Cloud computing, Web 2.0, and operational performance. The mediating role of supply chain integration

• Pages: 426-458
• Published date: 09 November 2015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-07-2013-0085
• Date: 09 November 2015
• Author: Sebastián Bruque Cámara,José Moyano Fuentes,Juan Manuel Maqueira Marín
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

Cloud computing, Web 2.0, and

operational performance

The mediating role of supply

chain integration

Sebastián Bruque Cámara, José Moyano Fuentes and

Juan Manuel Maqueira Marín

Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology,

Universidad de Jaén, Linares, Spain

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of two technologies, cloud

computing and Web 2.0, on a firm’s operational performance, examining the relationship between

these two technolo gies and operation al performance, and t he mediating role pl ayed by supply

chain integration.

Design/methodology/approach –A random sample of 394 companies taken from the DUNS 50,000

database in Spain is used to test the paper’s hypotheses. The data were gathered by telephone survey

using the CATI computerized system to manage interviewees’answers, obtaining a 19.36 percent

response rate. Factorial analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings –The results suggest that cloud computing requires the mediating support of supply chain

integration. However, there is no concluding evidence that Web 2.0 has a positive effect on either

supply chain integration or operational performance. A positive, significant relationship was found

between supply chain integration and operational performance in all the models used.

Research limitations/implications –Further research and longitudinal analyses should be

carried out in a range of industrial and geographical settings to confirm the findings of this

study. Further analyses could also extend the scope and generalizability of results by analyzing the

assimilation of supply chain integration-related inter-organizational information systems, such

as the effect of ERP s ystems on perform ance. Another fut ure direction for r esearch is a study of

the impact of the joint assimilation of internal and external integration practices on operational

performance.

Practical implications –Managers should be aware of the key role that trust plays in the

information-sh aring process in conjunction with supp ly chain management. Trust and infor mation-

sharing are two inextricably linked elements that enable greater supply chain integration to

translate into bet ter operational performan ce. This paper can also make man agers more aware of the

powerful tools that exist in the cloud computing universe and those that come under the umbrella of

Web 2.0. Companies can use the findings of this paper to create new applications to facilitate supply

chain integration . Some examples are also given of how cloud a pplications can be applied to better

integrate the supply chain and, ultimately, to improve overall operational performance.

Originality/value –This is one of the first attempts to disentangle the effects exerted by cloud

computing on company performance through the mediating role of a higher supply chain integration.

The value of this study relies in that academics and practitioners may have a supporting evidence on

the role played by a new, disruptive technology such us cloud computing in, internal, operationally

linked structures such as supply chain integration and how this combination transforms into better

operational outcomes.

Keywords Web 2.0, Cloud computing, Operational performance, Supply chain integration,

IT assimilation

Paper type Research paper

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 26 No. 3, 2015

pp. 426-458

©Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-07-2013-0085

Received 29 July 2013

Revised 23 December 2013

24 April 2014

Accepted 10 August 2014

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

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Research

project ECO2010-22105-C03-02.

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1. Introduction

The role of information technology (IT) in firm structure, behavior and performance

has been a constant stimulus for research in recent decades. One of the factors that

affects research into the impact that IT has on organizations is the continual change

faced by companies which have to deal with a real and changing environment. These

technologically changing environments provide firms with new capabilities and

resources that may be quickly implemented in the organizational arena. How ever, these

continual changes sometimes involve modifications to the business structure and

targets that can result in challenging, hostile, managerial situations that need to be

identified and addressed for business sustainability and, ultimately, a competitive

advantage to be achieved.

This paper will analyze the role played by two technological breakthroughs that have

been progressively implemented by companies in the last few years. First, cloud computing

(Cegielski et al., 2012) is analyzed. This is a figurative term that refers to a bundle of

virtualized, distributed resources that are diffuse and all-pervading, similar to a cloud, and

which are expected to have a significant impact on technology, business and society in the

coming years (i.e. Grant and Tan, 2013). In cloud computing (Hayes, 2008; Fingar, 2009)

resources are not located in firms but in virtualized, distributed environments that are

geographically disperse and can be accessed on an on-demand basis through web-based

technologies (Chen and Wu, 2013). Second, the role played by Web 2.0 technologies is

analyzed. This is defined as an evolutionary outcome of web technologies that enables

clients, internal users and business partners to create, share and update knowledge

that usually crosses company boundaries (O'Reilly, 2005). Web 2.0 includes a series of

technological tools, such as blogs, mashups, wikis, collaborative web sites and voice over IP

that leverage the role played by internal and external agents in the use and spread of

information within the company, and between a company and its business partners.

