use variables and dependent performance effect variables (p. 505). Robey et al. (2008) discuss the influence of these relationship variables on e- Business implementation and use variables. The authors distinguish between relationship structure and the relationship quality dimension. Along the relationship structure dimension, the following intermediary variables (some of them being renamed) were discussed: relative power, inter-firm coordination of activities, vertical interactions, roles-linkage (project management team, top management commitment, individual role-takers), standardisation, win- win for all parties involved, and stakeholder management. Along the relationship quality dimension, the following intermediary variables were discussed: joint expectations, inter-firm cooperation, learning, relationship climate, trust, and human factors. In the Research question 2 sub-chapter, a theoretical platform was proposed in the form of four strategic-level performance effects related to dyadic trading partner relationships. These dyadic performance effects at the strategic-level have been found in the five case studies, including increased dyadic profitability, increased purchase and sales share, increased dyadic competitive advantage, and improved relationship strength. Four dyadic performance effects at the process-level have also been identified: savings in administrative time and money, reduced cycle time, improved customer service, and improved e-Business-enabled information flow. The two research questions are linked via e-Business use. The potential benefits from e-Business system use (RQ2) cannot be attained unless the implementation process is perceived by two (since e-Business per definition 66 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS is implemented in dyadic relationships) or more firms among the involved stakeholders as relatively successful (RQ1). Thus, the research questions are linked: a higher degree of successful e-Business implementation process is necessary for a higher degree of inter-firm (and intra-firm) performance effects of e-Business use. E-Business use is here perceived as the primary dependent variable from independent variables influencing an e-Business implementation process (RQ1) and as one independent variable influencing e-Business-related performance effects (RQ2). As noted in chapter 1, e-Business use is often modelled as an intermediary variable in-between an e-Business implementation process (RQ1) and e-Business-related performance effects (RQ2). This understanding is proposed in the conceptual models of, for example, Kohli and Grover (2008:27), Robey et al. (2008:505), Rai et al. (2012:236), Staehr et al. (2012:426) and Park et al. (2014:7). Conceptual models with bidirectional influence between e-Business use and e-Business-related performance effects are exceptions and include Benbasat and Zmud (2003:187) and Redondo et al. (2009:88).

2.4.2 Synthesis of DOI and relational view theories One theory has not served as the theoretical lens across the five studies. For research question 1, two main theories have been focused upon in the research review presented above, i.e. the relational view and the DOI theory. Dyer and Singh’s (1998:661) relational view (of competitive advantage) theory focuses on inter-firm “routines and processes as an important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage”. This view emphasises information-sharing routines, relationship-specific assets, and effective governance for deriving advantages through partnerships. According to Grover and Saeed (2007), DOI theory is one of the four main research streams focusing on e-Business use. DOI-based research predominantly focuses on the perceptions regarding attributes of the technology such as complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage in examining diffusion. The argument posed here is that it is not enough to apply DOI theory or relational view theory alone when trying to understand how e-Business use affects dyadic performance effects. Synthesising these two widely applied CHAPTER 2 67 theories provides a higher degree of understanding of e-Business implementation processes, use, and the performance effects of e-Business use. In this brief synthesis of the research review on the two theories, some complementary sources have been added to assist in developing forward-looking reflections. In practice, the market and new technology innovations meet. Therefore, a synthesis of the relational view and DOI theory is relevant. A supporting argument for this is derived from a similar synthesis lately proposed by Vargo et al. (2020), who work on the emerging field of service-dominant logic (SDL), a marketing sub-field. Vargo et al. (2020) apply a service-ecosystems perspective similar, albeit different, to the perspectives chosen for this thesis synthesis: they combine institutional theory (Vargo & Lusch 2004) with a primary focus on the macro ecosystems level of analysis. Vargo et al. (2020) conclude from their research review that the DOI literature traditionally is based on the assumption that there is a unidirectional causal influence from the e-Business and technology archetype to the pro- spective user firm or marketing channel. The authors also argue that DOI theory delineates between technological and market aspects during innovation diffusion processes. The systemic perspective that Vargo et al. (2020:532) apply “highlights the need to understand how each higher order of structure emerges from lower orders and individual action”. Instead, causal influences are viewed as recursive: positive and negative feedback is a vital element of complex adaptive systems (Rogers et al. 2005:13): “As each individual unit makes a decision, that decision contributes to the emergence of further decision-action sequences on the macro or global scale”. The authors also conclude that more recent DOI literature, in contrast, provide integrative and systemic perspectives (p. 526), referencing Rogers et al. (2005) and Adner (2017). Adner (2017), focusing on an ecosystem-as-structure method, proposes a new systemic approach to interdependence in the business strategy domain. Adner (2017:42) characterises relational contracts (e.g. Dyer & Singh 1998) as a modern refinement of bilateral relationships. Following Dyer and Singh (1998), the primary unit of analysis applied in this thesis synthesis is the dyadic inter-firm relationship. The diffusion of an interactive, radical (Srinivasan et al. 2002), and complex (Zhu et al. 2006b) 68 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS innovation such as the e-Business archetype depends on the broader marketing channel context (i.e. the macro level). It is acknowledged that it is not enough to focus only on the dyadic inter-firm relationship (i.e. the micro level) to understand e-Business implementation, use, and diffusion processes more deeply. Correspondingly, Gruber (2020:539) proposes that the diffusion of radical innovations are “conceptualised as configurations of micro-, meso-, and macro-level elements”. Thus, Gruber (2020) proposes that DOI theory is complemented and advanced by extending further exploration to higher levels of analysis (i.e. a multi-level perspective). Such a contextualisation extension in further research would contribute to better understanding e-Business diffusion and evolution processes within marketing channel systems. Thus, Vargo et al. (2020) propose a synthesis between DOI theory and the relationship view (on the inter-firm level) similar to what I here suggest. However, they instead emphasise the role of social influences during diffusion processes and advocate for applying social emergence or sociotechnical change perspectives at the macro level. They also propose more of a processual perspective (cf. Soh & Markus 1995) on the roles and actions taken by the different actors participating at different diffusion process-levels. This broader and more processual higher-level research scope is recommended for further research. Concerning integrative configurational approaches, instead of the traditional assumption of unidirectional causal influence from the IT archetype on the market, these have been proposed by, e.g. Lyytinen and Damsgaard (2011) and Adner (2017). Lyytinen and Damsgaard (2011:498) define configuration as: “a constellation of conceptually distinct elements or traits that commonly occur together and form an integrative, meaningful whole”. Firms are often inclined and willing to form constellations, which often are called clusters or focal networks (i.e. the meso level). The e-Business conceptual model proposed by Redondo et al. (2009:88) provides a synthesis between three e-Business dimensions at the dyadic inter- firm level of analysis: relationship strength, e-Business system characteristics, and performance effects. Each dimension consists of research literature- based variables and concepts. Their model, assuming bidirectional influences CHAPTER 2 69

− pairwise between the three dimensions pivotal for understanding e-Busi- ness − has therefore been chosen as the structure for the cross-case comparisons made between the findings from the five studies presented in chapter 5, where this synthesis continues.

Chapter 3

Research methodology

3.1 Some methodological notes

No alternatives to a case study approach were appropriate for this project because no other research method could explore the complexities associated with e-Business implementation processes and the performance effects of e- Business use. Case study research is a well-established methodology within the marketing (Eisenhardt 1989, Wilson & Vlosky 1997) and IS research fields (Sauer 1993, Dubé & Paré 2003, Keutel et al. 2014). In addition to case studies, Study 1 and Study 3 are based partially on survey data. In these two studies, it was necessary to understand the views of a substantial share of the population of e-Business target actors, which motivated the use of the survey method. In both these surveys, the respondents were randomly selected. In Study 1, a sample of 130 hardware dealers (Publication 1:144) was randomly drawn. The Study 1 survey questionnaire was answered by 90 hardware dealer CEOs and in full by 85 of them (65.4% response rate). Given that the selection of survey respondents was randomly drawn and the response rate high, this implies that the quantitative results from the hardware dealer survey to a relatively high degree were generalisable to the entire population of Swedish hardware dealers at that time. In Study 3, a sample of 1,200 respondents was randomly drawn from the central data warehouse database by the central data warehouse department of Handelsbanken. The Study 3 survey questionnaire was answered by 822 72 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS private clients (68.5% response rate). As in Study 1, the results of this survey were relatively generalisable to the private clients at the two branch offices. In all five studies, I continuously focused on searching for and finding a research literature-based conceptual model that I perceived most relevant for combining the research question and the situation and context of the studied actors. The choice of model can be an existing one, or it can be designed by combining parts from two or more conceptual models into one. The chosen, or designed, conceptual model has been used for designing a semi-structured interview guide (Bryman & Bell 2015:486). Semi-structured means that the structured part of the questions fully matches all the elements and relationships in the chosen model. Elements refers to all the variables and their respective indicators as well as the inter-relationships between the variables. The semi part of the interview guide’s questions consists of open questions regarding the dimensions or variables included in the model. These open questions are essential because they allow the researcher to collect empirical knowledge and experiences that have not been discovered during the research review. An open question provides the respondent with an opportunity to answer the question regarding the phenomenon in question in their own words. When personal interviews serve as the data collection method, respondents are selected in different ways. In some cases, there is a research reference group that identifies appropriate respondents (Study 1), while in other cases, the primary contact person at the firm selects appropriate interviewees (Study 3). Regarding the identification of additional respondents, the researcher makes the interview access contact (Study 1). Also, often the choice of respondents along research studies results from the snowball sampling method. All of the initial interviews that were conducted for this thesis were done face-to-face. Follow-up interviews have often been conducted via telephone. There are many advantages to meeting face-to-face. One important aspect is that it becomes easier to motivate the respondent to answer all questions since the interviews tend to be longer than one hour, sometimes even longer than two hours. At the beginning of every interview, I asked for permission to audio- record the interview to capture all responses correctly. Though all interviews CHAPTER 3 73 were audio-recorded, I also took notes. Technology sometimes fails and, when that happens, these notes are priceless. I was confronted with this issue in one of the 39 personal interviews in Study 1. I prioritised writing the interview transcript as soon as possible while my memory was fresh. After the interview, I wrote a full transcript of the audio-recorded interview, sent the interview transcript to the respondent for approval, and made modifications. Sometimes this resulted in the approval of the interview pro- tocol as-is; in other cases, the respondent wanted to change minor parts by modifying (changing or adding) the primary empirical qualitative data they gave during the interview. It is vital in this process to obtain respondent validation (Bryman & Bell 2015:401), which allows the respondent to identify any misunderstanding or misinterpretation on the part of the interviewer. The approval of interview transcripts increases the degree of reliability and ecological validity (Bryman & Bell 2015:51). For qualitative studies, Lincoln and Guba (1985) propose trustworthiness as a criterion of excellence. Credibility (which parallels internal validity in quantitative research) is one criteria of trustworthiness. Credibility is gained if multiple accounts of reality are given. I attempted to increase my credibility by collecting primary empirical data from many different stakeholders in the case studies. Another criterion of trustworthiness is transferability (which parallels external validity in quantitative research), which relates to providing thick descriptions, i.e. rich, detailed accounts. This approach provides others with “a database for making judgments about the possible transferability of findings to other milieu” (Bryman & Bell 2015:402). Research conference articles are limited in terms of length, which is a disadvantage if the case study researcher wants to provide thick descriptions. I offer higher transferability for the three short conference articles (publications 3, 4, and 5) through substantially longer publications, which contain more thick descriptions: Fredriksson (2003), Fredriksson (2006), and Fredriksson and Arola (2009).

3.2 Primary data collection processes

Since different marketing channels or distribution systems, types of relationships, units of analyses, and e-Business forms have been focused upon across 74 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS the five empirical studies, this design provides opportunities for the richer, more varied, and multi-faceted collection of primary empirical data. This may contribute towards a more holistic understanding of the e-Business implementation phenomenon. One drawback of this research design is that the studies can be perceived as disparate, thereby having a lower degree of commonality. Taken together, these five empirical studies illustrate various forms of e- Business phenomena with partly different implementation issues to be addressed, managed, and handled at different levels of analysis. They have needed to be mutually adapted between the business, business process, and system development levels (Österle 1995). An important message from the Österle (1995) development level model is that there should be balance and harmony between the three development levels. As Collins (2001:213) notes: “It is not any one variable in isolation that makes a company great; it is the combination of all the pieces working together in an integrated package consistently and over time”. A common trait of the five empirical studies (S1–S5) is that each were perceived as relatively successful e-Business implementation cases by critical stakeholders at the time of the study. For the first two, mainly retrospective studies, S1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B) and S2 (Luna one- to-many ordering B2B), the perceived success was a major case selection criterion. Leonard-Barton (1990) posits that a major limitation of retrospective research is the difficulty of establishing the cause and effect of reconstructed events, and this is a limitation for the Study 1 and Study 2 cases. Studies focusing on, e.g. changes in business processes are preferably initiated before the outcomes of the implementation process are known (Van de Ven & Poole 1990). One reason for this approach is that knowledge about the outcomes can bias the conclusions drawn from the collected empirical data (Staw 1975). Van de Ven (1993) argues that implementation processes are best studied in real-time, that is, as they unfold. Regarding the three later empirical studies, where I followed parts of the implementation processes in real-time, their perceived success was either expected (S3 Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C) or emerged later (S4 Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G and S5 Wermland Paper one-to- CHAPTER 3 75 many sales portal B2B). Both the Study 4 and the Study 5 cases were initiated before the implementation outcomes were known. The scope of business processes and e-Business implementation processes varied across the five studies. As noted in chapter 1, the primary data collected across these five empirical studies are ‘different animals’ (cf. Tilson et al. 2010). The Study 1 and Study 2 cases are about ‘pre-Internet e-Busi- ness’, the Study 3 and Study 5 cases concern ‘Internet e-Business’, and the Study 4 case entails both these e-Business types. Another strength of the present bundle of empirical studies is that different levels of analyses were chosen. Given that multiple stakeholders are involved in each particular e-Business implementation process, conditions on macro, meso, and micro levels of analysis all exercise significant influence (Johnston & Gregor 2000, Gregor & Johnston 2001, Zhu et al. 2006b). Study 1 took both a macro perspective (a survey of dealers on the buyer side) and a micro (firm) perspective (among producers and distributors on the supplier side). Study 2 mainly applied a firm perspective, and in Study 3, I used both a macro perspective (a survey of private clients) and a firm perspective (on the service provider side). Study 4 involved a dyadic perspective between one municipality in its buyer role towards four of its suppliers, and in Study 5, the dyadic perspective was applied between a firm sourcing a web-based e-Busi- ness system and its ES or e-Business system vendor. Regarding business context, Study 1 and Study 2 discuss the hardware goods distribution system (B2B); Study 3 addresses private banking services (B2C); Study 4 concerns the purchasing side of goods and services for municipalities (B2G); and Study 5 reviews the change to a web-based ES at a speciality sack paper firm (B2B). This design enables the capture of various types of implementation issues over time. As mentioned, two dominant IT archetypes are e-Business and ES. Implementation issues for different e- Business applications were studied in S1, S2 and S4, while channel choice perceptions were the focus of S3, and ES change issues were the subject of S5. One important characteristic of e-Business and ES implementation processes is the complexity associated, given that multiple levels of analyses are involved. One aim of studying multiple case studies, rather than studying one case in depth, is to increase generalisability (Miles & Huberman 1994:172–173). 76 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Multiple case studies also provide the potential for developing “more sophisticated descriptions and more powerful explanations” (Miles & Huberman 1994:172). On the impeding side, it has been argued that “developing a good cross-case analysis/synthesis is not a simple matter” (ibid.). This multiple case study will be reported in the manner proposed by Yin (2014:184), who recommends that the report contain an additional chapter covering the cross- case results and analysis (see chapter 5). The main empirical findings from each of the five case studies are structured according to the model developed by Redondo et al. (2009:88), who have conducted an empirical study on the implementation of EDI in six buyer−supplier relationships. Baskerville (2009:3) argues that scholars need to adjust their approaches in order to reach the level of abstraction. He posits that the article by Redondo et al. (2009) is such an example, which also is “very deeply anchored in its own empirical data”. Given the primary focus on e-Business B2B and B2G in this thesis, the major advantage of the Re- dondo et al. (2009:88) model is that it has a B2B relationship marketing perspective.

3.3 Study background and methods

3.3.1 Study 1: BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B Study background Study 1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B) originated from the second research project that I participated in at the Foundation for Distribu- tion Research, Stockholm School of Economics. This exploratory oriented research project, financed by Föreningen för MA-forskning, was discussed in the Swedish text Distribution av varor och tjänster i informationssamhället (Fred- riksson, Holmlöv & Julander 1987). Some of the reference group members for this project also represented member organisations of the Foundation for Distribution Research, such as the distributor Luna and the producer Mara- bou. Based on the findings from this project, we agreed in dialogue with the reference group members about an interesting research extension. It was to explore and study both the influencing conditions and the consequences of CHAPTER 3 77 using the new multilateral e-Business platform, mastered by BASCET In- folink, being used in the Swedish hardware distribution system. This e-Busi- ness intermediary actor, called at that time a value-added network (VAN), was continuously developing, implementing, and diffusing the use of its multilateral e-Business platform. The nature of the flow of goods and information in Study 1 can be la- belled a distribution- and information-intensive system, characterised by the vast number of items that pass through it. Accordingly, there were large transaction and inquiry volumes (a buyer−supplier pre-condition related to e-Business use) and frequent information needs, which all justifies e-Business implementation. The average unit values were relatively low, and handling costs were relatively high. Chosen research design A mixed-methods approach was chosen. In Study 1, the main focus was on a survey at the hardware dealer system-level. The primary empirical contribution from Study 1 was the survey findings. In Study 1, a sample of 130 hardware dealers (Publication 1:144), which constituted about one-fourth (23%) of the total population of Swedish hardware dealers, was randomly drawn. The total population of Swedish hardware dealers at that time was operationalised as the 529 members of Sveriges Järnhandlareförbund. The survey questionnaire was mainly deductively generated. It was based on a relatively extensive research review focusing on factors influencing innovation implementation and diffusion processes (with a particular focus on B2B e-Business innovations) and on performance effects of e-Business use. The survey questionnaire was answered in full by the CEOs (most often owners) of 91 hardware dealer firms. Compared with many oft-referenced articles in the e-Business domain, the response rate was high: 65.4% (Publi- cation 1:144). Given that the selection of survey respondents was random, the quantitative results from the hardware dealer survey to a relatively high degree were generalisable to the whole population of Swedish hardware dealers at that time. The partial least squares (PLS) multivariate statistical method is instrumental in specifying a conceptual model (Fornell 1986). When applying PLS to the collected quantitative empirical data, one important output specifies 78 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS the conceptual model, which explains the variation in the dependent variable to the highest degree. Also, the standardised path coefficients that PLS com- putes are informative since they enable sums of the total influence strength of each independent variable, both directly and indirectly − via possible intermediate variables − on the dependent variable. Such a summation of the standardised path coefficients enables a cross-comparison between independent variables in terms of their total degree of influence on the dependent variable. A relatively large number of personal interviews were conducted with eight representatives of large suppliers, five representatives of the two large wholesalers, 13 representatives of SME hardware dealers, two representatives of building contractors, five representatives of the e-Business platform provider (BASCET Infolink), two representatives of the hardware trade association (SJF), and four representatives of actors external to the distribution system (Table 3.1; p. 71). From the collected qualitative data from these 39 respondents, a broad spectrum of impeding and driving conditions on e- Business implementation processes were identified. In sum, the primary research approaches chosen were a quantitative empirical survey and qualitative interviews. The main units of analyses applied in the Study 1 case were macro and micro levels of analysis, and the time period for empirical data collection was 1988–1992. The main empirical focus in the Study 1 case was many buyers’ use of e-Business with their many suppliers (B2B), which were connected via the focal e-Business platform provider. Specifically, some 15 suppliers were connected in 1989. An additional goal was the development of an increased macro perspective understanding of the focal multilateral e-Business network.

3.3.2 Study 2: Luna one-to-many ordering B2B Study background Publication 2 originated from my and Mats Vilgon’s conference article (1993) entitled “Evolution of Distribution: Prerequisites for and Outcomes of In- terorganisational Information Systems”, which we presented at a Berlin workshop arranged within the European Science Foundation Programme. As a result of our participation in this workshop in 1993, we received a call CHAPTER 3 79 for papers invitation from the guest editors of a coming special issue of the European Journal of Information Systems. The thesis project focuses on only one of the firms discussed in the orig- inal work, the source firm Luna (i.e. Pappersgruppen is omitted). Luna’s primary purposes with proactively sourcing the focal e-Business systems were to: 1. Reduce order-entry costs 2. Increase comparative efficiency through increasing customers’ ease of ordering and receiving information The nature of the goods and information flow in Study 2 can be characterised as part of a distribution- and information-intensive system involving a large number of MRO products, massive transaction volumes, and frequent information needs. Average unit values were relatively low, and handling costs were relatively high. Chosen research design The empirical focus in S2 was two industrial distributors, in different distribution systems, in their roles as e-Business source firms. Their e-Business use towards their buyers, suppliers, and third parties (B2B) were studied through personal interviews. The main units of analysis applied in Study 2 were the micro level of analysis, i.e. a firm perspective. The time period for empirical data collection was 1993–1995.

