An information sharing theory perspective on willingness to share information in supply chains

• Date: 08 May 2017
• Published date: 08 May 2017
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-09-2015-0158
• Pages: 417-443
• Author: Nadia Zaheer,Peter Trkman
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

An information sharing theory

perspective on willingness

to share information in

supply chains

Nadia Zaheer

Department of Engineering Management,

College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering,

National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and

Peter Trkman

Department of Information and Logistics Management, Faculty of Economics,

University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract

Purpose –The quality of information sharing is of the utmost importance for supply chains (SCs).

The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the human attitude: willingness to share,

its antecedents and its role in improving information sharing quality.

Design/methodology/approach –Based on information sha ring theory, a theore tical model and

research hypotheses are developed. Data f rom 387 respondents were collected to tes t the hypotheses and

model fit using structural eq uation modelling and mediation analysis. The impact of soc ial-psychological

factors and informati on technology (IT) infr astructure capabili ty on willingness to sha re information

and, consequently, it s effect on information s haring quality were ana lysed using IBM SPSS Stat istics,

PROCESS and AMOS.

Findings –The statistical analysis showed a good model fit. Trust is the most important antecedent for

willingness to share, while the impacts of commitment and reciprocity are also significant. Interestingly,

power is not a significant antecedent of willingness. Life satisfaction is a significant precursor to willingness

to share information, whereas surprisingly overall job satisfaction does not play a significant role.

Research limitations/implications –Cross-sectional data were used and the scope was limited to SCs.

Practical implications –Managers should be aware that trust, commitment and reciprocity with their SC

partners influence the willingness to share information with varying effects. Access to proper IT capabilities

increases willingness as does the life satisfaction. SC individuals who are happy with life are more willing.

Interestingly, high power might get the sharer to share information albeit unwillingly.

Originality/value –The model provides a social-psychological understanding of the antecedents of human

willingness to share information, which is crucial to sharing quality information. Overall, the social-psychological

and IT factors model based on information sharing theory is statistically valid for the SC context.

Keywords Social exchange theory, Supply chain management, Willingness, Information sharing theory,

IT infrastructure capability, Job and life satisfaction

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Data and information are strategically needed for the success of organisations (Ge and

Helfert, 2008). Information sharing plays a crucial role in improving the performance of

supply chains (SCs) (Ganesh et al., 2014; Trkman et al., 2010; Lee and Whang, 2000).

Companies need clear information sharing policies and a proactive approach to sharing

information (Fawcett et al., 2011). However, a recent summary of 20 years of SC

management research argues that the “need to share information”should be the first and

foremost focus of future SC management research (Wagner and Fearne, 2015).

It is, therefore, crucial to understand which factors influence the development and

implementation of information sharing among SC partners (Cheng, 2011). It is important to

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 28 No. 2, 2017

pp. 417-443

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-09-2015-0158

Received 16 September 2015

Revised 16 December 2015

12 March 2016

6 May 2016

Accepted 6 May 2016

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

417

Information

sharing theory

perspective

note that this information is usually shared by individuals/humans who have access to

different information technology (IT) infrastructure capabilities to facilitate this sharing.

Information is generally viewed as providing an advantage over competitors and this

may cause either organisations or individuals to resist sharing it with their SC partners

(Trkman and Desouza, 2012; Li and Lin, 2006).

There is a considerable need to examine inter-organisational behaviour along with

the social and psychological factors that motivate people to share information (Zhao and

Wu, 2013; Tokar, 2010; Narayanan and Raman, 2004). The aspect of the willingness of

humans to share information is often “overlooked”in SCs (Fawcett et al., 2007) and most

current studies address the benefits gained from sharing data, but neglect the effect of the

willingness to share (Du et al., 2012). It is important to know why individuals/humans

choose to give information to others (Chen and Hung, 2010). Researchers and practitioners,

thus, have a common interest in understanding the drivers of employees’information

sharing (Reinholt et al., 2011).

Many studies (e.g. Moramarco et al., 2013; Romano and Formentini, 2013; Hofer et al.,

2012) identify behavioural factors like trust and motivation for information sharing in

a SC context. However, only a handful of studies derive them from a unifying theory

(Van Weele and Van Raaij, 2014), for example, Wu et al. (2014) and Griffith et al. (2006)

apply social exchange theory (SET). There is a need to apply such interdisciplinary

theories so that the challenges of information sharing may be better understood.

These challenges are mainly either: social in nature like developing trust or collaboration

among SC partners; or technical in nature like the IT infrastructure capability used for

information sharing. Most research regarding the former challenge is on how to build

partnerships and lacks an investigation of the antecedent/personal characteristics that

affect individuals’willingness to share.

In this regard, information sharing theory by Constant et al. (1994) draws its roots from

social exchange factors (like reciprocity) and social psychology factors (like attitudes,

feelings and self-identity) to examine the effects on individuals’intentions to share

information. Information sharing theory argues that individuals are driven by personal

determinants, for instance reciprocity and power and by the social and organisational

determinants of information sharing. The understanding of information sharing

values is, however, still limited (Popovičet al., 2014). Future research needs to explore

motivational factors like trust and particular attitudes to information sharing intentions

(Wang and Noe, 2010).

Our research focusses on these challenges as we identifyspecific social and psychological

factors derived from information sharing theory that affect the willingness to share

information withSC partners. We empirically examine howmuch this willingness influences

the quality of the information shared while alsotaking firms’IT infrastructure capability into

account. We usea sample of 387 respondents to study thesocial-psychological antecedents of

willingness to share and, consequently, its impact on information sharing quality.

The structure of our paper is that Section 2 reviews the literature to derive the model

from information sharing theory and develop the hypotheses. Sections 3 and 4 discuss the

research design, data collection and results of data analysis using structural equation

modelling, path analysis and mediation analysis. Section 5 explains the theoretical and

practical implications of our work.

2. Literature review and hypotheses development

Our literature review focussed on information sharing theory and willingness to share

information covered under the keywords: information quality, SET, and willingness within

knowledge sharing and information sharing disciplines. The above-mentioned keywords

were combined with “supply chains”and “IT”, which later on were drilled down to include

418

IJLM

28,2