SOA and Information Sharing in Supply Chain: 'How' Information is Shared Matters!

We empirically analyze the impact of SOA adoption on performance benefits of information sharing in supply chains using a dataset of 305 large US firms. We show that complexity and transparency of information sharing process significantly impact performance. Information sharing complexity has a negative effect while transparency has a positive effect. We also demonstrate that SOA adoption is successful in mitigating the negative effects of process complexity. Interestingly, SOA adoption also leads to reduction in performance benefits of information sharing transparency. We contribute to business value of IT research by providing empirical evidence of business value of SOA. We show that both “what” information is shared and “how” it is shared affect performance and they interact differently with SOA adoption. Our results emphasize the interaction between process characteristics and technology architecture and provide directions for managers to orchestrate information sharing processes in supply chains and leverage SOA for optimal performance.