3.3.3 Study 3: Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C Study background Peter Docherty, National Institute for Working Life, and I were the project grant authors for a three-year project, called Revolutions in Banking: Real or Vir- tual Worlds, granted and financed by Vinnova (initially Nutek). Our research team also included Ragnvald Sannes and Gösta Steneskog, IMIT. The head office of Svenska Handelsbanken was our co-financing project partner in this project. A common denominator for the four of us was that we all had worked at the Stockholm School of Economics. We decided to divide the work amongst the group members, and I was responsible for focusing on the service relationship marketing aspects of e-Banking use. 80 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Svenska Handelsbanken was chosen as our first candidate as a research object to study, as reported in Fredriksson and Docherty (1998). Given the shared management perspective within our research team, the main reason for our choice was that Handelsbanken had proven to have sustainable and superior profitability over almost a three-decade period. An additional ra- tionale was that there is more to learn from studying the actor “that is best in class”. Then, the 1998 profit for Handelsbanken meant that, for the 27th year running, it had a higher return on equity than the average of the other Swedish and Nordic universal banks (Svenska Handelsbanken 1999:5). One important building block for sustainable profitability is a satisfied customer base. Among the major full-service Swedish banks, Handelsbanken was ranked highest by its customers in terms of satisfaction level – both among corporate and private clients – every year since the Svenskt Kvalitetsindex Survey was first conducted in 1989. The source firm’s (Sven- ska Handelsbanken) primary purposes with the focal e-Banking system were: 1. Cost reductions. 2. Shift of co-worker work from routine to business tasks. The nature of the goods and information flow in Study 3 can be characterised as an information- and transaction-intensive service flow: banking payment transactions. Service differences were marginal, and average transaction values were low. Chosen research design The primary research approach chosen in Study 3 was a quantitative survey. The hypothesis formulated at the outset related to whether universal retail banks must build better relationships with their private clients as the degree of digitalisation increases. With digitalisation, the competitor is “just one click away”. Handelsbanken’s head office representatives in the research project team selected two small-town branch offices to be included in the survey: Sydfors and Nordfors. Among these two branch offices’ private clients, users of two channels were selected: e-Banking and the (physical) office users. With the expectation of reaching a response rate of 70%, we concluded that the sample size should be 300 clients in each of the four cells of the chosen sub- CHAPTER 3 81 sample design. The decision to have this equal number in each sub-sample cell, instead of a proportionate selection in relation to the population size of each sub-sample, was motivated by our interest in comparing the sub-samples. The 2 x 2 x 300 – that is 1,200 total – respondents were randomly drawn from the central data warehouse database by the central data warehouse department of Handelsbanken. The questionnaire survey was both inductively and managerially oriented and deductively generated. In-person interviews with managers and co-workers at the two branch offices of the universal bank were also conducted (see Fredriksson & Lindblad 2001). Our questionnaire focused on B2C relationship aspects regarding payment services. It was based on a broad research study, but the primary influence was the indexes and items proposed by Pau- lin et al. (1997, 2000), designed to measure relationship norms. The questionnaire consisted of 139 items. The main empirical focus in Study 3 was the surveyed 822 private clients’ (68.5% response rate) use of e-Banking based self-services vs face-to-face services (B2C) at two branch offices of the chosen universal case bank. Thus, Study 3 used a macro level of analysis related to private clients at the two branch offices. The time period for empirical data collection was 1999–2002.

3.3.4 Study 4: Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G Study background For Study 4, I was part of the Service Research Centre’s (CTF) research programme called ‘The New Service Economy’, financed by The Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen). The financing of research projects within this KK-stiftelsen programme required co-financing from organisations offering to discuss their perceived problems and allowing interviews with co-workers. Since 2000, I had been a member of the reference group of Wermland Chamber of Commerce’s e-Business platform project, Handelsplats Werm- land. In 2001, it began its pedagogical e-Business awareness project, primarily aiming to increase awareness of the potential benefits of digitalisation and e- Business use among SMEs and municipalities within the county of Werm- land. Over the course of two years, some 1,300 firms in the region of Werm- 82 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS land were educated about, or made aware of, “potential business values attainable from Internet and IT use” during inspirational seminars and short courses arranged by the Wermland Chamber of Commerce (Veckans Affärer 2003). The manager of the Wermland Chamber of Commerce’s Meetingpoint Wermland (Portalen Handelsplats Wermland) project, Ulrika Obstfelder Pe- terson, and I agreed that I should conduct a one-year research project within CTF’s “The New Service Economy” programme. Study 4 is an example of applying different government-intervention mechanisms (cf. Damsgaard 1996) to facilitate an e-Business implementation process in the B2G context. The provision of public financial resources was deemed necessary to initiate, adopt, and use the multilateral e-Invoicing system among municipalities and their small suppliers in the county of Werm- land region, located in western Sweden. All these actors lacked e-Business capabilities when the governmental intervention was initiated. Three prominent and necessary government-intervention mechanisms applied in this case: seminars aiming to improve e-Business knowledge, standardisation agreements, and subsidies to create a critical mass in terms of use. In this specific regional B2G network, the e-Business maturity was very low when this regional e-Invoicing project was initiated. Therefore, the government-subsidies were absolutely necessary in order to potentially create a critical mass situation. During Study 4, these two related research questions were addressed: 1. What are the main conditions influencing the use of e-Invoices as applied in ‘small supplier−municipality buyer’ relationships linked via the multilateral e-Business portal PMW? 2. What are the different stakeholder perceptions of the effects, in the early phase, of using these e-Invoices? The e-Business platform provider’s (that was Wermland Chamber of Com- merce) primary purpose was to provide simple, inexpensive, and packaged e- Invoice solutions to the advantage of SMEs and municipalities within the region. The nature of the goods and information flow in Study 4 can be characterised as consisting of large invoice volumes and thousands of suppliers CHAPTER 3 83 for each municipal buyer. Half of the suppliers in the studied municipality−suppliers case sent less than five invoices annually. Chosen research design The main research approach chosen was exploratory and inductive because the focal e-Business application was new for both the focal source buyer and the target suppliers. The main empirical focus in Study 4 (Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G) was B2G e-Invoicing processes with three stakeholder types: one municipality, four of its suppliers, and a regional e-Business platform provider as mediator. The regional and impartial e-Business portal, run by the e-Business platform provider, was government-sponsored. The main unit of analysis applied in Study 4 was the micro level related to a few dyadic source municipality−target supplier firm relationships. The time period for empirical data collection was 2005–2006.

3.3.5 Study 5: Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal B2B Study background Study 5 focused on a successful ES change, or migration, implementation project at Wermland Paper, a medium-sized Swedish niche paper producer (reported in Fredriksson & Ljung 2010, Fredriksson & Arola 2009, Fredrik- sson & Ljung 2011). A modern web-based ES, called ComActivity, including a user-friendly application generator and a graphical modelling functionality (as opposed to the traditional monolithic hard-coded ESs), was implemented at Wermland Paper. This adoption enabled the users at Wermland Paper to institute business processes as they wanted them to be designed. Previously, this had not been the typical procedure (i.e. the process−ES misalignment or fit problem). The ‘meeting’ between a standard package ES and the specific requirements of the ES client firm is a central challenge for both parties in most ES vendor−client relationships. In the studied ES client−implementor project, an agile project management approach was applied. This ES migration project was limited in scope. 84 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

It encompassed only the order, inventory, and invoicing modules. ComAc- tivity is also the name of the ES vendor firm, which assumes the implementor role (like the profitable Swedish ES vendor Monitor). From 2003–2007, the profit margin improved significantly for the ES client case firm. From a loss situation at the beginning of the period, its profit margin exceeded 10% in 2007. The then-CEO of the ES client case firm (referred to as “the [e-Business] source supplier in Study 5”) commented that: a large proportion of Wermland Paper’s growth is attributable to the integration and dialogue with our customers. 70% of Wermland Paper’s turnover consists of sales to customers to which Wermland Paper is the dominant supplier. Thus, the new web- (and ES-)based sales portal − offered to Wermland Pa- per’s agents and customers in spring 2007 − was an essential component in Wermland Paper’s strategy. The nature of the goods and information flow in Study 5 was characterised by the fragmented customer base of the supplier under study. The goods traded were high quality, customised niche products. Average unit values were high. Chosen research design The primary research approach chosen was inductive because the ES in question belonged to a new modern ES technology paradigm and due to other emerging new pre-conditions. The main empirical focus in Study 5 was the development and implementation of a web- and ES-based B2B sales portal. The main unit of analysis applied was the micro-level ES vendor−source supplier firm dyadic relationship. The time period for empirical data collection was 2006–2008.

Chapter 4

Summaries of the primary study findings

In this chapter, I summarise the primary findings from each of the five case studies in relation to the two overarching research questions. These primary findings will inform the overall conclusions discussed in chapter 7.

4.1 Study 1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering − B2B)

4.1.1 Summary of the primary findings in Study 1 Pre-conditions for efficiency effects of e-Business use During Study 1, I identified several factors that impact to what degree e- Business can result in rationalisation effects (see Table 3 below).

86 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Table 3: Proposed pre-conditions for increased efficiency from e-Business use in vertical dyadic buyer−supplier relationships

Supplier The exchange process Buyer • Industry characteristics • Standardisation feasibil- • Industry characteristics • Investment amount ity • Investment amount • Product/service • Volume • Consumers/firms • Number of customers • Frequency • Number of customers • The breadth of the prod- • Content • Organisational structure uct range • Actual standardisation • Information needs • Computerised internal degree • Supply delivery needs ISs integration capabili- • Computerised internal ties and functions ISs integration capabili- • Management commit- ties and functions ment • Management commit- • Distribution concept ment • Inventory management • Distribution concept policy

Source: Publication 1 (p. 204)

In publication 1 (pp. 204–206), the conditions included in the proposed model of pre-conditions for increased efficiency from e-Business use in vertical dyadic buyer−supplier relationships (Table 3) are briefly described and explained. More extensive comments about the influencing conditions on increased efficiency from e-Business use, with the dyadic buyer−supplier relationship as the unit of analysis, are presented in Fredriksson (1992b).

4.1.2 Performance effects Identified performance effects of e-Business use in Study 1 are presented at different levels of analysis: macro, meso, and micro. This section is finalised with a summary of service output level effects along Bucklin’s (1966) model. Performance effects at the macro level Effects at the industry level Actors from all levels in the hardware distribution system (the industry level) were hooked up on the multilateral systems, mediated by the e-Business platform provider firm BIL. This e-Business platform provider, with all its e- CHAPTER 4 87

Business exchange services, was perceived as an industry-wide resource (p. 191). One central element of Study 1 is the survey conducted: The CEOs of 85 hardware dealers answered the survey questions about attitudes to, and perceived effects of, their use of e-Business. The survey, which was performed during the fall of 1988, gives a snapshot of perceived effects, expectations, and perceptions about e-Business. The survey results show that the use of e-Business reduced the number of supplier relationships for 71% of the responding target buyers (pp. 166, 201). i.e. a structural distribution system effect. A related structural effect was that 81% of the responding target buyers increased their shares of purchases from the suppliers represented in the system, i.e. a purchase and sales share effect (pp. 166, 201). Among the e-Business target buyers, 23% (as opposed to only 8% among the non-e-Business users) perceived that an efficient e-Business ordering system was among the top three competitive factors (p. 174). On average, this critical business success factor was ranked sixth in importance (p. 191). ‘Cus- tomer service’ and ‘Competent co-workers’ were ranked as the two most important competitive factors. As a result of their e-Business use, the surveyed target buyers perceived that they attained the capability of offering higher quality services to their customers (i.e. the buyers’ buyers). Another survey result was that 79% of the target buyer respondents perceived that e-Business use resulted in positive effects on customer service (pp. 162, 201). Finally, 10 out of the 73 surveyed e-Business users claimed they would not survive without e-Business (p. 174). Effects at the target buyer (dealer) macro-level In the Study 1 survey, the CEOs of the surveyed target buyers reported on the perceived net profit effect of their e-Business use. The results were con- vincing. All respondent firms, except one, reported perceived positive net profit effects of their e-Business use. The net effect of the hardware dealers’ investments in e-Business was that their estimated net profit on average was SEK 82,000, which equated to 0.55% of turnover (p. 152). The median net profit margin, though, was significantly lower: 0.17%. Thus, there was a significant variance among the hardware dealers in their buyer roles, and the 88 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS distribution of perceived net profits was skewed. For example, 24% of the respondents constituted 80% of the perceived total yearly net profit for all respondents (ibid.). Thus, regarding the distribution of the total net profits, the ‘80-20 rule’ applied, as in many other instances. Empirical evidence was collected via the Study 1 survey for positive profitability effects, even though it demonstrated a relatively weak effect. At this point, this was one of the few survey studies conducted on perceived profitability effects in the research literature. An analysis of the survey results shows that e-Business via handheld computers positively influenced perceived profitability, while online e-Business negatively influenced perceived profitability (pp. 180–181). As expected, the hardware dealers experienced positive rationalisation effects of their e-Business use: 76% perceived that positive effects had been acquired in terms of reduced purchase ordering administration work, and 91% reported that e-Business investments had resulted in reduced time spent on purchase orders. Changed intra-firm work procedures was another effect of e-Business use. As a result, 76% of the hardware dealers ordered more often than before using e-Business. In sum, the survey results show that the hardware dealers believed that e-Business implementation and use were motivated by a business perspective (p. 200).

Measurement of perceived profitability effects of e-Business use At the e-Business target firm-level, the influence of various independent variables on perceived profitability effects of e-Business use (the dependent variable) were measured in Study 1. The way the independent variables and the dependent variable were specified in the PLS model explained 61% of the variance in the dependent variable (see Figure 2).

CHAPTER 4 89

Figure 2: PLS model for variables influencing perceived profitability effects of e-Business use on the hardware dealer level (micro level) Source: Publication 1 (p. 177; in Swedish)

The multivariate analysis of the survey data shows that top management’s commitment was the single independent variable with the most significant influence on the profitability effects that the surveyed hardware dealers perceived as resulting from their e-Business use. Top management’s commitment explained to a much higher degree the variation in the dependent variable than other measured independent variables, such as supplier-related 90 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS factors, the perceived simplicity of the system, and degree of use (see Table 6.9 and Figure 6.2 in publication 1). As seen in Table 6.9 (in publication 1), the direct path influence from top management’s commitment to perceived profitability effects of e-Business use was 0.43, and the indirect path influence was 0.15, leading to a total influence of 0.58 (with 1.0 as the maximum value). This influence was clearly stronger than the influence from supplier- related factors on the dependent variable: 0.34 as total influence. Performance effects at the meso level Effects at the source supplier focal net level The BASCET suppliers initially tried to achieve a competitive advantage by establishing the proprietary multilateral e-Business network (VAN) system (p. 183), which did not succeed. E-Business diffusion momentum was first attained after the two competing e-Business platforms merged. At that point in time, the designed and implemented multilateral online system offered by the BASCET firms was unique and, therefore, positively perceived by BASCET source suppliers. Specifically, they attained the image of being pro- gressive and innovative supplier firms (p. 183). One particular dealer that had disintermediated Luna, facilitated by e-Business use, claimed that it – as a result – improved the firm profit margin by 20% (p. 208). Effects at the source supplier level Representatives of Luna, the proactive and resourceful source supplier of the multilateral online system, reported that its investments in e-Business resources were fully repaid (p. 202). This evaluation was not based on any cost- benefit calculations. However, on the BASCET supplier side, they reported at the time of Study 1 that they had not yet seen positive effects of their e- Business investments (p. 202). Performance effects at the micro level Effects at the inter-firm process-level At the inter-firm (buyer−supplier) process-level, relationship effects, external efficiency effects, and service output level effects were identified. CHAPTER 4 91

The relationship effect emerged through a purchase and sales share effect (that is, increased customer loyalty) observed in both focal buyer–supplier relationships. This effect, explained by increased ordering convenience, can be categorised as a strategic effect. To this category, order-delivery cycle time effects can also be classified. Another relationship effect identified is the re- location of work activities or a shifting role effect. As the online (EDA; Elec- tronic Data Access) and handheld computer (HHC) ordering increased among Luna buyers, Luna’s field salesmen no longer needed to take orders during their customer visits. Thereby, the responsibility and ordering activities were relocated from the supplier to the buyer. This shift in purchase and stock responsibility, in turn, required that the purchasers were prompted to assume a more active role in their relationships with Luna (Publication 1:203, Publication 2:58). External efficiency effects, such as coordination effects, mutual administration cost effects, and administrative activity effects, were identified. Con- venience effects and economies of scope effects resulting from e-Business use − service output level effects − were also found in these studies. In Study 1, it was found that the adoption and use of e-Business applications resulted in a reduction in stock levels and improved levels of customer (delivery) service. This finding is, for example, in line with the conclusion made by Benjamin and Levinson (1993:26), who discuss IT-enabled work method change effects. Such economies of scale and scope effects, in turn, result in an even stronger market position. If a strong market position is combined with the successful diffusion of e-Business applications, it is even possible − as for this focal wholesaler − to attain a hub position in the distribution system. The degree of success for such an e-Business-supported strategy depends on the competitors’ moves. Effects at the process-level for the target buyers The batch systems primarily had a positive effect on reducing the purchase order process, while the online systems positively affected the inventory turnover rate. A significant cause for the latter effect is that the (target) buyer, and – more importantly – the buyer’s buyer received instant purchase order confirmation (p. 164). One main advantage of online system use for the target buyers is that they could quickly access information, e.g. immediate order 92 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS confirmation. Other process benefits from online system use included: simpler and faster ordering, decreased inventory levels, fewer incorrect orders, better work routines, and improved product range overviews (p.175). As reported by the hardware dealer John Sjögren, simplified working routines freed up more co-worker resources for marketing and sales. For this case firm on the micro level, the shifting of resources had up to 1989 resulted in an annual turnover increase of 15–20% (p. 200). According to the industry magazine Järnhandlaren (1989:9), the effective use of the multilateral online system Bascet combined with capable delivery operations of the BASCET source suppliers had resulted in doubling inventory turnover rates. Effects at the process-level for the source suppliers When the buyer calls for a high delivery service level, the online e-Business system is relatively more highly valued (p. 205). When the buyer instead calls for low costs, then the batch e-Business system – as a transaction productivity-enhancing tool − is relatively more highly valued (p. 205). Effects at the system-level Concerning the batch e-Business forms (EDI, HHC), the source suppliers − via the e-Business platform provider BIL as the intermediator − obtained a simpler technical operation and a joint electronic communication channel (p. 119). A Study 1-based summary of service output level effects along Bucklin’s (1966) model Regarding the influence of e-Business system use on lot size (using the simple service output level model of Bucklin 1966), the survey responses were not clear-cut: 43% stated their lot sizes had decreased. More frequent ordering and smaller lot size imply lower stock levels, one of the most typical ration- ales for e-Business investments. For example, 72% of the survey respondents reported that their inventory turnover rate had increased, while 3%, on the contrary, cited a decrease as a result of their e-Business order system use (p. 201). In terms of convenience, the e-Business order systems formally were open 24-hours per day. In practice, however, many of the suppliers closed at 6 CHAPTER 4 93 p.m. because they were obliged to do their extensive batch processing during the evening or overnight. However, even the 6 p.m. deadline constituted an improvement compared to the pre-e-Business order system. Thus, the level of convenience offered by the suppliers depended on their internal routines (p. 201). The information provided by the online (EDA) systems, which re- placed the need for telephone contact, is another dimension of convenience obtained. This supplier exchange generated an increase in service output level, which benefitted the buyer’s buyer: 79% of buyers reported that the customer service level had increased due to e-Business use (p. 201). This finding is significant since high “service-level towards customers” was perceived by the survey respondents as the most important key factor for commercial success (reported in Fredriksson 1990:109). Interview data from Study 1 show that the lead time (waiting time) from Luna and Ferro/Järnia to their buyers had decreased as an effect of e-Busi- ness use. This finding is not surprising: it is one of the most touted benefits of e-Business use (e.g. Gadde 1990, Cunningham & Tynan 1993). For the target buyers, e-Business order system use significantly influenced the product range breadth (product variety) supplied. Luna is an example of this, as its online system enabled an increase from 35,000 to 100,000 items. This increase was made possible through co-marketing agreements made with six of its partnership suppliers. The survey results show that e-Business use was instrumental in more frequent ordering for 71% of the target buyers (pp. 166, 201), one indicator of a higher service degree for the buyer. The use of e-Business enabled to a higher degree the buyer to place purchase orders when their needs arose. With more frequent ordering follows smaller purchase order lot sizes (p. 201). However, the survey results show that only 43% of the target dealers perceived that the purchase order lot sizes decreased. More frequent ordering leads to lower inventory levels at the target buyers, implying that stock-keeping is partly shifted backwards in the marketing channel. For example, 72% of the surveyed target buyers reported that the inventory turnover rate had increased due to e-Business use (Appendix 1a:V110 in publication 1). E-Busi- 94 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS ness use reduced the target buyers’ time spent on ordering for 91% of respondents (pp. 166, 201), which corresponds with the result that e-Business use reduced order administration for 76% of the target buyers. In sum, the surveyed target buyers in Study 1, that is, the hardware dealers, saw positive changes in three of Bucklin’s four service output level dimensions in their relationships with suppliers being represented in the multilateral e-Business systems.