One important finding in the literature is that while IT is valuable when used

throughout the supply chain (Schryen, 2013) it is dependent upon internal and external

factors relating to chain partners. Viewed from the IT-enabled organizational capability

perspective (Bharadwaj, 2000), some authors consider IT as a complementary resource

that increases the value of other organizational resources and capabilities and thus

leads to further business performance enhancement (Melville et al., 2004).

The literature on IT-enabled organizational capabilities suggests that the supply

chain integration process (Rai et al., 2006) is a capability that can turn the value of

IT into business performance. This paper examines the role played by the degree to which

two technologies are used in the supply chain for the integration of the financial, physical

and informational flows between companies. An operational view has been adopted as

this is a field in which there is a research gap. There is a significant lack of prior research

addressing the relationships between cloud computing, Web 2.0 and supply chain

integration and operational performance. An operational approach has been adopted as

these technologies might be closely linked to the way that operations and information

flows are organized and take place in the company (Dominy, 2012), at least in the first

stage of development. Therefore, inthe initial stages of development, itis more likely that

the cloud and Web 2.0, which are designed to bind, share and connect the links in the

firm’s value chain, can also have a major impact on the elements that comprise the

supply chain. Likewise, prior research has pointed to IT being a necessary condition

for instigating supply chain integration (Smeltzer, 2001; Narasimhan and Kim, 2001).

Thus, this study considers that supply chain integration could have a mediating effect on

any impact that the cloud and Web 2.0 may have on operational performance.

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Mediating role

of supply

chain

integration

The paper has been organized as follows. The following section summarizes the

background and describes the arguments leading to the hypotheses in greater depth.

The third section of the paper includes a description of the sample and methods used in

the empirical analysis. The fourth section is devoted to the analysis and results of the

paper’s empirical findings, while the last section includes a discussion and the most

important conclusions. Some directions for additional research and the study’s

limitations are also outlined in this final section.

2. Theory and hypotheses

2.1 Theoretical framework

Three theories are drawn upon for this research: the resource-based view (RBV),

knowledge management and social capital. These theoretical frameworks highlight the

roles of trust, identification and knowledge in creating an appropriate atmosphere

among the supply chain members, so that they can improve the company’s operational

performance through the combined use of technology and greater supply chain

integration. In the following, the theoretical foundations of each of these theoretical

frameworks are reviewed. The roles that they play in explaining the link between IT

use and supply chain management (SCM) are emphasized.

First, the roots of the RBV are in the field of strategic management and it was

promoted by Penrose (1959). This theory posits that a firm’s performance is founded on

the unique resources and capabilities possessed by the company that are hard to

imitate, such as resource heterogeneity and the difficulties that transferring these

resources represent (Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney, 1991; Peteraf, 1993). Capabilities

subsume the notion of organizational competencies (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) and are

rooted in process and business routines. Grant (1995) describes a hierarchy of

organizational capabilities, where specialized capabilities are integrated into broader

functional capabilities, such as marketing, manufacturing and IT capability. This last

is defined as the firm’s ability to mobilize and deploy IT-based resources in

combination with or alongside other resources and capabilities (Bharadwaj, 2000).

One of the RBV’s major contributions is its explicit recognition of the value of

intangible organizational resources. In the context of a firm’s IT capability, IT users

tend to pay greater attention to the intangible benefits of IT (Brynjolfsson and

Hitt, 1997). Skeptics of IT’s direct effects on firm performance have long argued that

firms benefit from IT only when they embed it in a way that produces valuable,

sustainable complementary resources (Clemons and Row, 1991; Powell and

Dent-Micallef, 1997). IT is a resource that generates competitive value only when it

leverages or enables pre-existing firm resources and skills (Bharadwaj, 2000).

RBV is also a framework that is used to explain the effectiveness of supply chains.

As such, Miles and Snow (2007) state that leading firms incorporate their suppliers’and

partners’ideas and expertise into the management of the supply chain. RBV is also an

appropriate framework for investigating the effect that supply chain integration has on

performance through the use of a combination of IT resources.

The knowledge-based perspective builds and extends the resource-based theory of

the firm and postulates that the services provided by tangible resources depend on how

these are combined and applied, which is in turn a function of the firm’s know-how

(i.e. knowledge) (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Cole, 1998). This knowledge is embed ded

in and accomplished by multiple elements, including organizational culture and

identity, routines, policies, systems and documents, as well as individual employees

(Spender, 1996a, 1996b) and is difficult to imitate. So, this perspective points to the

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