4.2 Study 2 (Luna one-to-many ordering − B2B)

4.2.1 Primary critical success conditions Proactive market leaders can improve market At the firm level and the distribution system-level, Study 2 concluded that a proactive, or offensive, approach taken by an actor with a strong market position regarding investments in e-Business applications can yield both service output improvements and cost reductions concurrently. However, a prerequisite is the successful use and diffusion of an application among its trading partners. Thus, traditional perceived managerial dichotomies, such as the classical trade-off between high customer delivery service and low stock levels, can be dissolved by applying IT assets. When economies of scale and scope effects are attained, these effects drive an even stronger market position. Suppose a strong market position is combined with the successful diffusion of e-Business applications among its trading partners. In that case, it is even possible − as for the two focal distributors in Study 2 (Luna and Pappersgruppen) − to attain a hub, or market leader, position in their respective distribution systems. The degree of success for such an e-Business-supported strategy also depends on the competitors’ moves. Business process redesign needs driving e-Business design Study 2 found that the focal firm Luna’s e-Business initiatives were driven more by internal needs at the source distributor level than by requirements from its trading partners. Early on, Luna recognised the virtues associated CHAPTER 4 95 with the materials management approach, a total systems integration approach. Early e-Business development was primarily driven by the internally influential materials management and business logistics department, which is reported to be one of the critical explanatory conditions for Luna’s successful diffusion of its online system (Publication 1:183, Publication 2:57–58). At the dyadic level, Luna’s online system enabled the hardware dealers to have increased access to Luna’s product range. Before the system was introduced, there had ‘always’ been excuses for long lead times from Luna to the dealer(s). As the dealers’ confidence with the system increased, their requirements for shorter (physical) lead times increased. This growth, in turn, required Luna to fine-tune its physical delivery system. The increased use of the online system by the hardware dealers implied that they could decrease their stock levels. Consequently, Luna was able to control its materials and goods flow to a greater extent than before. The large tailor-made internal IS of the Swedish tool distributor Luna was developed in-house, leading to a high total IT cost for Luna. However, Luna succeeded in gaining a solid position in the Swedish distribution system for hardware products, partly because its large tailor-made internal IS helped create its strong marketing and logistics capabilities. Luna succeeded in driving a redesign of the business network enabled by its large internal IS; in its development, e-Business served as an integrated part of its strategy. Throughout 1970–1993, studied retrospective in Study 2, Luna was a motor, or dynamo, in the marketing channel. In other words, as part of the hardware marketing channel and distribution system, Luna was to a high degree contributing to improving the whole. The buyers of Luna increased their purchase shares, Luna’s capital costs decreased because of more efficient inventory management, and service levels increased in terms of reduced order- delivery lead times and higher delivery accuracy. Altogether this resulted in consistently high profitability levels for Luna during the period studied. Thus, Luna’s high IT cost for its tailor-made IS developed in-house was remuner- ated by even more significant gains in profit. Put simply, the realisation of Luna’s IT strategy resulted in economic benefits. 96 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Trust and bonds The level of inter-firm trust (a pre-condition building up relationship strength, according to Redondo et al.’s 2009 model) had been built up since the 1950s, when the source distributor Luna gave exclusive sales rights to dealers, which in turn generated a sufficient level of mutual trust for e-Busi- ness. Luna was an important supplier for the target buyers (the dealers), providing them within the range of 5–30% of their purchase volume. Re- garding inter-personal intra-firm trust, there were internal co-alignments within the source distributor between the heads of different functional units, which were based on inter-personal trust. Regarding inter-personal inter-firm trust, the source distributor had various IS and e-Business reliant inter-firm partnerships: with customers (OLAF), with suppliers (the SALDO suppliers), and with Bilspedition, its strategic forwarding firm partner. In the Luna case, there were structural dyadic bonds in place. Since the target buyers (i.e. dealers) owned the source distributor, there were solid structural bonds (backward vertical integration). In addition, the individual target buyers had a relatively high level of dependence on the source distributor since it had a strong market position and its product range represented a significant share (5–30%) of its buyers’ purchase volume (i.e. relatively strong supplier power). This strength is a central explanation for the source distributor’s forward e-Business integration. The source distributor significantly reduced its supplier base, which ac- centuated how already strong relationships grew even more substantial. There were internal structural bonds in place, with a particularly strong internal co-alignment between the business logistics and IS units within the source distributor. Concerning internal social bonds, there were also solid social relationships within the source distributor. Maestro driving e-Business design and diffusion for the source distributor At the individual management level, when the head of the materials management department (the maestro; cf. McKenney et al. 1995) left Luna, many believed that no one could replace him. As a consequence, the material administration department was renamed when his successor took up the position. CHAPTER 4 97

In sum, the materials management approach adopted by Luna was driving the e-Business diffusion development with its customers, which invited the buyers to place higher requirements on Luna as their reference points gradually changed. This growing business required that Luna continuously improve its materials management activities. As a consequence, the purchase behaviour of Luna’s buyers also changed, which in turn triggered Luna to improve its materials management control and activities further. Over time, Luna has continuously been working on improving its materials management activities.

4.2.2 Performance effects Benefits at the strategic-level At the focal net level, an essential strategic benefit was the reduced total distribution costs across the players along the marketing channel using the EXAKT system. At the dyadic level, an important strategic benefit was the purchase and sales share effects for the relationships between the source distributor and its linked customers. At the source distributor level, both in Luna’s supplier and buyer roles, e-Business has enabled expansion of its market scope and its virtual product range, increased its capital turnover rate, and contributed to increasing and maintaining its sustainably high profitability level. Benefits at the process-level Dyadic process-level benefits include how e-Business use facilitated the reloca- tion of the stock replenishment responsibility: e-Business enabled target buyers to resume control over their stock. E-Business use contributed to more effective inter-firm processes, which reflected higher delivery service levels for the target buyers. Among the process-level benefits for the source distributor from e-Business use were: (1) a significant decrease in manual order-entry work and administrative costs; (2) the previously numerous sales order clerks were, for the most part, redeployed to more value-creating work tasks; (3) improved e- Business and ES-reliant inventory management work resulted in higher inventory turnover rates. Among the process-level benefits for the target buyers were 98 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS an increased ease of ordering and receiving information from the supplying source distributor and reduced order-delivery cycle times.

4.3 Study 3 (Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking − B2C)

4.3.1 Summary of the primary findings in Study 3 Are self-sufficient clients desirable for a universal bank? Banks worldwide have continued to bet heavily on e-Banking. Thus, banks want to reduce their costs via internet-based self-services, which increases the social distance between the branch office and the private client. At the same time banks want to maintain close relationships with their most profitable private clients, in order to strengthen customer loyalty. How should the branch office (the universal bank) relate to this distance and closeness para- dox? Are essential relationships affected by fewer and fewer visits to the branch offices? How are the brand strength and loyalty – two crucial factors for long-term profitability – being affected? For many years, banks have continuously automated their client relationships. During the years prior to Study 3 on Handelsbanken, the use of e- Banking (internet-based self-service) had increased drastically. In 2003, 64% of the Swedish population had access to the internet at home, and 31% did their banking errands via the internet (Findahl 2004). Among the surveyed private clients, the high-income private client group had the highest share of e-Banking clients (56%). E-Banking facilitates for the private client to switch bank An emerging threat for universal banks is that they can keep simpler everyday transactions but lose more profitable ones (such as investments and loans). At the point in time for Study 3 there were examples of internet-based bank actors that had successfully captured business from such banks in their niche markets. Thus, universal banks are facing a dilemma. E-Banking is causing them trouble, while at the same time, the evolution is irreversible: they can- CHAPTER 4 99 not relinquish this self-service channel. E-Banking has given the branch office’s private clients new possibilities to be clients of many banks and find the best service a competing bank could offer. The competition is gradually shifting from the local to a more national and global level. E-Banking users value the relationship with the branch office lower Study 3 survey results show that the tendency to switch banks is higher among high-income clients, of which 78% are e-Banking users (Publication 3:13, Fredriksson 2003:66). E-Banking users are behaviourally less loyal than office users. This lower degree of loyalty is manifested in that e-Banking users are clients of more banks and have switched banks more often during the ten years prior to Study 3 (Fredriksson 2003:74). Our analyses show that an average e-Banking user has a systematically and significantly lower valuation of the bank’s brand strength (or corporate image as it is called in Figure 3). It is in the same way for the different relationship-oriented behaviours and attitudes of the contact person at the branch office (see Figure 3): responsiveness and ability to act empathetically, perceived competence, reliability and communication, mutuality, client-orientation, and timely communication. In other words, an average e-Banking user has a weaker tie to the bank (than the office user), which means that the bank (i.e. branch office) for this client type to a higher degree is replaceable. This difference is systematically significant between these two channel user groups across all relationship-oriented behaviours and attitudes (t-tests show p<0.01 between the two groups for all these factors). The survey results show that the client’s level of involvement in their household economy is significantly higher for e-Banking users (than for office users). 100 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Figure 3: Comparison of perceptions between e-Banking and office users regarding perceived brand strength, contact person’s relationship-orientation variables, and client’s level of involvement (5- point Likert Scale)

Correlations between brand strength, relationship-oriented factors, own level of involvement and attitudinal loyalty For all the surveyed clients of the two studied branch offices, the perception of brand strength (called corporate image in Figure 4) was strongly related to the perceptions of different relationship-oriented behaviours and attitudes of the contact person at the branch office. In Figure 4 are the correlation coefficients between these variables for the surveyed e-Banking users presented. As seen in Figure 4, these co-variations are highly significant. The results further show that the more involved the e-Banking user client is in her/his own household economy, the more positive is brand strength perceived – even though this co-variation is only significant on the 0.05 level. In other words, the more economically active the client is, the higher she/he CHAPTER 4 101 perceives the brand strength to be. Also, the more involved the e-Banking user client is in her/his own household economy, the higher the attitudinal inclination is to switch branch office or bank, that is a higher attitudinal dis- loyalty.

Figure 4: Perceptions of e-Banking users regarding perceived brand strength, contact person’s relationship-orientation variables, and attitudinal propensity to switch banks. Correlation coefficients between the variables.

For the office user group, the client’s perceived brand strength affects her/his loyalty to the branch office, but for the e-Banking user group this influence was not significant. The co-variations between the perceptions of the contact person and the perceived brand strength are consistently somewhat higher for the office user respondents. This might depend on that their brand strength perceptions to a higher degree are formed by their face-to- face encounters with their respective contact persons. 102 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Managerial implications To attain long-term profit, the universal bank’s co-workers should stay in better touch with its clients and take more initiatives: telling private clients about negative news so that no other bank can beat the bank to it, discussing opportunities and enhancing the personal touch by starting to use the client’s personal bank homepage for one-to-one marketing. It is also essential that the bank’s contact person provides the client with more competence than comparison sites on the internet. Therefore, it is critical for universal banks that co-workers have competence advantages when the investors demand more cost-effective banking services. A continuously important question for the bank office is: How can we convince e-Banking users to continue choosing us as their bank?

4.3.2 Performance effects Benefits at the strategic-level The private clients’ use of e-Banking self-services saves substantial personnel costs for the bank, the source service provider. Within Swedish universal banks, the focal bank had the highest customer satisfaction score among its private clients. This high customer satisfaction was assumedly independent of e-Banking use. One-third of the surveyed e-Banking target client users perceived that their relationship with the branch office had become closer due to e-Banking use, while half of them believed that it had grown weaker. One indicator of external effectiveness is a client’s propensity to switch banks, which was higher among the surveyed e-Banking (and high-income clients) users who were sufficiently dissatisfied. Benefits at the process-level Private clients perceived significant benefits at the process-level, including using e-Banking for payment transactions and 24-hour accessibility. A major benefit for the source branch offices from e-Banking use is the decrease in manual work. CHAPTER 4 103

4.4 Study 4 (Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing − B2G)

4.4.1 Primary critical success conditions Human resources support When the senior project manager of Portal Meetingpoint Wermland commented on receiving eBSN’s award in 2006 for having the best e-Business project among e-Business SMEs in the European Union, she concluded that the project management group’s main thrust on implementation support was the primary explanation for the perceived success: One unique characteristic of our model, explaining our success, is that we deliberately have chosen to focus relatively sparsely on the technology and instead focus our efforts on solid and well-laid implementation support, for both the receiver and the sender of e-Invoices. Thus, the human dimension, which consists of many conditions, was perceived as the most valuable CSC for the perceived e-Business implementation success according to the project management group in the Study 4 case. To a great extent, various human-oriented actions explain perceived success among the studied organisations. One significant constituent in the PMW e- Business project’s implementation methodology was that the two external e- Business consultants spent considerable time with the e-Invoicing user organisations and communicating with their different stakeholders. Necessary resources for implementation champions An essential resource for enabling e-Business implementation is to have at least one champion in each relevant organisation. The underlying cause for this view is that the boundary-crossing characteristic of EDI makes it necessary to bridge departmental thinking. In essence, to allocate sufficient resources for champions is perceived by many of the respondents in Study 4 to be a CSC for attaining the necessary implementation momentum. The internal project leader at Torsby municipality stressed the decisive importance of this condition (internal project leader for incoming e-Invoices, Torsby 104 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS municipality): “Champions are absolutely necessary. They must think it is fun and it has a lot to do with personal chemistry”. Implementation processes are often slower than expected At the dyadic level, implementation processes are often slower than expected or hoped. During the year 2005, not more than 6% of all incoming invoices to the municipality of Torsby were received as e-Invoices (personal interview with Persson, internal project leader for incoming e-Invoices, Torsby municipality, 2006). Since the share of e-Invoices of the total volume of incoming invoices to Torsby municipality at the end of 2005 was relatively low, the business benefits for Torsby municipality had not yet reached the level of the total costs. The finance director of Torsby municipality in October 2005 concluded that (personal interview with Birnstein, finance manager, 2005): We have not yet attained pay back for our investments made in reception of e- Invoices. On the positive side we make labour available for other work tasks. An organisation with few suppliers has a quick pay back on an investment in reception of e-Invoices, but that is not the case for an organisation having 2,000 suppliers. She had preferred that Torsby municipality began the business process redesign before the digitalisation of e-Invoicing processes with its suppliers (Birn- stein 2005): ‘The IT people’ have advanced this solution. I would have much more preferred that we first had audited our organisation and then rationalised our manual handling by reducing the number of suppliers from 2,000 to 500.

4.4.2 Performance effects Benefits at the strategic-level For the source buyer organisation in Study 4, the receiving e-Invoice application was popular as the first e-Business application because it provided time-saving administrative effects within a relatively short time. An important strategic-level benefit, originating from the process-level, for the source buyer from the e-Invoicing implementation was that the incoming invoice process to a high degree was automated. The average invoice-handling time was found to decrease by about 61% (from 28 to 11 minutes) for the e-Invoice receiver (Borg & Persson 2005). Thus, there was a 61% time- CHAPTER 4 105 saving administrative effect of incoming invoice automation for the source buyer. This freed labour time that became available for value-creating work tasks. After the digitalisation project discussed in Study 4, only the invoice authorisation activities remained from the traditional receiving-invoice process. This change, I argue, was a significant intra-firm business process redesign effect. The increased degree of e-Invoicing reception at the source buyer resulted in more complete purchase statistics, which, in turn, resulted in a significantly higher purchase share for the buyer in relation to the suppliers sending e-Invoices. The increased purchase loyalty consequently resulted in lower purchase costs. A significant strategic benefit, stemming from the process-level, for the target suppliers from the e-Invoicing implementation was the significantly reduced payment time (for one of the target suppliers, it decreased from 59 to 30 days) – a significant cash flow change. At the dyadic municipality−supplier level, the lion’s share of the benefits from e-Invoicing use across the individual inter-organisational relationships was attained by the source buyer (Torsby municipality) as the receiver of the e-Invoices. The prime benefit for one of the target suppliers was its receiving of e- Invoices from its suppliers, resulting, in turn, in more complete purchase statistics, including central and local bonus data – per supplier and article item. For target suppliers, a perceived strategic effect was developing their e- Business proficiency through access to, and acquisition of, external e-Busi- ness knowledge and experiences. This effect was seen as central since e-Busi- ness is “the hub towards customers”, according to one of the interviewed target suppliers. E-Business proficiency was a contributing condition when one target supplier received a procurement contract with a new municipality buyer.

Increased purchase and sales share effect. At the dyadic level, one of the studied small target suppliers sending e-Invoices via the e-Invoicing platform (PMW) to Torsby municipality reported that it also received e-Invoices from its own suppliers. As a result, this case firm significantly increased the degree of purchase loyalty towards these suppliers, which has had a positive effect on its purchase costs. This increased purchase share effect of the buyer’s 106 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS perspective towards the specific suppliers was positive for the selected suppliers as well. For them, it meant an increased sales share effect. This increased purchase and sales share effect became stronger partly as a consequence of their e-Invoicing use and led to closer inter-firm relationships. Benefits at the process-level Data quality improvement was one of the process-level benefits for the source buyer, manifested in reductions of misinterpretations, higher communication security, and improved traceability. Other process-level benefits attained for the target buyer were that it became easier to track the e-Invoices when reminders arrived. Also, the number of paper invoices decreased significantly. Benefits at the system-level There were system-level benefits passed on to other firms within the source buyer’s focal net. The EDI format adaptation work with the Aditro accounting system conducted at the focal source buyer could then be reused at 11 other municipality buyers using the same system (a system synergy effect). At the system user level, the simplicity for users associated with only needing to learn one module (rather than a complete ES), that is, a step-by- step system implementation approach, was perceived advantageous. Scan- ning of e-Invoices, a more straightforward alternative form of the digital reception of e-Invoices, was also offered as a new system-level innovation.

4.5 Study 5 (Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal − B2B)

4.5.1 Primary critical success conditions Concerning what was perceived to be the single most important driving condition for the successful ES-based sales portal implementation process, the IT director and vice-CEO of Wermland Paper concluded: “It is enormously important to have the right ES consultant or consultants”. Based on his experience of previous ES implementation failures, he was aware that engaging CHAPTER 4 107 the wrong consultant, who cannot speak with the end-users, can be disas- trous. For example, it may be difficult for the system implementor to explain a process in terms that are easily understandable for the end-users. Many different IT concepts tend to be used, and therefore, the end-users encounter difficulties following the reasoning. A central success condition in the Study 5 (e-Business sales portal) case was that the ES vendor’s (ComActivity, which also assumed the implementor role) principal consultant, combining the primary developer and project champion roles, spoke a language that the super-users and end-users at Wermland Paper could understand. Regarding inter-personal inter-firm trust, the leading developer (project champion) of the ES vendor was perceived to be exceptional along many critical capabilities. This particular consultant was rated among the top four CSCs driving the success of the ES implementation project. Notably, the lead developer and project champion of the ES vendor contributed significantly to attaining symbiosis with the super-users on the ES migration project team. Further, the active participation of top managers in their so-called am- bassador roles, in order to overcome internal communication problem during the development and implementation process, were also perceived as critical conditions for success. Most important, according to the IT director of Wermland Paper, top management was explicit in its communication with the co-workers about the goals that should be attained from carrying out the ES implementation project. This internal top-down communication was, in turn, an essential pre-condition for the user-driven process, which later turned out to be perceived as successful and to result in positive business performance outcomes. A clearly communicated project goal is also necessary for avoiding the potential communication gaps between the external system implementor and the system user, or client, organisation. It is essential that the ES implementor consultants fully understand the fundamental needs and requirements of the user firm, which necessitates that the ES client firm is proactive and very clear in its communication with the ES implementor representative(s) (cf. findings in publication 4, with the supporting report: Fredriksson 2006). The applied agile project method strengthened inter-personal relationships and trust between the individuals on the implementation team and – 108 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS notably – with the users. The user meetings in an early implementation phase with all users at the source supplier and its agents increased acceptance and inter-personal inter-firm trust. Moreover, the high competence of the super- users was of great importance to the success of this ES migration project. Another vital success condition was the participation of the market assistants in the project, who had critically opposed migrating to the then-planned new ES during the previous ES migration project attempt (which was terminated). The role of emerging new or changing pre-conditions in ES implementation processes Traditional ESs have often been implemented by applying traditional project management method principles. So-called modern ES technology powerfully enables or facilitates an agile project management method to implement the ES for the key people involved. Practising agile project management methods calls for changing roles for project management team members compared to traditional methods. An overall proposed conclusion drawn from Study 5 is that new and changing (or to an increasing extent more prevalent) pre-conditions, such as modern ES technology, more narrowly defined projects, and more agile methods match each other (see Figure 5 below). Another overall conclusion drawn is that this combination of emerging new and changing pre-conditions, including modern ES technology (see the right section in the Figure below), is more strongly facilitates the desired critical success conditions for ES implementation projects than the combination of traditional project management and traditional ES technology. CHAPTER 4 109

Figure 5: New and changing pre-conditions more strongly support the general critical success conditions (CSCs) for ES change implementation projects

The importance of top managers’ previous experience Regarding the first pre-condition included in the figure above, the three ‘heaviest’ ambassadors of the top management team in Study 5 − the CEO, the marketing director, and the IT director – all had previous experiences of ES migration processes that had failed. In other words, these three top managers all had competence and knowledge of the challenges and pitfalls associated with ES migration processes. Therefore, somewhat regular argumentation from the IT director was, in this case, required in order to convince the CEO and the marketing director about the necessity to decide to change the chosen ES modules: order, inventory and invoicing. One of the advantages of inertia within firms is that the emerging resistance makes all stakeholders pause and reflect. When the top management team of Wermland Paper decided to choose an ES and an ES implementor 110 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS consultant firm, they wanted to feel assured about a successful ES migration process. The ES implementation insights that the three ambassadors had gained from previous failures in their respective former positions, combined with their high level of commitment and support, jointly was a critical driving condition explaining the success later to be realised for this ES migration project. The three ambassadors in the Wermland Paper top management team had shared and similar knowledge and experiences about ES migration pitfalls, which is not likely to be a contributing condition in all firms. Each one of the three top managers felt that: We can not make the same mistakes again; if we do that, then we would be really ‘stupid’.

Short and high pace implementation project Regarding the third and fourth pre-conditions in Figure 5, the small project team working according to agile project management method principles was a driving CSC in Study 5. In the small team, the members cooperated in flexible roles and communicated informally in short and iterative cycles. A fundamental prerequisite for having a high pace in an ES implementation project is that the super-users, to a high degree, are relieved from their ordinary work tasks. The top management team and the super-users agreed that this was an appropriate measure to take. It turned out that the super- users did very little overtime work during the project.

4.5.2 Performance effects Benefits at the strategic-level Benefits at the strategic-level for the source supplier: • The web-based sales portal was perceived by the source supplier’s management to be an essential component in its strategy of building and achieving higher customer satisfaction, integration, and dialogue with its buyers. • The sales order application in the new system meant that all of its sales order assistants could be redeployed to more value-creating work tasks. CHAPTER 4 111

One benefit at the strategic-level for the target buyers: • Via the web-based sales portal, agents were enabled to access information about their buyers concerning sales statistics, order lists, stock data, and invoice payments.

Benefits at the process-level Benefits at the process-level for the source supplier: • Improved sales order process. • Greater capability to promptly satisfy new buyer requirements. • Shift of order-entry to buyers, implying faster order information collection. • Productivity improvement in internal processes. • Graphic modelling provides visualisation of how internal work tasks inter-relate, which facilitate business learning. • Higher data quality: o Full traceability of data when target buyers complain. o More accurate stock level data. o Fewer data errors since orders are placed only once. • Significantly easier to learn and to use (than the previous ES), which empowered more co-workers. • Time spent on incoming invoices decreases, and co-workers can spend more time on core tasks – invoicing becomes simpler and faster.

One benefit at the system-level for the target buyers: • 24-hour access to all necessary order, inventory, and invoicing information.

Benefits at the system-level Benefits at the system-level for the source supplier: • The new system was 100% web-supported and flexible, which supported the Wermland Paper business. 112 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

• The flexibility of the new modern ES platform enabled the users to adapt the system to their desired needs and requirements. • User satisfaction with the system increased since all order-entry information was concentrated on one screen (compared to 12 screens in the previous ES). • The same screen for all stakeholders. • Graphic modelling eliminated 90% of the code programming work.

Chapter 5

Cross-case comparisons

Why conduct cross-case comparisons? As mentioned in the introduction chapter, one reason for cross-case analyses, according to Miles and Huber- man (1994:173), is to enhance generalisability, since “we would like to know something about the relevance or applicability of our findings to other similar settings”. Miles and Huberman (1994:173) posit that a second, more fundamental reason for cross-case analysis is to deepen understanding and explanation, and they refer to Glaser and Strauss (1967) to support their argument that multiple cases help us form more general categories of how the conditions under which a finding will occur may be related.

5.1 Choice of reference model

The “e-Business relationship development” model of Redondo et al. (2009:88) from a (marketing and distribution) channel dyad perspective (see Figure 6) was chosen as the benchmark model, or structure, for the cross- case comparisons among the primary findings from the five empirical studies presented in this chapter (see chapter 4). One central argument for this model’s relevance, as a lens for the cross- case comparisons, is that it manifests the iterative business development influences between relationship strength (called exchange climate by the authors) and e-Business use (called e-Trading use by the authors) within a particular dyadic business relationship, and these two dimensions also have itera- 114 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS tive influences to performance effects (called performance satisfaction by the authors). Redondo et al. (2009) posit that there is an association between the level of e-Business use and performance effects. Thus, a higher level of e-Business use is assumed to result in improved performance. Redondo et al. (2009) suggest a typology of three different levels of e-Business use, in ascending order: the operational development phase, the operational cooperation phase, and the strategic alliance phase. Concisely, Redondo et al. (2009:88– 91) characterise the three levels of e-Business use in the following way: Operational development: High volume of transactions make establishment of e-Business economically worthwhile. A known business partner with existing inter-firm trust. Expectations limited to cost savings. Low levels of diversity (of e-Business documents) and system-to-system integration. Operational cooperation: Higher efficiency gained from relying on partners to undertake key activities, e.g. vendor managed inventory. Expectations include cost savings and improved supply chain operations. Medium levels of diversity and system-to-system integration. Strategic alliance: Commitment and reciprocity between partners. A cycle of action and positive reaction, firms react to the needs of partners as they would do to their own needs. Expectations include strategic benefits and are set jointly. High levels of diversity and system-to-system integration. Redondo et al.’s (2009) model is inspired by Gallivan and Depledge (2003), who explain the dynamics of their partnership (with e-Business system) in action framework in this way: both partners will, over time, have an opportunity to observe the performance outcomes and compare these results with their prior expectations (p. 183). Further, both partners continuously engage in a sense-making process regarding the causes of any variance from the goal target levels that each have established earlier. Such sense-making processes (see Weick 1995) create feedback loops across the three main dimensions of the model. When the performance outcome deviations are attributable to the partner’s actions, the feedback loops will be influenced (Redondo et al. 2009). The feedback loops running back from performance effects to e-Business use and relationship strength serve to maintain the homeostasis in the dyadic e-Business system (Ashby 1956). CHAPTER 5 115

Different conditions influence each other in a reinforcing manner. These reinforcing loops of causal inter-relations may lead to a virtuous (an upward spiral) or a vicious (a downward spiral) implementation success cycle. The conditions influencing the implementation process tend to move in the same direction, i.e. all positive or negative, resulting in a cycle of good or poor performance (Akkermans & van Helden 2002). In other words, the implementation process is continuously improving or worsening (Akkermans & van Helden 2002). Sterman (2000:12) uses a synonymous terminology when he distinguishes between the following two types of feedback loops: positive (or self-reinforcing) and negative (or self-correcting): “Positive loops tend to reinforce or amplify whatever is happening in the system […] Negative loops counteract and oppose change”. As seen in Figure 6, the three main dimensions of the Redondo model are linked by double headed arrows, denoting that influence can occur in either or both directions. A circle is used to join the three double headed arrows between the model’s three main dimensions, to graphically illustrate the opportunity for virtuous and vicious circles (cf. Akkermans & van Helden 2002, Redondo et al. 2009:81).

116 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Figure 6: Operational development phase for e-Business use processes in dyadic relationships Source: Redondo et al. (2009:88)

5.2 Reasons for this choice of reference model

E-Business systems are, at least initially, implemented in already strong, existing business (B2B and B2G) relationships rather than that new relationships are created as a result of e-Business adoption. Thereafter, the e-Business use, if and when providing mutual benefits, in turn, strengthens relationships even further (cf. Johnston & Vitale 1988, Holland et al. 1992a, Bjørn-Andersen & Krcmar 1995). The use of e-Business has therefore been found to have a vertical integration effect on inter-firm relationships (John- ston & Lawrence 1988, Konsynski & McFarlan 1990) − but without an CHAPTER 5 117 ownership link traditionally associated with the vertical integration concept (e.g. Moriarty & Swartz 1989). The Redondo et al. (2009) model captures these inter-relationships between e-Business use, inter-firm relationships (relationship strength), and performance at a meta-level. This is the first reason for the choice of this model as a reference model for the cross-case comparisons later in this chapter. A second primary reason for the choice of this model is that this model applies a buyer−supplier dyadic relationship perspective (cf. Allen et al. 2000, Kern & Willcocks 2002) and is based on business relationship-focused theory. However, the actors in the buyer−supplier dyad is not explicitly graphically shown in the model by the authors. Instead, the authors note that dyadic relationship conditions are highly relevant, given that e-Business per definition is used for supporting inter-firm relationships and business processes. Prior to 2005, Son et al. (2005) could only identify one example (Hart and Saunders 1998) in the research literature examining the use of e-Business within the context of buyer−supplier relationships. This result demonstrates the scarcity of studies applying a dyadic relationship perspective to e-Busi- ness. Third, both overall research questions chosen for Part I of this thesis are encompassed within this model: effects of e-Business use and conditions influencing e-Business use. Fourth, the chosen model combines ‘soft’ behavioural theory (IOR theory) with ‘hard’ inter-organisational information systems theory (IOS theory). Fifth, the chosen model has a simple structure, and it consists of relatively few dimensions with associated conditions. This structure makes it valuable, relatively simple to comprehend and use, for both practitioners and researchers. Thus, it follows Occam’s razor principle of simplicity (Popper 1992). In addition, it explicitly recognises the interdependencies between its dimensions (and their respective conditions). Sixth, Redondo et al.’s article and model for analysis, to a reasonably high degree, is in line with the argumentation put forward in publication 2. Thus, I argue that there is partly a common frame of reference between these two publications. 118 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Finally, Redondo et al.’s article is a research publication in a topranked IS journal. Therefore, the chosen reference model is relatively close to the state-of-the-art research at the intersection of the relational view and e-Busi- ness or IS literatures. Redondo et al. (2009:79) motivate the need of understanding the inter-relations between e-Business use and characteristics of inter-firm relationships in the following way: “Although there is a recognition that e-Business systems [IOS] can have an impact on inter-organisational relationships [IOR], the inter-relationship between these is not well understood”.

Limitations of applying a dyadic model to the five studies. There have been different units of analyses applied in the five studies (see the introduc- tory chapter). To apply a dyadic model ex-post to these five studies is therefore not a straightforward cross-case analysis approach. However, a sufficient common reference point is needed to designate a clear benchmark for the cross-case comparison.

Minor modifications to Redondo et al.’s (2009) model. The operational development phase version of Redondo et al.’s (2009:88) model is in the remainder of this chapter applied to consider each of the model’s four dimensions: pre-conditions, e-Business use, relationship strength, and performance – and their respective variables or conditions. A minor modification of Redondo et al.’s (2009) model has been made. Conflict in Redondo et al.’s (2009) model, one of the variables of the relationship strength dimension, has a negative or impeding influence − while the terms of all the other variables of the relationship strength dimension have connotations that are positively related to relationship strength. There- fore, the reverse conflict resolution naming of this influencing variable will be used in the following text because successful conflict resolution positively influences other relationship strength variables such as inter-personal and inter-firm trust. The gained trust, in turn, when resolving a conflict in a way that is welcomed, enables and triggers further relationship activities. In the following, empirical findings collected from the five studies are (to my best judgement) fed into the analytical structure of the model proposed by Redondo et al. (2009:88). It is not always easy to allocate specific empirical CHAPTER 5 119 findings into a structure of abstract concepts. Generally, researchers who follow qualitative approaches need to use conceptual frameworks or models to make sense of empirical findings in different contexts or organise collected qualitative evidence. Systematically organising the empirical findings from the five cases is the first motivation for using the Redondo et al. (2009) model as the structure. This choice, in turn, facilitates the second step, which is to compare the empirical findings across the cases. Most, if not all, models can be improved. In the author’s opinion, the relative weaknesses of the Redondo et al. (2009:88) model are that it is ‘mea- gre’ on business context conditions and variables of the performance effect dimension. Regarding the latter, the proposed benefit categories of performance (see Table 4 below) is adopted from Staehr et al.’s (2012) benefit categories. I have reordered these benefit categories to match their order with the hierarchical intra-firm order of the business development levels in Österle’s (1995:16) meta-model. Business development is the top level in Österle’s (1995:16) meta-model, business process development is the middle level, and the bottom level is system development. A central message from Österle’s meta-model is that each of these three development levels should be aligned with its neighbouring development level. Across the five studies, the firms are categorised along two role dimensions. The first role dimension is the respective case firm’s dyadic marketing or distribution channel role concerning the e-Business system(s) used within the studied dyadic relationship (within the marketing or distribution channel), i.e. supplier and buyer jointly. The second role dimension is whether the respective case firm(s)’ role(s) concerning the e-Business system(s) used has the source firm role (typically a dominant firm acting proactively) vs the target firm role (typically a dominant firm responding reactively). Motivations for the distinction here chosen to be applied, based on previous research, between firms assuming the source role and the target role were presented in chapter 1. 120 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

5.3 Pre-conditions

5.3.1 Volume The transaction and information exchange volume variable is a fundamental driving condition for e-Business use in a dyadic relationship. This condition is strongly linked to economic efficiency arguments (cf. Redondo et al. 2009:91). Thus, the transaction and information exchange volume condition(s) between dyadic trading partners influence(s) their respective choice of e-Business partner. In the e-Business pre-conditions context, Redondo et al. (2009:84) identify the importance of “business between firms in same group” (their studied dyad #1), i.e. the focal net level of analysis (cf. Johan- son & Mattsson 1992, Mattsson 1997). To cooperate with other firms within the same focal net secures larger volumes of transactions. The high volume of business within the focal net in the dyad #1 case of the Redondo et al. (2009) study drove e-Business development. Redondo et al. (2009) conclude that a sufficient volume of transactions appear to be a pre-condition for establishing an e-Business link. In the business context of the S1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B) and S2 (Luna one-to-many ordering B2B) cases, there were high transaction and information exchange volumes involved. Given the relatively high expense of proprietary technologies available at the points in time that Study 1 and Study 2 were carried out, high volume was a necessary condition for e- Business adoption and use. In the S3 (Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C) case, the payment transaction volume for each private target client was relatively low. However, given the vast number of private clients, a high total economies of scale volume was potentially attainable for the source bank. In the S4 (Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G) case, there were similar asymmetrical one-to-many relationship structures in place as in Study 3. In Study 4, the invoice-sending transaction volume from each target supplier was relatively low, but large total economies of scale were potentially available for the source municipality buyer due to the number of suppliers (around 2,000). The two selected internal units of the source buyer CHAPTER 5 121 chosen as the first receivers of e-Invoicing documents had the most significant transaction volumes and the highest number of suppliers. There were low-order transaction volumes between the source supplier and its target buyers in the S5 (Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal B2B) case. The source supplier’s adoption and use of the web-based e-Busi- ness system and ES in Study 5 was facilitated by the offered new modern ES paradigm technology, which implied both a significantly lower investment level (compared with traditional ESs) for the source supplier and a higher degree of usability for its co-worker users. In sum, the e-Business implementation processes in the five studies targeted medium to high transaction volumes on the aggregate level of potential target firms (cf. Sabherwal & Vijayasarathy 1994). For the first four studies, the number of potential and e-Business target partners ranged between medium and high. Thus, the pre-condition of high volumes of transactions, part of the Redondo et al. (2009) model, was present. In contrast, for the source supplier in the Study 5 case, the significantly less expensive new modern ES paradigm technology enabled a relatively lower number of potential e-Busi- ness target partners and correspondingly lower volumes of transactions as a pre-condition for e-Business adoption and use.

5.3.2 Inter-firm trust Redondo et al. (2009) conclude that a sufficient level of inter-firm trust appears to be one of the pre-conditions for establishing an e-Business link. The level of inter-firm trust is, in turn, dependent upon the long-term relationship condition. The common business context of the Study 1 and Study 2 cases encompassed many long-term relationships. Beginning in the 1950s, the source distributor Luna in the Study 2 case gave exclusive sales rights to its target buyers (the hardware dealers), generating a sufficient level of mutual trust for e-Business. Luna was an important supplier for the target buyers, providing them with 5–30% of their purchase volume. Luna also had a broader and deeper product range than its competitors. In the B2C context in the Study 3 case, the source bank was perceived as relatively more relationship-oriented than its competing universal banks in the Swedish market. The relationship marketing focus constituted a core element of its strong corporate culture, established in 1972. One manifestation 122 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS of this was the bank attitude that “technology should never be allowed to disturb our client relationships”. Regarding new technology adoption and diffusion, the S3 source bank’s strategy was in line with the motto attributed to the Roman emperor Augustus: “hasten slowly”. On average, the surveyed office users’ perceived brand strength of, and trust in, the source branch office or bank in the S3 case was significantly higher than among the surveyed e-Banking users. Given the B2G context of the Study 4 case, the source municipality buyer – as a public actor – is not supposed to build relationships with its suppliers. According to the law for public organisations (“Lagen om offentlig upphan- dling”), municipalities should be neutral and maintain an arm’s length from suppliers, which – according to the language of the public sector – therefore should not be called partners. From the source buyer’s perspective in S4, the choice of target suppliers for e-Invoicing was based on perceived IT maturity level and – interestingly, against the rules for public organisations – relationship strength. In the Study 5 case, a significant share of the source supplier’s buyers constituted contracted agents, i.e. relationships expected to be based upon a high level of inter-firm trust. In the source supplier−ES implementor relationship, there was high inter-firm trust in place, partly due to the external e- Business consultant and project champion (representing the ES implementor), who previously had demonstrated a high level of competence in trust-building skills such as deep client business knowledge, common language communication skills, and technological proficiency. Consistent with other previous studies (e.g. Iacovou et al. 1995, Massetti & Zmud 1996), the findings from Study 1, Study 2, and Study 5 suggest that both a sufficiently high volume of transactions and inter-firm trust are necessary pre-conditions for establishing an e-Business link.

5.3.3 Joint expectations Before entering into a demanding and possibly risky dyadic e-Business implementation process, it is essential to form and align joint or shared expectations about future e-Business use consistent across the dyadic trading partners (cf. Sabherwal & Vijayasarathy 1994). The joint expectations concerning CHAPTER 5 123 possible future e-Business use is dependent upon the transaction and information exchange volumes between the dyadic trading partners. Joint expectations (concerning possible future e-Business use) also depend upon the current level of inter-firm trust. Positively reinforcing interactions between the antecedent pre-conditions are likely to strengthen a driving force for attaining virtuous e-Business implementation processes (cf. Akkermans & van Helden 2002). In all studies, particularly among the e-Business sourcing firms, there were basic, straightforward expectations of cost savings resulting from intended e-Business enabled organisational improvements. In Study 1, there were expectations of administrative cost savings, stock reductions, increasingly targeted service output levels, and increased marketing and distribution channel transparency. Further, expectations of e-Busi- ness-based win-win business solutions drove closer relationships between buyers and suppliers. In Study 2, the source distributor expected administrative cost savings and stock reductions from the provision of different purchase order systems to its target buyers. Simultaneously, e-Purchase order links to its partner suppliers were expected to provide more lean and transparent marketing and distribution channels. EDI via the e-Business platform provider (the Infolink system) was also expected to lock-in target buyers. The joint expectations between the source distributor Luna and three of its important and more IT mature target buyers were reinforced as the early IS (OLAF) was developed in close cooperation among them. E-Business use was expected by many in the Study 3 case since the automation of relationships with private clients among Swedish universal banks had been an ongoing process since the 1980s. The common expectations in the Study 4 case were that the implementation and the resulting use intended by the governmental-sponsored regional and impartial e-Invoicing portal should provide the following benefits for the linked organisations: sharing of e-Business system costs, access to e- Business competence free of charge, and attaining more efficient processes. The small target suppliers in S4 expected to gain long-term relationship effects vis à vis the focal municipality. 124 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

In S5 (Wermland Paper one-to-many sales portal B2B), the source supplier expected improved customer satisfaction among its target buyers, administrative cost savings, and increased marketing and distribution channel transparency for its customers from the implementation and use of its web- based online sales portal. For (some of) the e-Business sourcing firms in Study 1 and Study 2, e- Business was also part of a strategic business plan to improve their competitive positions by updating the marketing channel and distribution system. In other words, there were also expectations of strategic benefits, including improving marketing and distribution channel efficiencies and strengthening relationships. In all studies except S4, there were also expectations within the focal e-Business sourcing case firms of attaining higher marketing and distribution channel transparency. People hold expectations. Accordingly, the findings of the five studies indicate that top management commitment is a necessary antecedent to achieve a higher degree of joint expectations. These joint expectations are based on a shared belief of a future business relationship, providing value- adding services and products. In all studies, key individuals outside of top management were highly committed to the e-Business ventures in question. Within the source firms in Study 2 and Study 5, there were in both cases a triad of top managers deeply involved in the e-Business implementation processes. This finding is similar to what, for example, McKenney et al. (1995) and Markus and Benjamin (1996) have found.

5.4 E-Business use

Redondo et al. (2009:90) acknowledge that one firm can operate at different e-Business use levels with different trading partners at a given point in time. In addition, one firm can conduct e-Business via different e-Business platforms, depending upon the various needs of the firm’s trading partners. In the Study 2 case, the focal source distributor offered different e-Business forms to its target buyers, and the source buyer in the Study 4 case did the same towards its target suppliers. In Study 1, a positive association between top management commitment and degree of online use was identified. It was also found from Study 1 that the level of perceived strategic importance of CHAPTER 5 125 the specific product range influences the commitment level of the involved parties. The use of e-Business typically starts with basic transactional messages. For example, it was a deliberate choice made by the stakeholders involved in the Study 4 project to start their collaborative e-Business implementation process with the exchange of a relatively simple e-Invoicing message, rather than starting with the exchange of the relatively more complex e-Purchasing application.

5.4.1 E-Business diversity E-Business diversity, that is, the different types of standardised business documents supported by e-Business (Massetti & Zmud 1996:338), is one of the measures for the extent of e-Business use. Higher diversity, or breadth, among the standardised e-Business documents used indicates a higher level of e-Business use. I propose that if different e-Business forms, or channels, are offered by the source firm(s) to the target firm(s), this is also a key indicator of a higher level of e-Business use. Since different target firms have different and varying e-Business needs, the extent of e-Business use is favoured if different e-Busi- ness forms are offered, as in the Study 1, Study 2, and Study 4 cases. These ranged from very easy to use forms of e-Business for document exchanges, such as handheld computers (S1, S2) and the print capture solution in S4, to somewhat more demanding online forms (S1, S3, S5) and EDI (the most automated form of e-Business) at the other end of the spectrum (S1, S2, S4). For the source firms in the Study 1, Study 2 and Study 4 cases, their respective offerings of different e-Business forms meant that e-Business use reached a broader scope of target firms, and thereby a greater total extent of e-Business use.

5.4.2 System-to-system integration To realise a higher level of system-to-system integration is a means of reducing transaction costs (Malone et al. 1987) and is therefore a driving condition for higher e-Business use levels. There was great variety across the firms using e-Business in Study 1 and Study 2 regarding system-to-system integration. The use of the traditional EDI form in the Study 1 and Study 2 cases implies 126 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS a higher level of system-to-system integration, whereas the handheld computers and online forms require no system-to-system integration at all. Fur- ther, system-to-system integration was low in some dyadic relationships in the Study 1 case because some of the firms on the supplier side prioritised their own ESs before integrating with the e-Business systems. In the B2C context of Study 3, the system-to-system integration variable was not an issue for the bank’s private clients since there was no internal IS or ES used at the private client end of the e-Banking B2C. For the source buyer in Study 4, the subscription invoices (constituting about 20% of its incoming transaction volume) were particularly appropriate for automatic e-Invoicing flows (EDI). Prominent among these were the monthly incoming invoices for all mobile phones used by the source buyer’s co-workers. As long as the invoice amounts were not unusually high, they were paid automatically. The system-to-system integration was low, or non- existent, among the small pilot target suppliers in Study 4. In the Study 4 case, the small target suppliers also lacked internal system- to-system integration between their (respective) accounting system and ES. As a result, the manual registration of e-Invoicing data among target suppliers was required to be done twice, and the cost-saving effect was therefore reduced. There was no system-to-system integration between their respective ESs and the implemented new e-Invoicing system at some of the small target suppliers. The target suppliers in the Study 4 case perceived the new e-In- voicing approach to sending invoices as an investment in learning a new technology (cf. Bjørn-Andersen & Krcmar 1995). In the Study 5 case, there was both a high and a low system-to-system integration capability provided by the new web- and ES-based B2B sales portal. The target buyers were enabled to manually place direct orders through the source supplier’s sales ordering system. At the target buyers’ end, there was no system-to-system integration in place. However, since optimisation of the source supplier’s production planning was critical to its profitability, its production planners maintained control by requiring manual approval of the incoming sales orders via a gate-keeping dialogue with colleagues at the sales order unit. Thus, based on internal operations motives (production planning optimisation), the Study 5 source supplier did not want to utilise CHAPTER 5 127 the full system-to-system integration capability enabled by the e-Business system. A necessary condition to enable e-Business is to make sure that it can be accomplished technically. In the Study 1, Study 2, and Study 4 cases, there was strong support from the e-Business platform providers (also called VAN providers or e-Business hubs). Each was instrumental in enabling e-Business. However, some of the recurring costs associated with traditional EDI are incurred by independent VAN providers. VAN firms offer services such as fast and secure message transmission between trading partners. Christiaanse and Rodon (2005:356) define e-Hubs in the following way: “shared and het- erogeneous IT infrastructures that act as intermediaries underpinning inter- firm relationships and embedding a set of business rules defined by the IS industry standard”. E-Business platform firms played influential roles in the Study 1 and Study 4 cases. In the Study 1 case, the e-Business platform provider firm, BASCET Infolink, supported and provided the technology infrastructures for the online, EDI, and file transfer trading forms of e-Business (cf. Dams- gaard & Lyytinen 2001). In S4, the Wermland Chamber of Commerce assumed the e-Business platform provider role, in turn outsourcing the operations to a subcontractor for the exchange of B2G e-Invoices.

5.5 Relationship strength

5.5.1 Inter-personal trust During the first, or basic, phase of e-Business development (sometimes called the operational development phase), Redondo et al. (2009:88) posit that inter-personal trust is less important than inter-firm trust. Inter-personal trust appears in both inter-firm and intra-firm scenarios. Inter-firm inter-personal trust was relatively high among the actors in the five studies due to the following situations: long-term relationships in the Study 1 and Study 2 cases, a perceived strong brand strength for the source bank in the Study 3 case, and the perceived high e-Business and ES competence of the external e- Business consultants in the Study 4 and Study 5 cases. 128 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

In the Study 1 case, the BASCET joint venture was based upon inter- personal trust between the top managers of its members: five large manufacturers and the distributor Tibnor. In the Study 2 case, the co-alignments between different functional units within the source distributor were based on inter-personal trust. At the dyadic level in S2, the source distributor Luna had various IS and e-Business reliant inter-firm partnerships with a few of its customers (OLAF), some of its suppliers (SALDO), and with its strategic forwarding partner. In the Study 3 case, inter-personal B2C trust was captured by the concept of mutuality, which was positively associated with brand strength and significantly higher for the surveyed office users than e-Banking users. In the Study 4 case, the source buyer, as a governmental organisation, was not supposed to develop and maintain inter-organisational inter-personal trust and bonds. In practice, however, the participation in the e-Invoic- ing portal implementation project in S4 helped the source buyer organisation, Torsby municipality, develop higher inter-personal trust and stronger bonds with some of its target suppliers. In the Study 5 case, the top management team at the source supplier clearly communicated the business goals for the e-Business (ES migration) implementation project to its co-workers. At the individual client−consultant firm level, the main developer (e-Business project champion) of the ES implementor (consultant firm) was perceived to be exceptional along many critical dimensions, and this particular individual consultant was rated among the top four CSCs driving its e-Business (ES migration) implementation project success. In S5, the primary developer at the ES implementor contributed significantly to attaining symbiosis between the participants in the client−consultant project team. In a survey study of agile software development collecting experiences from 109 projects across four continents, Chow and Cao (2008) find that team capability was one of the three critical success factors for software development success. Team capability falls into the category human factors (sometimes referred to as people factors) in Chow and Cao’s model on software development success (p. 964). The authors also discuss the importance of team members with high levels of competence, expertise, and motivation and managers who have an adaptive management style (p. 970). CHAPTER 5 129

In Study 4 and Study 5, relatively more empirical project management findings were collected than in the first three studies. In the process−system alignment project at the source supplier in Study 5, two highly competent super-users – one from each mill of the source supplier – were members of the small project team. Their contribution and participation was a driving CSC for the e-Business and ES development and implementation project success. The applied agile project methodology also contributed to strengthening inter-personal relationships, including trust. For example, meetings with all users at the source supplier and its target buyers increased acceptance and inter-personal trust.

5.5.2 Bonds Structural bonds The typical pattern identified from the four studies within B2B and B2G contexts (S1, S2, S4, and S5) is that e-Business was adopted and used in relationships characterised by close-knit bonds, which is consistent with numerous previous studies. When there are ownership ties between trading partners (S1, S2), the bonds typically are solid. Alongside higher levels of e- Business use, more substantial bonds emerge. Power and dependence Power is an attribute of the relationship strength dimension that partly determines whether e-Business has been adopted or not and, subsequently, how e-Business is used (Hart & Saunders 1998). Buyers are generally perceived to have more power in e-Business relationships (Wilson & Vlosky 1998). If suppliers do not adopt a proposed specific e-Business system, it is assumed that buyers will seek alternatives. Therefore, Wilson and Vlosky (1998) posit that the supplier in B2B and B2G relationships typically has a higher degree of dependence on the buyer than vice versa, which was clearly the situation in place in the S4 case, but not the overall picture across all five studies. Given the B2C context in S3, the service provider (the retail bank) was the more powerful party. In the Study 1 case, a group of Swedish sales firms of resourceful Swe- den-based multi-national manufacturers joined forces and acted in concert 130 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS when reactively launching their multilateral (many-to-many) online e-Busi- ness system. This joint initiative responded to the competitive pressure they collectively perceived. Subsequent to this decision, two major industrial distributors in the distribution system (of which one was Luna, one of the two focal firms studied in S2) proactively launched two multilateral (many-to- many) e-Business systems (one file transfer system and one EDI system). The (e-Business system) source distributor in S2 (Luna) was primarily targeting forward vertical integration (i.e. supporting its sales) due to its powerful channel position related to its smaller and relatively less powerful target buyers (i.e. hardware dealers). The target buyers in S2 were in a captive buyer relationship situation according to the classification suggested by Jun et al. (2000). Since the target buyers collectively owned the source distributor, there were solid structural bonds in place (backward vertical integration). The focal source distributor in S2 concurrently reduced its supplier base significantly. Individual target buyer firms in the Study 1 and Study 2 cases had a relatively high level of dependence on the source distributor, which had a strong market position, and its product range represented a significant share (5– 30%) of buyers’ purchase volume (i.e. relatively strong supplier power). This position is a central explanation for the source distributor’s mainly forward e-Business integration. In S3, the early introduction of B2C e-Business in the retail banking context is explained by the overwhelming potential gains of automation available for large and resourceful banks that introduce self-services to their private clients. One common pattern across the five studies is that the target side of the dyadic relationship was more captive. In S4, there was, in contrast, a captive supplier relationship situation, according to the classification of Jun et al. (2000). The small target suppliers in S4 did not perceive any benefits from implementing their first, relatively simple e-Business application, sending e- Invoices to the relatively larger source municipality buyer. In the S4 case, four different role holders at each trading partner were approached by external e-Business consultants to build and maintain common knowledge and sufficient commitment for change among all these role holders. The external e- CHAPTER 5 131

Business consultants spent most of their time on internal coordination between top management, users, project managers, and IT specialists (change management communication). In the S5 case, the power balance between the source supplier initiating the web-based sales portal and its target buyers took place on more equal footing than in the S4 case. Among the target buyers agents had a higher degree of dependence on the source supplier. Social bonds The survey results from Study 1 show that the target buyers, on average, perceived that the social and knowledge exchange with their suppliers had not qualitatively been affected by e-Business use: 34% perceived that this exchange qualitatively had weakened, while 37% perceived improvement. Thus, an interesting mix of different perceived effects of e-Business use on the quality of social and knowledge exchange surfaced in the Study 1 case. The more minor and dependent target suppliers in S4 expected to attain stronger bonds in the future.

5.5.3 Coordination For the small target buyers in S1 and S2, there was a high need for coordination because of their need for continuous replenishment of their stocks. In S2, coordination activities extended beyond basic order processing. A critical business success condition for the focal source distributor Luna in its sales role was the improved coordination of logistics activities, which was enabled and enhanced through a close partnership with its forwarding agent (Bil- spedition). The use of e-Business (order-entry systems) also improved the coordination of activities between partners at the process-level, resulting in reduced lead times. At the source distributor Luna, functions such as marketing, logistics, and IT were joined due to the implementation and diffusion of e- Business. In both the Study 1 and Study 2 cases, dyadic relationships led source suppliers to assume the stock replenishment task and responsibility on behalf of their target buyers (i.e. a division of labour shift). Inter-firm and intra-firm business process redesign (BPR) is often recommended as a necessary task 132 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS before an e-Business implementation (e.g. Clark & Stoddard 1996). Such a redesign, or reengineering, of existing business processes was carried out by Luna (S2) in its marketing channel relationships and Wermland Paper across its two mills (S5).

5.5.4 Cooperation Cooperation was carried out at different aggregation levels in the B2B and B2G studies (i.e. S1, S2, S4, S5). First, in the multilateral web of e-Business relationships in the Study 1 case, business document standardisation issues and e-Business exchanges were managed by the focal e-Business platform provider firm (Bascet Infolink). The formation of alliances between resourceful actors, the BASCET group of firms, and the ownership-based alliance between the two leading distributors in the Swedish hardware system implied that necessary resources were available. Second, Luna (Study 2) cooperated with a few of its high profile customers regarding the development of its in-house IS (OLAF). The source distributor’s cooperation with the leading forwarding agent (Bilspedition) was pivotal for the high logistics (called materials management by Luna) capability that Luna developed and offered. In S4, the cooperation between the parties to a great extent was mediated by an independent external consultant organisation, which governmental funds financed. Specifically, the Wermland Chamber of Commerce acted as an initiator and implementation dynamo (cf. Robey & Boudreau 2000) to implement multilateral e-Invoicing systems, a government-sponsored intervention (cf. Damsgaard 1996) in a B2G regional context. The e-Business evolution process in S4 is an example of industry-wide collective action (Steinfield et al. 2005) within the supplier network of a small municipality organisation. Thus, the individual buyer−supplier dyads are influenced by the focal net (Mattsson 1997) or the industry group (Johnston & Gregor 2000, Gregor & Johnston 2001) of which they are a part. However, this is also the case for bilateral e-Business use. The firm-level behaviour of the collective of actors involved in this e-Invoice implementation constituted a regional municipality community phenomenon. The change dynamo organisation in Study 4, Wermland Chamber of Commerce, assumed a vital standardisation role within the community of CHAPTER 5 133 regional municipalities when deciding on the actual design of the multilateral e-Invoicing solutions offered to the municipality buyer collective within the region in question (all 16 municipalities in the region were invited to partici- pate) and their small target supplier firms. For the many-to-many collective of actors that participated in the e-Invoicing project, this meant access to low-cost e-Invoice solutions. This finding is in line with the reasoning of Steinfield et al. (2005), who stress that IT-based inter-firm coordination may depend on the standardisation approach. Finally, the fact that all e-Business competence provided by the external e-Business consultants at the change dynamo organisation (Wermland Chamber of Commerce) was free of charge was a decisive driving condition (since they were governmentally financed for the adoption and use of e-In- voicing processes).

5.5.5 Conflict resolution Communication in itself has proven to be a powerful means for settling dis- agreements soon after their emergence. One of the implications for management that Motiwalla and Thompson (2014:114) draw is about the importance of communication for successful implementation: “effective and frequent communication will keep everyone on the same page and give the greatest chance of issues and problems being identified early”. However, the mere presence of communication is not sufficient for conflict resolution. Communication must be conducted professionally. This approach will, in turn, influence team competence, where the soft skills represented within the team are of particular importance. Since IT projects typically have limited resources, they require excellent conflict resolution and cooperation activities (Nidumolu 1995, Cohen et al. 2004). For the current project, the conflict resolution variable was not focused upon and did not inductively appear. Nevertheless, it is possible that the conflict resolution variable did not appear because I did not specifically look for it. 134 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

5.6 Performance effects

The Redondo et al. (2009:88) model does not provide much – relatively, very little – guidance regarding the specific elements, or indicators, of the performance dimension benefits variable. I find Staehr et al.’s (2012:433) ERP benefits framework to be an appropriate typology for providing a more specific organisational level-based structure for the collected empirical findings from the five studies regarding the performance dimension. Staehr et al.’s (2012) framework is an extension of Shang and Seddon’s (2002:277) proposed enterprise system benefits framework. Both these models identify benefit categories achieved from ES use at the firm level of analysis. As noted, the dyadic unit of analysis is highly relevant for e-Business. Since dyadic benefits are not included in Shang and Seddon’s (2002) typology, this unit of analysis needs to be added in the following cross-case analysis of the performance dimension. In Table 4 below, I have re-ordered the presentation of the benefit categories in Staehr et al.’s (2012:433) framework (see the right column in Table 4 below) so that it matches the hierarchical structure of the three development levels in Österle’s (1995) business development level model (see the left column in Table 4), from higher to lower levels along the organisational hierarchy. Thus, I propose that the order of benefit categories in the right column in Table 4 is applied when performance evaluations are conducted.

Table 4: Re-ordering of Staehr et al.’s benefit categories from ES use, incorporating Österle’s business development levels

Business development levels (Österle 1995) Benefit categories from ES use − firm level (Staehr et al. 2012) Strategy development level Strategic Managerial Process development level Operational Organisational System development level IT Infrastructure

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To address e-Business benefits that are not considered in the Staehr et al. (2012) framework, I have added some of the EDI-related benefits identified by Fearon and Philip (1998:16). Among the strategic benefits from the e-Business (EDI) use typology identified by Fearon and Philip (1998) and not included in the Staehr et al. (2012) framework: • Increased profitability • Increased market share • Improved trading partner relationship

Among the operational benefits from the e-Business (EDI) use typology proposed by Fearon and Philip (1998:16), and not explicitly included in the Staehr et al. (2012:433) framework: • Decreased administration costs • Reduced staff levels • Decreased inventory costs • Improved customer information • Improved supplier information

The first three of these operational cost benefits can all be included under the general cost reduction benefit category in Staehr et al.’s (2012) framework.

5.6.1 Increased profitability effects Perceived profitability effects, which primarily consist of efficiency improvements, were found for the e-Business sourcing firms in all five studies. Also, the target buyer firms in Study 1 perceived profitability effects of their e- Business use. Thus, there was increased dyadic profitability in the Study 1 case. When win-win performance outcomes surface, there is a higher probability for a virtuous continued implementation process. However, the target supplier firms in the Study 4 case did not perceive any profitability effects during the period under study. 136 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

At the strategic-level, increases in the purchase and sales shares (purchase for the buyer corresponds to sales for the supplier) from e-Business use with trading partners – i.e. an e-Business-reliant dyadic effect – were reported by the surveyed target buyers in the Study 1 case: • 81% reported that they purchased more from the suppliers that were linked to the e-Business order system • 71% reported that they purchased from fewer suppliers as a result of their use of the e-Business order systems • 71% ordered more frequently • 91% stated that the time spent on ordering activities had decreased • 76% perceived that order administration activities had become simpler as a result of their system use (Publication 1:166)

Thus, a reasonably clear purchase share effect pattern can be identified from the e-Business use of the target buyers surveyed in the Study 1 case. This dyadic relationship effect can, according to O’Callaghan et al. (1992), be categorised as a strategic effect. O’Callaghan et al. (1992) identify a share effect of EDI use in their survey and rate it as the first and foremost competitive advantage effect. A clear majority (76%) of the respondents among the 991 surveyed EDI-adopting agencies in the study of O’Callaghan et al. (1992:51– 52), agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “the supplier with which an agency has an EDI link gets a larger share of the agency’s business”. The scholars argue that it is impossible to determine the relative importance of the different sources for the realised share effect. The target buyers surveyed in the Study 1 case also reported reductions in the number of suppliers. A purchase and sales share effect was also found in Study 4, though the e-Business use scope in this case was limited to e- Invoicing. According to these empirical findings, suppliers that were not represented on the supplier side of the multilateral e-Business systems − whose transactions were operated by the e-Business platform provider BASCET Infolink − lost sales, and some of them even lost entire customer accounts. At least for some of these non-linked suppliers, it was a competitive disadvantage not to be ‘hooked up to’ the multilateral e-Business system. CHAPTER 5 137

5.6.2 Multi-level overview of identified performance effects at the strategic-level As noted previously, the Redondo et al. (2009:88) model does not consider business environment conditions at the macro level of analysis. Therefore, a schematic multi-level framework for categorising performance effects of e- Business use at different levels of analysis is proposed (Table 5). When observable strategic performance effects have been identified, this is marked with an ‘X’ in the Table 5 matrix. Pearlson et al. (2020:188), adapting Ward et al.’s (2008:7) classification, define observable benefits as follows: “by using agreed criteria, specific individuals or groups will use their experience or judgment to decide the extent the benefit will be realised”.

Table 5: Schematic multi-level overview of identified performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use in the five studies

Level of analysis S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 Macro Industry X One distribution system-level X X Meso Focal net X X Micro Dyadic X X X Firm X X X X X

This thesis argues that the dyadic vertical supplier−buyer relationship is the primary unit of analysis for understanding e-Business implementation and use and the performance effects of using e-Business in marketing channels. As seen in Table 5, performance effects at the dyadic strategic-level from e- Business use are identified only in Study 1, Study 2, and Study 4. Possibly, there were performance effects of e-Business use at the dyadic strategic-level also in the Study 3 and Study 5 cases. This lack of findings at the dyadic strategic-level to a high degree depend on the chosen focus for publication 3 and publication 5, respectively. The identified performance effects of e-Business use presented in con- densed form in the following five tables (Table 6–10) have been presented in more detail at the firm level in chapter 4. In brief, chapter 4 outlined the 138 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS performance effects of the five case studies structured along Österle’s (1995) three firm development levels: the business (development) level, process (development) level, and the system (development) level. The specific identified performance effects in the right column in Tables 6–10 below are categorised along the two principal performance dimensions, effectiveness (E) and efficiency (P: representing the synonym productivity), as suggested by Stern et al. (1996:448). E and P, respectively, are placed within parentheses after the identified performance effect.

Table 6: Multi-level overview of performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use, Study 1

Level of analysis Performance effects Macro Industry actors from all levels in the hardware DS hooked up

One distribution system- target buyers: level • 10 out of the 73 surveyed dealers would not survive without e-B (E) • reduction of number of supplier relationships: 71% (P) • perceived net value effect: on average, 0.55% of turnover (P) • higher customer service: 79% (E; strategic-/process-level)

Meso Focal net source supplier focal net (BASCET firms): • positive image effects (E) • no substantial diffusion momentum until the two competing e-B platforms merged (P)

Micro Dyadic • higher purchase/sales share: 79% (E & P)

Firm target buyer: • one target buyer who disintermediated Luna, facilitated by e-B use, improved profit margin by 20% (P) source supplier Luna: • overall the e-B investments were repaid (P)

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The survey results from the CEOs of the hardware dealers in Study 1 demonstrate some strong strategic performance effects. About one out of every seven hardware dealers made the judgement that their firm would not survive without e-Business (see Table 6). A strong distribution system effect is manifested by the fact that 91% of the hardware dealer respondents reported that they reduced the number of supplier relationships due to their e- Business use. Luna, the source distributor focused upon in Study 1 and Study 2, early on attained strategic effects of its innovative e-Business systems both down- stream and upstream along the vertical marketing channels in the hardware distribution system (some examples of strategic performance effects of its deployment and use of e-Business systems are illustrated in Table 7).

Table 7: Multi-level overview of performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use, Study 2

Level of analysis Performance effects Macro Industry n/a

One distribution system- n/a level Meso Focal net focal net of EXAKT system users: • reduced total distribution costs across the players along the marketing/distribution channel using the EXAKT system (P)

Micro Dyadic • higher purchase/sales share (E & P)

Firm source distributor: • in both its supplier and buyer roles, enabled expansion of its market scope and its virtual product range (E) • increased its capital inventory rate (P)

140 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

The survey responses from 822 private clients (representing a response rate of 68.5%) to two Svenska Handelsbanken branch offices in Study 3 show mixed stra-tegic performance effects on how clients felt that e-Banking had influenced their relationship with the branch office. A larger share of the surveyed private bank clients reported a weaker relationship as a result of e- Banking growth (see Table 8). However, the bank substantially saves costs when private clients increasingly pay their bills via e-Banking.

Table 8: Multi-level overview of performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use, Study 3

Level of analysis Performance effects Macro Industry n/a

One distribution system- target private clients: level • one-third of the surveyed e-Banking users feel their relationship with the branch office has grown stronger, while half of the surveyed e-Banking users feel their relationship with the branch office has become weaker (E) Meso Focal net n/a

Micro Dyadic n/a

Firm source service provider: • private clients’ use of e-Banking self-services save significant costs for the bank (P) • lower loyalty among e-Banking users (E) target private clients: • e-Banking users’ higher propensity to switch bank was higher among the e-Banking users, if sufficiently dissatisfied (E)

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For a municipality, with its broad field of activities, the volume of incoming invoices is typically very high. The administrative handling of the invoicing process is characterised by relatively low task-complexity. Thus, implementing e-Invoices is an attractive first step for an organisation at the beginning of a digitalisation journey. In Study 4, this process was measured by two project leaders: the shift from manual to automatic digital handling of incoming invoices rewarded the source buyer case organisation with a 61% time-saving administrative effect for its administrative personnel (see Table 9).

Table 9: Multi-level overview of performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use, Study 4

Level of analysis Performance effects Macro Industry n/a

One distribution system- n/a level Meso Focal net n/a

Micro Dyadic increased relationship strength (E)

Firm/Organisation source buyer: • a 61% time-saving administrative effect of incoming invoice automation for the source buyer, leading to more time for value-creating work tasks (P) • the head of the pioneering department expressed a preference for contracts with suppliers that can send e-Invoices (P) • more complete purchase statistics, leading to higher purchase share, and in turn, lower purchase costs (E & P) target supplier: • developing e-Business proficiency (E) • significantly reduced payment time from source buyer: for one of the target suppliers, it was reduced from 59 to 30 days (P)

142 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

In Study 5, the source supplier decided to undertake a step-by-step migration process from a poorly-implemented ES with a high share of manual work in most of its processes to a modern ES. Its first ES migration step was the sales order and inventory management process. The firm hoped to build higher customer satisfaction, strengthen its customer relationships, and as a consequence, increase its profitability. The short and high-paced ES implementation process was successful, and performance effects were realised (see Table 10).

Table 10: Multi-level overview of performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use, Study 5

Level of analysis Performance effects Macro Industry n/a

One distribution system- n/a level Meso Focal net n/a

Micro Dyadic n/a

Firm source supplier: • web-based sales portal was a critical component in building higher customer satisfaction and integration with its buyers (E) • sales order application eliminated the sales order assistant role, resulting in more time for value-creating work tasks (P) target buyers: • the web-based sales portal enabled access to information about their buyers, sales statistics, order lists, stock data, and invoice payments (E)

Chapter 6

Contributions

To reiterate, this Part I of the thesis focuses on the following questions: Research question 1 (RQ1): What are the conditions influencing e-Busi- ness system implementation processes? Research question 2 (RQ2): What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e-Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance?

6.1 Contributions to research question 1

6.1.1 Contributions to marketing and IS theory Bridging the relational view in the marketing and DOI literature From the research review in Study 2, we concluded that (p. 47):

the IOR literature seldom examines the IOS phenomenon and the IOS literature seldom takes an IOR perspective. A relationship approach, taking into consideration individual trading partners’ profiles, is often neglected within the IOS literature.

The overall message proposed in publication 2 is that an integration of ideas between the e-Business [often called IOS in the research literature] literature and the IOR literature would be mutually beneficial. According to Redondo 144 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS et al. (2009:80), our Study 2 was one of the first attempts to do so: “Cun- ningham & Tynan (1993) and Fredriksson & Vilgon (1996) represent some of the earlier attempts at bridging IOR and IOS literatures”. This citation identifies how publication 2 provided an early tentative theoretical contribution to the e-Business literature in the domain of marketing and IS. Referring to the two central theories presented in chapter 2, I advocated for the merits of integrating, or synthesising, relationship view-based e-Business research with e-Business research (in which DOI theory is most frequently applied). In publication 2 (p. 59), we argue that e-Business benefits do not origi- nate solely from the use of e-Business “but arise from interaction with human, organisational, industrial organisation, networking and other competitive aspects”. This multi-level conceptual proposition resulted from a synthesis of different theories, such as the business−IT alignment theory (Venkatraman 1991, 1994), marketing and distribution channel theory, the relationship view (e.g. Gadde & Mattsson 1987, Johanson & Mattsson 1994), and industrial organisation theory. In publication 2, we include process-related aspects of inter-firm relationships in relation to e-Business. The merits of such an approach correspond to a previous proposition made by Nidumolu (1995). Similarly, Grover et al. (2002) find a highly significant positive association between e- Business use and relationism within the buyer−supplier dyad, which they define as a reciprocal expectation of cooperative behaviour engaging in an inter-firm relationship. Two of the overall messages conveyed through the Redondo et al. (2009) model as a whole, which conceptually is partly based on publication 2, are: 1. The use of e-Business affects and is affected by the relationship strength between business partners (inter-organisational relationships). 2. E-Business use and relationship strength elements, both separately and in combination, affect and are affected by performance effects of e- Business use. Our conceptual proposition (in publication 2) to bridge central variables within the relationship view and DOI literature, i.e. interdisciplinary research, corresponds to later propositions made by, for example, Kling (2000) and CHAPTER 6 145

Sividas et al. (2012). The former propose “social informatics analyses”, including applying a sociotechnical lens where “ICTs are more usefully concei- ved of as sociotechnical networks than simply as tools” (p. 229). Sividas et al. (2012) similarly recommend that researchers continue to focus on the in- terplay between the e-Business system (i.e. rational perspective) and relationship strength variables (i.e. relational perspective), such as implementation support and inter-firm commitment. Along the same vein as Redondo et al. (2009), Sividas et al. (2012) propose synthesising the mutual interactions between these two dimensions and a third dimension: (dyadic) business performance effects. The marketing and IS domains are indeed partly overlapping disciplines when it comes to the e-Business phenomenon. Multiple levels need to be analysed in order to understand e-Business implementation processes Theoretical relevance of multi-level models. A multi-level perspective is defined by Zhang and Gable (2017:203) as “an approach to theory development that considers the relevance of multiple levels of analysis”. Zhang and Gable (2017:204) also state that “studies that examine IS phenomena from a multilevel perspective are scarce”. Publications 1 and 2 have responded to Zhang and Gable’s (2017) call for the theoretical relevance of more multi- level perspective IS research. From a multi-level perspective, the source distributor Luna’s success in attracting a critical mass (cf. Nygaard-Andersen & Bjørn-Andersen 1994, Zhu et al. 2006a) of target buyers for its offered e-Business systems was the result of the fusion of several conditions. Luna’s buyer community of hardware dealers was highly fragmented, thereby limiting the concentration of buyer power. As the relatively more dominant channel partner, Luna could pressure its non-dominant target buyers when it initiated and promoted its e-Business systems (cf. Premkumar & Ramamurthy 1995, Bala & Venkatesh 2007). In this thesis, it is argued that the dyadic buyer−supplier relationship is the most relevant primary unit of analysis to understand and explain e-Busi- ness implementation and diffusion processes. This argument corresponds to both previous and later works identifying the scarcity of e-Business studies 146 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS applying the dyadic relationship level of analysis (e.g. Iacovou et al. 1995, Klein & Schad 1997, Premkumar et al. 1997, and Kuan & Chau 2001). From the individual firm perspective, the trading partners constitute the most immediate context for the firm. As a first step, it is proposed that the traditional level of analysis is extended from the firm to the dyadic relationship level. Since business, per definition, is conducted with others, this is obvious since it focuses on the closest context for the individual firm’s e- Business implementation process. The meso, or the focal net, level of analysis is in this thesis posited to be the second most important unit of analysis to apply to better understand and explain e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. This view corresponds to arguments provided in later works (e.g. Johnston & Gregor 2000, Kurnia & Johnston 2000). Extending the applied perspective to the focal net level of analysis, rarely done in the research literature, contributes to a richer and deeper understanding of e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. A sufficiently resourceful focal net is typically necessary for successful e- Business implementation and diffusion processes. For an interactive innovation such as e-Business, both significant sponsoring of resources and marketing efforts at the focal net level are needed in the early implementation phase(s) in order to increase the probability for attaining the two, or three, critical masses required in order to accomplish a self-sustaining e-Business diffusion process. Thus, sufficient resources available for early investments in the interactive e-Business innovation need to be available within the focal network or the marketing channel and distribution system. It is proposed that it is analytically meaningful to distinguish between the dyadic-internal relationship-specific business partner pressure concept and the external and broader focal net(work) pressure concept. It is also crucial to apply a macro-level perspective, i.e. a (holistic) distribution system and industry level perspective (called Network in Figure 5 in publication 2:59) as the unit of analysis, in order to better understand and explain e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. The relevance of this proposition corresponds to the message provided in both previous and later work by, for example, Segars and Grover (1995), Crook and Kumar (1998), Chircu and Kauffman (2000), and Steinfield et al. (2005). CHAPTER 6 147

Certainly, the contextual level of analysis has been applied in previous research to understand and explain the successful implementation of e-Busi- ness and ES. Examples of earlier research and studies focusing on the contextual level are: Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990; the source for the TOE framework, which focuses on technological innovations in general), Orli- kowski (1993; use of software), Galliers et al. (1995; EDI), Premkumar et al. (1997; EDI), Crook and Kumar (1998; EDI), Chircu and Kauffman (2000; e-Business), Zhu and Kraemer (2005; TOE framework theory applied on e- Business), and Xue et al. (2005; ES). In an article from 2012, Sividas et al. claim that marketing channel managers “face an urgent need for identifying success factors in implementing major e-Business initiatives” (p. 43). An awareness of several of these critical success conditions – which have been identified across the five publications underlying this thesis – can help managers increase the probability of e-Busi- ness implementation and diffusion success, strengthen buyer−supplier relationships, and improve performance effects for all stakeholders involved.

6.1.2 Contributions to marketing and IS practice E-Banking and personal channels are complementary marketing channels The hypothesis at the outset of Study 3 (Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Ban- king) was that Swedish universal retail banks need to be better at building relationships with their private clients because the digitalisation degree continuously increases. The underlying hypothesis is that loyal customers lead to higher profitability in the long run. Bolton et al. (2003:285) argue: “Despite substantial expenditures on technology-enhanced service systems, little is known about the effect of reducing employee-delivered service on relationship outcomes”. Lynch (1996:x) provide another argument for Study 3: “Banks have vastly improved their methods of risk assessment, except in the area where it really matters – how clients behave”. Some tasks are better suited for self-service channels than others. Paying invoices via e-Banking is a task of relatively low complexity and ambiguity (cf. Selnes & Hansen 2001, Ba et al. 2010). At both macro and micro levels, e-Banking and personal channels com- plement each other. E-Banking is particularly suitable for reasonably simple 148 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

(banking) transaction services (such as paying invoices), which was the main object of interest in Study 3. This finding supports assertions made both in earlier research, for example, Selnes and Hansen (2001), and in later research by, for example, Kumar and Telang (2012) and Scherer et al. (2015). The latter propose that managers offer technology-based self-service channels for somewhat repetitive and unambiguous tasks, while personal service channels should be available for more complex and ambiguous banking tasks and services (p. 196). The analyses of Scherer et al.’s (2015:196) study indicate that technology- based self-service channels may harm customer retention. In particular, their results reveal that clients, who use both a technology-based self-service and a traditional personal service channel at the beginning of a client−branch office relationship, are more likely to remain with the bank service provider than clients who merely rely on one particular channel. From a managerial point of view, this suggests that migrating clients to technology-based self- service channels at the beginning of a client–branch office relationship can lead to costly rather than cost-cutting consequences. Scherer et al. (2015:177) also conclude that branch offices should not shift clients toward self-service channels completely, especially not at the beginning of a relationship. The empirical findings from Study 3 support this later conclusion. The IS study conducted by Scherer et al. (2015) supports the contribution from Study 3 that the e-Banking and personal channels were, and to some extent are, complementary. This finding suggests that a mix of self-service and human-service channels helps to maintain client loyalty and retention. Our Study 3 survey results, which are presented and discussed considerably more extensively in Fredriksson (2003), show that e-Banking user clients – in the early days of e-Banking – significantly distinguished themselves from office users as regards their perceptions of the private client−contact person or branch office relationship. The results of our survey data show that there were significant differences in perceptions about service performance between e-Banking users and office users. On average, the e-Banking users consistently reported lower valuations of the surveyed branch offices’ service performance than office users. Since satisfactory service performance also was perceived as critical by CHAPTER 6 149 the clients regarding their intention to switch banks (Publication 3:15, Fred- riksson 2003:67-68), this significant difference between the two channel user groups deserved managerial attention when Study 3 was conducted. Our finding that high service performance has salient importance corresponds well with findings of Jain et al. (1987) and Gunnarsson el al. (2000). We draw the same conclusion as Gunnarsson el al (2000:75) do: satisfactory service performance seems to be critical for the client in its relationship with the contact person/branch office. Not least importantly, this noticeable result corresponds well with the decentralization strategy of the studied service provider Handelsbanken (e.g., see Handelsbanken 2001:2). E-Banking users are less loyal than office users At the branch office level, the survey data collected during Study 3 showed that, on average, an e-Banking user consistently perceived brand strength and different relationship-oriented factors to be significantly lower than an (average) office user. The average e-Banking user was also more attitudinally and behaviourally inclined to switch banks and use more banks than the office user. Even though the paying of invoices via e-Banking is a low-complexity task, these results indicated that e-Banking had changed the basis of the client’s relationship with the retail bank, in turn influencing the client. These findings in the early days of e-Banking respond to the call by Mul- ligan and Gordon (2002) about retail banks in terms of understanding how the new ‘cold’ Internet channel influenced the perception of existing clients regarding their relationships with the retail bank. These findings correspond with Selnes and Hansen’s (2001:87) study, suggesting that in-person service has a positive effect on social bonding and, in turn, client loyalty, and “that transformation from personal service to self-service will have a negative effect on social bonds in low-complexity relationships”. Importance of implementation support from the source firm or the consultant firm At the dyadic level, implementation support from the source firm is demonstrated to be a driving condition in place in studies 1, 2, and 4, which has 150 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS positively influenced the use and diffusion of e-Business. This finding corresponds to findings by, for example, Ramamurthy et al. (1999) and Sivadas et al. (2012). E-Business competence and knowledge transfer are influential conditions At the individual level, the e-Business competence quality of top managers, co-workers, and external consultants have been acknowledged as an influential driving condition for e-Business implementation success across studies 1, 2, 4 and 5. Competence (cognitive and affective) is a core individual characteristic or capability. At the organisational level, the digital knowledge that co-workers continually develop must be absorbed by top manager and functional manager teams. One influential condition related to e-Business competence is the inter- firm, intra-firm, and inter-personal knowledge transfer that should be effective and iterative between all stakeholders involved in an e-Business (ES) implementation process (e.g. Pouloudi & Whitley 1997, Dyer & Hatch 2006, Hung et al. 2012, Ko 2014, Martinez et al. 2016). The management of stakeholder commitment and mutual knowledge transfer between all involved stakeholders during the implementation process was one of the primary critical conditions for implementation success in both Study 4 and Study 5. Collaboration with practitioners enriches research Saade and Nijher (2016) − after reviewing 37 published case studies − call for more research on critical success conditions for ES implementation processes in collaboration between practitioners and researchers (p. 89): One of our intentions of this paper is to […] encourage and in fact call for more case studies – it is very important that more practitioners collaborate with researchers to report on their experiences to ES implementation. Study 5, which was reported on in much more detail in the Fredriksson and Arola (2009) publication, is such a study. It was performed collabora- tively between a practitioner and a researcher (candidate), as called for by Saade and Nijher (2016). Thus, the Fredriksson and Arola (2009) book chapter, which constituted the basis for publication 5, was a minor methodological contribution. CHAPTER 6 151

6.1.3 Contributions to marketing practice Co-workers at a universal retail bank should be more proactive For the universal retail bank’s branch office to attain sustainable profitability, publication 3 proposed that the front-line co-workers, i.e. the contact persons, of the universal retail bank should have more relationship-building personal dialogues with important clients and be more proactive (p. 16). One proposed way of improving the personal ‘touch’ is to start using the client’s bank home page for one-to-one marketing. Therefore, a related human resources CSC for universal banks is to ensure that their co-workers have competitive advantages when investors demand more cost-efficient banking business operations. Also, to attain sustainable profitability, personal interaction enables superior service quality, which is necessary for excellent market performance on a sustainable basis (Berry 1999). One important relational view argument for this strategic issue consideration is that higher service quality is much more difficult for competitors to imitate effectively than product quality and price.

6.1.4 Contributions to IS theory Required critical mass levels To justify the necessary investments in e-Business resources, an individual supplier needs to perceive a sufficient volume of potential e-Business transactions on the buyer side. This perception justifies the necessary investment in time and money for the individual supplier. A theoretical concept captu- ring this pre-condition for adopting interactive innovations is critical mass (Schelling 1978, Markus 1987, Mahler & Rogers 1999). The individual buyer performs the corresponding subjective critical mass assessment. Likewise, the buyer considers whether there potentially is a sufficiently broad product and service range offered via the proposed e-Business system platform. For interactive innovations, it is not enough that there is a perceived critical mass situation on either the supplier side or the buyer side (Quelch & Yip 1985). To attain a self-sustaining e-Business diffusion process, it is thus necessary that actors representing a sufficient critical mass- 152 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS volume on both sides perceive a critical mass situation (Publication 1:23, Fredriksson 2001:53). Thus, at the industry and distribution system-level or the focal net level, two critical masses are required to attain the widespread diffusion of interactive innovations (Publication 1:23). This chicken or egg interaction problem means that an individual supplier is not prepared to undertake the necessary investments in the interactive innovation unless there is a sufficiently large share of its sales volume represented on the buyer side; at the same time, an individual buyer is not prepared to undertake the necessary investments in the interactive innovation unless there is a sufficiently large share of its purchase volume represented on the supplier side. However, I propose that three critical masses are required. In addition to a critical mass among the suppliers and among the buyers of the trading community, respectively, a critical mass must be established among the IT solution providers. Further, an individual IT solution provider needs to perceive sufficient demand on the buyer side and the supplier side, respectively, before it is willing to undertake the necessary investments in developing the required platform and applications. IT solution providers perhaps do not want to be ‘guinea pigs’ (early adopters) and instead “hasten slowly” to await the realisation of an emerging evolution in the trading community in question. Additionally, there should be mutual expectations among the three ‘dance partners’ that a critical mass situation will (likely) be reached. One example of the importance of a critical mass situation among IT solution providers was the late launching of EDI conversion software modules to the ES and standard package applications. Assumedly, the IT solution providers did not perceive that the then-current and forecasted EDI adoption level had been sufficiently high in the number of users or trading volume to justify the necessary development efforts. At the macro (industry) level, a sufficient number of (resourceful) actors within each of the three role holder communities must perceive a critical mass situation to gain momentum for the e-Business implementation process within the trading community, or distribution system. Thus, three perceived critical masses are required for an interactive innovation such as EDI – a CHAPTER 6 153 necessary condition for igniting a self-reinforcing e-Business diffusion process. Thus, a theoretical contribution proposed here, extending publication 1, is that a perceived critical mass situation on both the supplier side and the buyer side is insufficient. The third party in this drama also needs to ‘be happy’, i.e. the e-Business vendor or platform provider must make its own positive critical mass estimation. A join decision for the e-Business vendor presupposes that revenues from the forecasted total business transaction volume between buyers and suppliers will exceed its internal systems development costs. Proposition: Along the adoption, implementation, and diffusion process for an interactive innovation (such as multilateral e-Business), a ‘happy triad’ of sufficiently many role holders within each community (buyers, suppliers, IT providers) is necessary to “buy in” and attain a self-sustaining process. A significant cause for the formal cooperation agreements made on the supplier side of the multilateral ordering platform in Study 1 was the desire to reach a critical mass situation. The first manifestation of this was the formation of a coalition between the six BASCET supplier firms in the S1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B) case. Two years later, BAS- CET merged with its VAN competitor Infolink to dissolve the arisen stand- still in the diffusion process. In the S4 (Portal Handelsplats Wermland multilateral e-Invoicing B2G) case, the external project champion consultants expressed that they spent a substantial amount of personal communication time fostering and increasing the commitment among all the stakeholder groups involved. They perceived this “including-all-stakeholders approach” to be the primary driving CSC in the Study 4 case. This finding corresponds to a recent call for further research by Swanson (2020), suggesting that studies that “take into account all parties to a transaction” should be conducted, not just the “one enterprise that hosts a facilitating IS in its own interest” (p.115). Another pivotal work task for the external project champion consultants in the Study 4 case was to provide the necessary support during the e-Invoi- cing implementation process. This CSC is highlighted by Nach and Boudreau (2018), who also maintain that one central work task for a project champion 154 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS is to solve interoperability issues, which corresponds to findings from both Study 1 and Study 4. Proposed extension of the Redondo et al. (2009) model: Focusing more on project management methodology The Redondo et al. (2009:88) model lacks a project management methodology perspective (i.e. the dyadic project management level). During Study 5, it was found that project management method conditions contribute highly to the attainment of successful implementation processes. Specifically, project management method issues revolve very much around the people factor. The actions of human beings – individually and collectively as teams – and their competencies decisively influence the degree to which the implementation process will be successful. The model of Chow and Cao (2008), which is the most central theory used in publication 5, is one example of a conceptual (research) model highlighting the apparent importance of the people factor. The overall conclusion from the Study 5 case is theoretically relevant since it provides insights into the migration implementation processes of a modern ES in a changing business and technology environment. Creating an inter-disciplinary bridge over different domains provides new insights into the changing environment of ES implementation projects and how successful change management can be conducted. The disciplinary domains linked together in publication 5 are ES implementation conditions, modern ES technology, and project management methodology. Project management methodology is proposed as a necessary ingredient in implementation process recipes. Successful ES implementation processes do not necessarily require high levels of resource investments. Contrary to earlier studies (e.g. Stefanou 2001, Sharma et al. 2008), Study 5 demonstrates that successful ES implementation does not necessarily require high levels of resource investments. A relevant note to this finding is that it should be acknowledged that the ES implementation in the Study 5 case did not pertain to a full scope ES migration implementation project. The contribution to the ES implementation literature is that this finding, to a large extent, is explained by a significant shift in the technological context, i.e. an evolving paradigm shift to more modern ESs. CHAPTER 6 155

An equal project team balance favours user-oriented e-Business and ES projects. The e-Business and ES project team was very small in the Study 5 case: it consisted of only four core members. However, the major stakeholders were represented in the team: two super-users and one senior manager from the user firm (the focal source supplier in the case), and the primary developer and project champion from the ES implementor. This team balance contributed to attaining a user-oriented e-Business project (cf. Or- likowski & Hofman 1997), which is a pivotal condition for attaining a higher degree of user acceptance and a higher degree of effective internal use of the new system.

6.1.5 Contributions to IS practice E-Business implementation processes are often slower than expected At the dyadic level, it is advantageous to carefully consider that e-Business implementation processes are often slower than expected. This findings- based contribution of the thesis (studies 1, 2, and 4) was presented in chapter 4. In the Study 5 case, however, the planned go-live date was almost met. Business process redesign needs of the source firm driving e-Business design At the dyadic level in the Study 2 case, it was found that Luna’s e-Business initiatives were driven more by internal needs than by requirements from its trading partners (cf. O’Callaghan & Turner 1995:11). Simultaneously, its online system enabled its target buyers to have increased access to Luna’s product range. The finding that e-Business source firms with higher relative power operate based upon their self-interests is hardly surprising. An essential challenge for e-Business source firms to overcome is designing and offering an e-Business configuration that is perceived as a win-win solution by its e-Business target firms. Technology characteristics matter At the dyadic consultant−client level, the client’s choice of ES vendor and ES is a pivotal influencing condition on the implementation process that then 156 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS continues. This finding is exciting, as Robey et al. (2008:512) conclude that the characteristics of e-Business systems “rarely attain explanatory status”. The choice of ES vendor is an important decision because the consultant−client relationships typically are long. According to previous findings by, for example, Kræmmergaard and Rose (2002) and Somers and Nelson (2004), the ‘correct’ ES selection choice (adoption decision) means that the chosen ES has the capability to deliver what the users actually demand. This characteristic is a critical pre-condition for the success of the subsequent implementation process. During Study 1 and Study 5, I was relatively more engaged in exploring and investigating the specifics of the e-Business (technology) artefacts being used. It is relatively often stated that “the technology is not the problem”, a claim repeated by technology providers and vendors. Publication 1 provides numerous examples that there were plenty of technology problems. This finding corresponds to, for example, calls from Robey et al. (2008) and Nach and Boudreau (2018) for greater attention to the features of e-Business systems. Similarly, Markus and Silver (2008) stress the importance of co-workers’ ability to act on these e-Business features. The advice commonly given for traditional ESs is to make minimum cus- timisation of the ES package instead of modifying the ES package to fit a particular business processes of the client firm (Raymond & Uwizeyemungu 2007). A modern ES, which was discussed in Study 5, liberates this impeding no-customisation condition for user firms in designing effective inter- and intra-firm business processes. The importance of symbiosis between competent system implementors and super-users Typically, different managers and co-workers work within distinct functional domains, such as marketing (strategy), purchasing, logistics, and IT use. Thus, typically there are knowledge and communication gaps between these different role holders (at both the individual and the intra-firm collective level), which causes many unwanted problems in practice. At the dyadic consultant−client level, symbiosis between competent system implementors and super-users was in Study 5 found to be a critical driving condition for e- Business implementation success. This findings-based contribution of the CHAPTER 6 157 thesis, which is presented in chapter 4, is consonant with earlier findings made by Feeny and Willcocks (1998), Ko et al. (2005), and Daghfous (2007). Short and high-paced implementation projects At the dyadic consultant−client level, a pivotal driving condition for e-Busi- ness implementation success is designing a short and high-paced implementation project. Sustaining momentum for change is vital for firms, particularly SMEs, according to Susman et al. (2006). This findings-based contribution from Study 5, presented in chapter 4, corresponds to earlier findings (e.g. Kotter 1995, Willcocks & Sykes 2000). By choosing a smaller scope of the e- Business implementation project, and thereby making it shorter, this increases the probability for achieving small wins or short-term victories (Weick 1984, Susman et al. 2006, Amabile & Kramer 2011), which is an essential means to sustain momentum and the change initiative. The importance of top managers’ previous implementation experiences At the client firm level, the importance of top managers’ ability to learn from prior failures was manifested in Study 5. All three top managers of the client firm had previous experiences of ES implementation failures, which implied that they were fully aware of the high potential implementation risks. This findings-based contribution, presented in chapter 4, is consistent with earlier findings (e.g. Duchessi et al. 1989 and Sumner 2005). Maestro driving e-Business implementation and diffusion At the top management level, the existence of a maestro driving the e-Business implementation and diffusion process may be decisive. In the Study 2 case, this maestro was the head of the materials management department at Luna. This findings-based contribution, presented in chapter 4, corresponds to earlier findings (e.g. McKenney et al. 1995, Markus & Benjamin 1996, Akker- mans & van Helden 2002). The importance of the materials management approach for EDI implementation processes has, for example, been acknowledged in a contemporary study by Laage-Hellman and Gadde (1996). 158 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

6.2 Contributions to research question 2

6.2.1 Contributions to marketing and IS practice Top management commitment heavily influences perceived profitability effects of e-Business use At the e-Business target firm level, the influence (strength) from various independent variables on perceived profitability effects of e-Business use (the dependent variable) were measured in publication 1. As presented in chapter 4, the way the independent variables and the dependent variable were specified in the PLS model explained 61% of the dependent variable variance (see Figure 1, Figure 6.2, and Table 6.9 in publication 1). When publication 1 was released, there were, to my knowledge, few publications where perceived profitability effects had been measured. The multivariate analysis of the survey data shows that top management’s commitment is the independent variable with the single most considerable impact on the profitability effects that the surveyed hardware dealer CEOs perceived as resulting from their respective target firm’s use of e-Business. Top managers’ commitment to a much higher degree explained the variation in the dependent variable than other measured independent variables, such as supplier-related factors, the perceived simplicity of the system, and degree of use. Later on, in 2014, Quaadgras et al. (p. 123) “propose that the concept of [management] commitments is an important addition to the literature on generating business value from IT”. Quaadgras et al.’s (2014) conclusion regarding management commitment, defined as “an explicit, specific, high-level agreement within an organisation to operate in a given way” (p. 115) was: “the extent of the commitment […] helped drive firm-performance level benefits” (ibid.). Proactive market leaders can improve market position through successful e-Business diffusion At the firm level and the distribution system-level (i.e. multi-level effects), it was in publication 2 concluded that a proactive, or offensive, approach, taken by an actor (Luna) with a strong market position as regards investments in e- Business applications, can yield both service output improvements and cost CHAPTER 6 159 reductions concurrently. A prerequisite condition for such performance effects is that successful implementation, use, and diffusion among its trading partners is attained. When economies of scale and scope effects are attained (cf. Copeland & McKenney 1988), these effects drive an even stronger market position. When a strong market position is combined with the successful diffusion of e-Business applications among trading partners, it is even possible to attain a hub, or market leader, position in respective distribution systems, as shown in Study 2. Increased purchase and sales share effect At the dyadic level in Study 4, one of the studied small target suppliers, sending e-Invoices via the e-Invoicing platform to the focal source municipality buyer, received e-Invoices when buying from some of its upstream suppliers. As a result, this target supplier has significantly increased its degree of purchase loyalty towards its upstream suppliers, which has had a positive effect on its purchase costs. This increased purchase share effect correspondingly implies an increased sales share effect for the upstream suppliers in question. This effect, which also was found from e-Ordering use in the Study 1 survey, is consistent with findings made by, for example, O’Callaghan et al. (1992) and Rai et al. (2012). In other words, these relationships have become more substantial partly as a consequence of their e-Business use.

6.2.2 Contributions to marketing practice The allocation of economic benefits from EDI use is application dependent At the dyadic level, the dominant share of the benefits of transmitting business transactions via traditional EDI is typically gained on the receiver side. Thus, the allocation of economic benefits from EDI use is application dependent. Moreover, to achieve a mutually beneficial (win-win) situation, it is therefore recommended to implement at least two EDI trading applications within a specific dyadic relationship, where each party is at the receiving end for one application each (cf. Fredriksson 1997). This implication concerning enabling mutual benefits from non-coercive EDI adoption and use has not 160 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

− to my knowledge – been explicitly formulated in the e-Business oriented IS literature. The importance of attaining mutual benefit situations from e- Business use is commensurate with earlier findings (e.g. Cash & Konsynski 1985, Bowersox 1990, Venkatraman & Zaheer 1990).

Chapter 7

Conclusions

This thesis focuses on e-Business system implementation processes (RQ1) and the performance effects that may result from using e-Business systems in inter-firm relationships (RQ2).

7.1 Conclusions research question 1

Research question 1 (RQ1): What are the conditions influencing e-Busi- ness system implementation processes?

Today, digital processes and transactions support communication throughout society (Mattsson 2020). Innovations are continuously launched: most fail, but some succeed. One reason for failing to succeed in terms of technological innovations in the business world is that implementation processes are not managed and handled effectively and efficiently by all stakeholders involved during the implementation process. Concisely, no chain is stronger than its weakest link. Implementing e- Business systems in inter-firm relationships is often a long, complex, and risky process. A technological innovation like e-Business is continuously developed and changed over time. Therefore, creativity is often required from the individuals involved during the e-Business implementation processes. As Leonard-Barton (1988) phrases it: “Organisational implementation is an extremely complex management problem”. The implementation process for an innovation, to a great extent, is about innovation itself. 162 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

7.1.1 Human-centred e-Business implementation management The importance of human issues was noted early on during Study 1. This first overall conclusion is consistent with Scott Morton (1992), Barrett et al. (2015), Jenko and Roblek (2016) and many other researchers. In addition to the chief impact of top management commitment, the importance of organisation-wide commitment was identified in Study 1. If one of these two conditions is relatively weak, organisational problems are likely to be encountered during an implementation process as posited by Targama in 1974. Therefore, among the significant tasks for managers during an IT implementation process is arousing enthusiasm within the firm for new procedures and changing attitudes (Falk 1990, concerning studies conducted by Digital Equipment). Implementing e-Business systems (including its sub-category enterprise systems) is a knowledge-intensive task since such processes involve a wide range of stakeholders with diverse knowledge capabilities. People are the most significant potential capability of a firm. The human, or people, factor is ubiquitous. There are numerous examples of the critical importance of the human, or soft, factor from the five studies. Specifically, the project management team is an essential actor in such knowledge-intensive projects. When reflecting on the main Research question 1 conclusion, I find that the capabilities and motivations of the humans involved, the human or people factor, at different levels of analysis is the choice I make. For further studies on conditions influencing e-Business implementation process success, I therefore suggest the knowledge-based theory of the firm (e.g. Grant 1996) mentioned in chapter 2 as a relevant theoretical lens to understand e- Business implementation processes from a human-centred perspective. The main human-centred findings applied to Jenko and Roblek’s (2016) model Some of the main human-centred e-Business implementation management findings from the five studies follow below. The term human-centred is adopted from Davenport 1994, a term which later also has been used by, for example, Kimbell (2012) and Barrett et al. (2015). The human-centred findings are structured along Jenko and Roblek’s (2016:150) proposed human CHAPTER 7 163

CSC model for successful ES implementation. For each human-centred finding below, I have attempted to relate it to the most fitting variable name (placed within brackets) included in Jenko and Roblek’s model. Competence

• At the individual level, the e-Business competence quality of top managers, co-workers, and external consultants have been acknowledged as an influential condition driving e-Business implementation success across four of the five studies (the implementation process was not focused upon in Study 3). Competence (cognitive and affective) is a core individual characteristic or capability (publications 1, 2, 4 and 5; Capa- bility). • Choosing the appropriate external e-Business or ES consultant, or consultants, was in publication 5 argued to be the single most important CSC (Capability). • Implementation champions are absolutely necessary. To allocate sufficient resources for champions is perceived as a CSC to attain the necessary e-Business implementation momentum (publications 4 and 5; Knowledge, Skills). • Experiences from previous e-Business implementation failures are valuable for subsequent implementations (publication 5; Experience).

Behaviour

• From the five empirical studies, it is concluded that the most necessary conditions overall are related to human aspects, which calls for particular attention to individual e-Business use behaviours among the many stakeholders involved. • Ineffective social and behavioural conditions are more important causes for e-Business implementation failures than technical conditions (Nor- mative conformity). • High top management commitment and organisation-wide commitment are necessary internal driving conditions (publication 1; Leader- ship). 164 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

• The early commitment of users is a critical enabler of user-driven system development (Motivation).

Team composition

• The presence of inter-firm top management bonds and commitment is typically a necessary pre-condition and driving condition because of the firm boundary-spanning and cross-functional character of e-Business (Relationship bonding). • A clearly communicated project organisation is required for successful implementation processes (publications 4 and 5). • Good ‘personal chemistry’ between project team leader(s) and top management is a critical success condition for e-Business implementation projects (publication 4; Relationship bonding). • Symbiosis between the participants in the client−consultant project team (publication 5; Cohesiveness).

Communication

• Effective and extensive human communication is a crucial pre-condition for effective implementation processes (publications 4 and 5; Open and honest, Effectiveness).

Some illustrative citations The studies on Luna (publications 1 and 2), which successfully implemented e-Business in the 1970s, showed many examples of the human aspects of vital importance to the successful implementation of e-Business. The marketing director of Luna at that time expressed this pithily as follows about one of its e-Business applications which was not a huge success (Fredriksson 2001:63): Ten years after the implementation of e-Business, the market is still not ready for Luna’s applications (such as the TRANSIT-system). Maybe this is because the market is made up of flesh and blood rather than of systems. CHAPTER 7 165

During Study 3, the branch manager of one of the two Handelsbanken branch offices studied expressed the need for face-to-face meetings in the following way during a personal interview (in Fredriksson & Lindblad 2001:23, one of the publications in Study 3): A relationship without face-to-face contact is boring. It is nothing that attracts me and I do not think our clients want that either. Human beings do not only need machines, maybe we want to joke with somebody. (Branch office manager Sydfors in 2000) During Study 4, the two external e-Business consultants (representing the implementor organisation Wermland Chamber of Commerce) perceived that the change management work required was the most burdensome condition to overcome (cf. Motiwalla & Thompson 2012, 2014). This claim is one explanation for why more straightforward e-Business applications that do not require as much change management work, such as the receiving e-Invoice application, seem to be more popular as a starting point. For managers of the different stakeholders involved in e-Business implementation processes, it is crucial to understand the importance and influence of the human conditions and carefully evaluate the possible human risks. More insightful ex-ante evaluations of the human condition risks enable necessary proactive management from the top management, positively influencing e-Business implementation success.

7.1.2 Developing a more holistic picture of impeding and driving conditions E-Business, an interactive innovation, is characterised by the fact that multiple stakeholders are involved in the e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. All stakeholders need to be orchestrated and ‘on the same page’ within the same time period (i.e. the timing issue) about how to (re)design e- Business-enabled business models or inter-firm business processes in the marketing channel. Another salient characteristic for the e-Business system is that impeding and driving conditions exert influence on different levels of analysis (as discussed in chapter 6): the marketing or distribution system-level as a whole (macro), the focal net and the dyadic buyer−supplier relationships levels 166 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

(meso), and the firm, inter-department, project group, and individual levels (micro). A second overall conclusion is that top managers responsible for e-Busi- ness implementation and diffusion processes should proactively attempt to attain a more holistic picture. In this context, the elusive holistic picture refers to understanding how impeding and driving conditions influence all levels: from the micro level (the individuals) up to the macro level (the marketing or distribution system). Many conditions might be in play at the different levels of analysis at the macro, meso and micro levels. The total picture of the conditions that might be needed should be evaluated carefully before and during an implementation process because e-Business implementation and diffusion processes are complex to undertake and manage successfully. As noted in chapter 2, there have been relatively few multi-level studies conducted in the IS literature. Therefore, Zhang and Gable (2017) posit that multi-level research questions remain to be explored and answered. One essential element in this endeavour for the top manager is proactively approaching the resistance to change towards a planned or ongoing e- Business implementation and diffusion process.

7.2 Conclusions research question 2

Research question 2 (RQ2): What e-Business-enabled performance effects result from e-Business system use, and how does the use of e-Business systems affect dyadic performance?

A successful e-Business implementation process is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for inter-firm, or dyadic, performance effects. Even when the e-Business implementation process is successful and the system is aligned with the expectations and intent of the dyadic trading partners, the joint performance effect expectations are not always realised (cf. Robey et al. 2002). Moreover, an effective and efficient e-Business implementation process is not the only way to attain improved effectiveness and efficiency in inter-firm relationships and marketing channels. CHAPTER 7 167

A simple inter-firm, or dyadic, performance effects model on the strategic-level was proposed in chapter 2. This model is suggested as a simple discussion template when the top management teams of dyadic trading partners discuss intents and expectations concerning a possible joint e-Business business case. This simple performance effect model consists of four dyadic strategic-level effects: increased dyadic profitability (P), increased purchase and sales share (E&P), increased dyadic competitive advantage (E), and increased relationship strength (E&P). Additionally, the model consists of four dyadic process-level effects: time and cost savings (P), reduced cycle time (P), increased customer service (E), and improved information flow (P). Effective- ness effects are marked with (E), and efficiency effects are marked with (P), short for productivity. Because of the firm boundary-spanning and cross-functional character of e-Business, inter-firm top management team bonds and commitment typically are necessary pre-conditions and driving conditions for e-Business implementation success. Therefore, it is critical that the top management teams of both trading partners initiate careful discussions about how they want their joint e-Business-enabled relationship to improve inter-firm effectiveness and efficiency. Second, this careful discussion may consider how marketing channel effectiveness and efficiency can be improved. The degree of clarity of the business case for an e-Business investment in an inter-firm relationship, regarding both the strategic and business process-levels, is critical to attain the necessary buy-in among all involved stakeholders, both collectively and individually (cf. Peppard & Ward 2005). A win-win mindset (incentive structure) among all stakeholders is a crucial pre-condition and driving condition for higher degrees of e-Business success. There needs to be a mindset of finding win-win, smart, and innovative inter-firm business processes enabled by the e-Business systems in use in order to attain mutual benefits for the dyadic trading partners. Regarding how e-Business system use affects performance, the five cases provide different illustrations. Relatively extensive accounts of conditions influencing e-Business use and performance effects are presented in chapter 4. Cross-case comparisons regarding the performance effect dimension are presented in chapter 5. The usage proficiency and the extent of e-Business use 168 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS is central for what performance effects can be attained for the stakeholders involved. In retrospect, I wish that I had been more deeply immersed in exploring how this took place regarding the use of the e-Business systems in question across the five case studies (as called for by Venkatesh et al. 2003, Veiga et al. 2014). Table 5 (in chapter 5) illustrates schematically that conditions at different levels of analysis have influenced strategic performance effects. Performance effects at the strategic-level were identified at the macro level of analysis during Study 1 and Study 3. At the meso level of analysis, performance effects at the strategic-level were identified during Study 1 and Study 2. Lastly, at the micro level of analysis, performance effects at the strategic-level were identified in all five studies. A multi-level view on e-Business and other IS phenomena has been called for by Zhang and Gable (2017), who posit that multi-level research questions remain to be explored and answered. Multi-level overviews of the identified specific performance effects at the strategic-level from e-Business use were presented in Tables 6–10 in chapter 5. The 26 identified specific effects were evenly divided between effectiveness (marked with E) and efficiency (marked with P). Performance effects at the process-level from e-Business use are not included in these tables. The introduction and use of e-Business have required or implied redesigned and improved inter-firm, or B2G or B2C, processes in all five studies. Exchanging and sharing digital data have substantially decreased co-worker time and costs, as expected, among the e-Business source organisations across the five cases. Also, the e-Business target organisations have decreased employee time and costs, but to a lesser extent. However, in the Study 3 and Study 4 cases, the target clients and organisations were unable to attain reduced economic costs due to their e-Business use. However, they attained other benefits, such as increased convenience (S3), increased relationship strength, and improved liquidity (S4). Since the e-Business-related performance effects interactively influence both e-Business use and inter-firm relationship strength (as proposed by, e.g. Redondo et al. 2009:88), Research question 2 is essential for understanding and explaining e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. When moving around the three dimensions included in Redondo et al.’s (2009:88) CHAPTER 7 169 model, as the two-way interaction arrows in the model indicate, greater understanding of the inter-relationships and dynamics involved is gained (cf. Sterman 2000). To illustrate an example from Study 3, the introduction of e-Banking B2C use (in the early days) implied increased convenience effects for private e-Banking users. This new technology changed the basis for these clients’ relationships with the retail bank. The majority of e-Banking users perceived that the relationship strength with their contact person at the branch office diminished due to the e-Banking use (see Table 8). During Study 1, survey-based empirical evidence was collected on how critical top management commitment was for attaining performance effects of e-Business use. When e-Business plays a strategic role, firms with higher levels of commitment relating to e-Business use will attain higher performance effects of its use (cf. Sambamurthy et al. 2003). In Study 2, the critical role of the materials management thinking and work within the source distributor was identified, which resulted in more innovative ways of working together in the inter-firm business processes in the marketing channel. In combination with the innovative use of e-Business systems, this resulted in positive efficiency and effectiveness improvements for the source distributor. If the inter-firm BPR efforts result in more intel- ligent ways of working together, effectiveness benefits are attainable. Mate- rials management efforts (as Study 2 illustrates) are focused on and strive for both effectiveness and efficiency improvements. Study 4 shows that many impeding conditions must be overcome in order for the e-Invoicing source municipality studied to succeed in realising its primary goal: to lower its invoice administration costs substantially. Study 5 demonstrates the reinforcing synergies between new modern system characteristics and the agile project management way of implementing a web-based sales portal. This matching contributed significantly to the e-Busi- ness implementation success and the performance effects attained.

7.3 Limitations

The part I of this thesis and the appended publications (Part II) are not without limitations. First, given that all of the five cases selected were perceived 170 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS by the primary stakeholders as relatively successful, there was not a great deal of observed variation in the dependent variable for each of the two research questions. The minor variation in the dependent variables of the two research questions (e-Business use due to implementation process success, and e- Business-enabled performance effects) implies that the potential for finding negative evidence (cf. Miles et al. 2014:304) was lower (than if also e-Business projects perceived as failures had been included). Second, different units of analysis were applied in the five studies. To ex- post apply a dyadic inter-firm model such as the Redondo et al. (2009) model on the five appended publications is not a straightforward cross-case comparison approach (as noted in chapter 5). However, this dyadic model, which synthesises the relationship view perspective with the e-Business use perspective and the performance effect dimension, is considered a valuable and relevant common reference point for cross-case comparisons. Third, there has been relatively little focus across the five studies on measures of the theoretical variables and constructs, except for the survey studies conducted as a central part of S1 (BASCET Infolink multilateral ordering B2B) and S3 (Handelsbanken one-to-many e-Banking B2C). In Study 1, a pivotal informant survey study was conducted (cf. Gallivan 2001:57) with its associated weaknesses. However, the majority of the hardware dealers surveyed in S1 were small firms. Therefore, the survey respondents (the CEOs) were assumed to have a reasonably accurate holistic picture of most elements of the small firms that they managed. Studies 1 and 2 can be claimed to have been longitudinal studies, even though they were mainly retrospective. In Study 5, we used mainly informants from the ES client side of the ES client−consultant dyad. Studying dyads by interviewing key informants representing both dyad firms is preferable. As an additional limitation, all five publications are relatively non-theoretical. On this issue, Robey et al. (2008:513) provide some comfort: “non- theoretical papers often serve as useful incubators for ideas that are later sub- jected to theory-driven empirical research.” Several limitations also restrict the generalisability of the studies forming this thesis. Our case organisations, including survey samples, were all chosen CHAPTER 7 171 and drawn from organisations based in Sweden. There is variance across different countries and cultures regarding e-Business use and perceptions of different e-Business issues. Country and cultural differences were not cov- ered in this thesis, and this weakness is acknowledged as a limitation. Given the increasing degree of globalisation, further research studies need to be designed to compare and contrast success conditions for e-Business implementation processes and how these affect business performance effects in different countries and cultures. Since system characteristics here are claimed to matter, the findings reported are valid for the specific e-Business systems studied, though this may be a limitation for the ability to generalise the reported findings to other e- Business systems. Additionally, most of the empirical data collected across the five studies involved the perceptions of key informants that they recalled retrospectively. In other words, the respondents were asked to remember conditions about the e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. However, during the studies reported in publications 4 and 5, we were to a significantly higher degree able to collect real-time empirical data about the e-Business implementation processes in question. This data concern is a common problem with cross-sectional survey research, and further research could develop the identified findings with a longitudinal approach. At a broader level, it is relatively more difficult to identify environmental variables. Therefore, it would have been advantageous if, for example, the TOE framework (cf. DePietro et al. 1990) had been applied deductively in any of the five publications. TOE theory explicitly guides the researcher to explore and investigate relevant environmental variables. Further research on identifying relevant environmental variables influencing e-Business implementation and diffusion processes would contribute to our accumulation of knowledge in this domain. Particular industry characteristics, wherein the cases are embedded, may reduce the ability to generalise the findings from the studies of this thesis. Therefore, further research in other industries would be beneficial, either to confirm the findings in this thesis or to identify differences between industries or distribution systems. 172 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

It would have been advantageous if the dyadic relationship perspective had been applied across all five studies. The dyadic relationship perspective was applied in Study 4 and Study 5. In Study 2, there were also few personal interviews conducted with Luna target buyers. It would also have been advantageous if I had focused more on inter-firm and intra-firm business processes across the five studies. The central importance and role of business processes change in association with e-Business and IT implementation processes have been stressed by, e.g. Markus (2004), Melville et al. (2004), and Harison and Boonstra (2009). In terms of this Part I of the thesis, the content may have been analytically more clear if, throughout the text, I had distinguished between moder- ating, intermediating, and dependent variables (see Söderlund 2018) when references were made to published research and in writing my reflections. There is a strong imbalance between positive and negative performance effects of e-Business use reported in this thesis. Given upsettingly high failure rates, it is concerning that there have been few reports on the adverse effects of e-Business use (the outcome of an implementation process). One explanation for this is that the five cases all were perceived as relatively successful by the source organisations. However, there were impeding conditions on the e-Business implementation processes identified during the Study 1 and Study 4 case studies, ranging from organisational, group, and individual resistance problems to technical issues.

7.4 Further research

Results from the Study 1 survey showed the significant role of top management commitment in attaining profitability effects of e-Business use. Further research should investigate the role and influence of top management’s capabilities and efforts to integrate an e-Business system with complementary firm resources (cf. Nevo & Wade 2010). One such complementary resource of central importance to e-Business implementation success, not often considered in the e-Business research literature, is the dyadic project management methodology. In the e-Business implementation context, the project management methodology of the client firm’s implementation team and the external e-Business consultants need to be carefully aligned. CHAPTER 7 173

Further research is proposed to examine a deeper understanding of the conditions that influence effective multi-disciplinary, or multifunctional, col- laborations within e-Business implementation contexts, and how these col- laborations change and evolve. Further research following our conceptual proposition (see also publication 2) to bridge the relationship view and DOI literature, i.e. multi-disciplinary research (as later proposed by, for example, Kling 2000, Redondo et al. 2009, Sividas et al. 2012), is highly relevant for understanding and explaining the implementation and diffusion of the multi- disciplinary e-Business phenomenon. For e-Business researchers, further research is recommended to pay careful attention to the characteristics of the specific technology used (e.g. the proposals by Robey et al. 2008 and Saeed et al. 2011). This understanding is an indispensable condition for a successful e-Business implementation process to deliver what the users in the inter-firm relationship actually need and demand (cf. Kræmmergaard & Rose 2002, Somers & Nelson 2004). As Robey et al. (2008:512) point out, “theories need to be adaptable to changes in the properties of information artifacts”. The TOE framework instructs researchers to pay careful attention to the specific e-Business technology characteristics (the T in TOE) being used. Since the TOE framework also focuses on business environment conditions (the E), this framework is highly recommended for further research. In this thesis, it is argued that the dyadic buyer−supplier relationship is the most relevant primary unit of analysis to apply to (more fine-grained) understand and explain e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. Given the scarcity of e-Business studies applying an inter-firm relationship level of analysis, further research along this vein, referencing and applying the relational view and marketing channel theory, is highly welcomed. Ap- plying the inter-firm relationship level of analysis is more demanding, a fa- miliar concern for the author of this thesis. A sufficiently resourceful focal net is typically a necessary condition for successful e-Business implementation processes. For an interactive innovation such as e-Business, both the significant sponsoring of resources and marketing efforts at the focal net level are needed in the early implementation phase(s) in order to increase the probability for attaining the two, or three, 174 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS critical masses required in order to institute a self-sustaining e-Business diffusion process. Thus, the meso, or the focal net, level is in this thesis posited to be the second most important unit of analysis to apply in order to better understand and explain e-Business implementation and diffusion processes. Therefore, it is also proposed that the focal net level of analysis be applied, which is rare in the research literature, in further research that discusses the relationship view perspective. The capabilities and motivations of the humans involved – the human or people factor – at different levels of analysis is the main conclusion drawn for Research question 1. Therefore, I suggest that the knowledge-based theory of the firm (e.g. Grant 1996), which considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource, is a relevant theoretical lens to apply for further research. Some normatively oriented research questions for further research that I think would be relevant to dive deeper into include: • How should researchers design a project management methodology that will consider impeding and driving conditions in e-Business implementation processes? • How should incentives be designed for all involved stakeholders in e- Business implementation processes so that all participating stakeholders perceive that they have received a fair share of e-Business use benefits? • How should the alignment mapping between the inter-firm business processes and the e-Business system best be designed and conducted?

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Oral sources Oral sources in Study 3

In sum, personal interviews with 8 respondents at the two branch offices Sydfors and Nordfors, Svenska Handelsbanken Branch office CEO, Sydfors, personal interview, February 18, 2000 Branch office co-worker A, Sydfors, personal interview, February 18, 2000

Oral sources in Study 4

Bergquist Charkuteri, Torsby Bergquist, Maria, owner

Karlstads kommun Malmqvist, Elisabeth, system manager, ”Information meeting with questions concerning invoice scanning”, course ”Service management & IT: Electronic business”, Karlstad Business School, December 19, 2005

Lindströms Bröd, Torsby Nordquist, Niklas, financial manager

Portalen Handelsplats Wermland, Handelskammaren Värmland, Karlstad Borg, Ulf, operative project manager Obstfelder Peterson, Ulrika, principal project and information manager Åström, Rolf, operative project manager

Torsby kommun Birnstein, Angela, financial manager Nilsson, Benny, el, Tekniska förvaltningen Nilsson, Eva-Lena, diet manager, Kommunstyrelsen Nilsson, Gunnel, invoice administrator, Bergåsens Centralkök Persson, Anna-Stina, internal project leadar receiving e-Invoices, accounting economist Uppvall, Ann Katrin, vice-chairman municipal executive board

Torsby Trä, Torsby Eriksson, Mikael, part-owner, purchasing and sales manager

Uppvalls Elektriska, Torsby 210 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Uppvall, Ann Katrin, part-owner

In sum, personal interviews with 14 respondents

Oral sources in Study 5

Arola, Marko, Director Purchasing, Logistics and IT, vice-CEO, Wermland Paper, Bäckhammar, numerous personal interviews and dialogues, starting on January 16, 2006 up to January 15, 2009. Björkman, Peter, CEO, ComActivity, Stockholm, personal interviews February 7 and August 28, 2007, personal dialogue January 14 and August 28, 2008, e-mail feedback May 8, 2008, telephone dialogue May 18, 2008. Brattfjord, Kristina, market assistant, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäckham- mar, personal interview, May 19, 2008. Bucht, Hans, main developer and consultant, ComActivity, Stockholm, e-mail feedback May 20, 2008. Eklund, Anders, marketing director, ComActivity, Stockholm, personal interview, Janu- ary 14, 2008, telephone dialogue April 14, 2008 Ericson, Thorbjörn, logistics manager, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäckham- mar, personal interview, June 3, 2008. Falk, Karin, market assistant, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäckhammar, personal interview, May 19, 2008. Grahn, Johan, responsible business area Enterprise Systems, exSitec, Stockholm, personal dialogues, November 14, 2007, May 14 and May 28, 2008, e-mail feedback May 8, 2008. Henningsson, Joakim, IT-coordinator and project leader, IT department, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäckhammar, personal dialogue, 2007. Karlander, Hans, part owner, Procuritas Partners, member of the board of Wermland Paper, August 14, 2005. Karlsson, Ann-Christine, invoicing assistant, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäckhammar, personal interview, June 3, 2008. Nordström, Carina, invoicing assistant, Bäckhammars Bruk, Wermland Paper, Bäck- hammar, personal interview, June 3, 2008. Richthoff, Richard, CEO, Radar Group, telephone dialogues, May 8 and May 15, 2008. Simrén, Christer, CEO, Wermland Paper, January 16 and February 2, 2006, research team meetings. Speller, Ellen, OLF System responsible, Wermland Paper agent in UK, Kinross Agencies Limited, United Kingdom, telephone interview, June 2, 2008 Åhlander, Ing-Marie, production planner, super-user, Åmotfors Bruk, Wermland Paper, Åmotfors, personal interview, May 27, 2008.

Appendix 1

Different labels given to the e-Business B2B and B2G phenomenon

We have many names for the things we love. The e-Business phenomenon in the B2B and B2G contexts has been given many different “names”, or labels, in the research literature over the years. Thus, labels chosen within B2C contexts, where the term e-Commerce often is used are not included. Below follows an illustrative list of different labels for the focal phenomenon studied in this thesis. The concepts are presented in ascending publication year order for the first publication of each concept (no claim is made that this is an exhaustive list). The list of different labels given to the e-Business phenomenon B2B/B2G below, numbering to 58 different labels, is ordered in chronolog- ical order. There are no claims made that this list is exhaustive (it is just a small sample from the literature review of how research article have chosen to label the e-Business phenomenon). • extra-corporate systems (Kaufman 1966) • electronic information exchange system (Hiltz et al. 1981) • inter-organisational information sharing systems (Barrett & Konsynski 1982) • inter(-)organisational systems (McFarlan 1984, Cash 1985, Cash & Konsynski 1985, Cash 1987, Nidumolu 1989, Bakos 1991a, Koch 1994, 212 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

Riggins et al. 1994, O’Callaghan & Turner 1995, Kumar & Van Dissel 1996, Kumar & Crook 1999, Gebauer & Buxmann 2000) • interorganizational business communication (Stern & Kaufmann 1985) • cooperative (information) systems (Bakos & Treacy 1986, McNurlin 1987) • telecommunications (Clemons & Kimbrough 1986, Clemons & McFar- lan 1986, Keen 1988) • electronic integration (Callahan 1987, Venkatraman & Zaheer 1989, Venkatraman & Short 1990, Davidson 1993, Kambil & Short 1994, Bensaou & Venkatraman 1995, Kim & Umanath 1999, Mukhopadhyay & Kekre 2002, Zhu et al. 2006a) • inter-organisation/al information systems (Johnston & Vitale 1988, Suomi 1988, 1990, Bakos 1991b, Holland & Lockett 1991, Nidumolu 1995, Williams 1997, Sivadas et al. 2012) • value-adding partnership (Johnston & Lawrence 1988) • marketing and sales productivity systems (Moriarty & Swartz 1989) • customer-oriented strategic systems (Reich & Benbasat 1990) • information partnerships (Konsynski & McFarlan 1990) • inter-organisation networks (Hart & Estrin 1991) • networked information systems (Holland et al. 1992b) • electronic trading (Cunningham & Tynan 1993, O’Callaghan & Turner 1995, Allen et al. 2000) • customer-based interorganisational systems (Grover 1993) • interorganisational communication (Picot et al. 1993) • telecommunication-based interorganisational systems (Sabherwal & Vi- jayasarathy 1994) • electronic interorganizational value chains (Wigand & Benjamin 1995) • information systems that link organisations (Cavaye 1995) APPENDIX 213

• interorganisational computer-mediated communication (Pickering & King 1995) • virtual value chains (Benjamin & Wigand 1995) • e-Commerce/electronic commerce (Vijayasarathy & Robey 1997, Jeff- coate et al. 2002, Zhu & Kraemer 2002, Andersson & Kaplan 2004) • electronic communication (Orlikowski et al. 1995, Holland & Lockett 1997) • interorganisational computer-mediated communication (Kettinger & Grover 1997) • interorganisational computer networks and shared technology (Hart & Saunders 1997) • technology-based forms of information exchange (Wilson & Vlosky 1997) • electronic linkages (Fein 1998) • electronic partnership (Hart & Saunders 1998) • virtual integration (Magretta 1998) • B2B e-commerce (Chan & Swatman 1999, Strader et al. 1999, Chircu & Kauffman 2000, Chwelos et al. 2001, Garicano & Kaplan 2001, Iskandar et al. 2001, Lee et al. 2003, Mahadevan 2003, Standifer & Wall 2003, Power 2005, Son & Benbasat 2007, Beynon-Davies 2020) • electronic business/e-Business (Kalakota & Robinson 1999, Mahajan & Venkatesh 2000, Amit & Zott 2001, Barua et al. 2001, Reimers 2001, Bello et al. 2002, Fahy & Hooley 2002, Srinivasan et al. 2002, Vakharia 2002, Buttriss & Wilkinson 2003, Geoffrion & Krishnan 2003, Kohli et al. 2003, Swaminathan & Tayur 2003, Wagner et al. 2003, Wu et al. 2003, Zhu et al. 2003, Zhu et al. 2004, Zhu & Kraemer 2005, Zhu et al. 2006b, Zhu et al. 2006c, Bello et al. 2008, Jelassi & Enders 2008, Turban et al. 2008, Chaffey 2009, Lay & Yang 2009, Osmonbekov et al. 2009, Zhang & Dhaliwal 2009, Wiengarten et al. 2011, Wu et al. 2011, Schneider 2013, Motiwalla & Thompson 2014, Peppard & Ward 2016, Soto-Acosta et al. 2016, Bi et al. 2017, Beynon-Davies 2020) 214 ELECTRONIC BUSINESS

• e-Supply chain (Kalakota & Robinson 1999, Scherer 2005) • business-to-business interorganisational information systems for electronic commerce (Davern & Kauffman 2000) • electronic interaction (Allen et al. 2000) • extranet (Vlosky et al. 2000, Spralls et al. 2011) • electronic channel (Christiaanse & Venkatraman 2002, Beynon-Davies 2020) • electronic supply chain partnerships (Angeles & Nath 2003) • external systems integration (Markus et al. 2003) • extra-organisational systems (Howard et al. 2003) • interorganisational linkages (Teo et al. 2003) • customer-side digitization and supplier-side digitization (Barua et al. 2004) • networked systems (Melville et al. 2004) • electronic information transfer (Kim et al. 2005a) • IT-enabled planning and control (Saeed et al. 2005) • interorganisational IT-driven coordination systems (Steinfield et al. 2005) • EDI-based trading partnership and electronic supply chain management programs (Son et al. 2005) • business-to-business computing (Wareham et al. 2005) • cross-organisational electronic integration (Nagy 2006) • EDI partnerships (Asher 2007) • electronically-enabled supply chains (Yao et al. 2007) • global distribution systems (Granados et al. 2008) • interfirm strategic information flows (Klein & Rai 2009) • information systems-enabled organisational transformation (Besson & Rowe 2012) APPENDIX 215

• interfirm information processing solutions (Wang et al. 2013) • relationship-specific information processing solutions (Wang et al. 2013) • digital business (Chaffey 2015, Peppard & Ward 2016)

Part II:

The Publications