A multi-theory perspective on enablers of inter-organizational information and communication technology: A comparison of China and the Netherlands

Abstract Prior research on implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has predominantly been viewed from an intra- organizational perspective. This paper aims to extend this view by taking an inter-organizational perspective. By combining insights gained from two theoretical perspectives: transaction cost economics and relational exchange theory, we seek to understand enablers of inter-organizational ICT. Also, we investigate the effect of the socio-economic climate by comparing the country contexts of China and the Netherlands. We use survey data from 112 Dutch and 320 Chinese firms to test our hypotheses regarding potential differences between these countries. The paper helps in understanding the idea that enablers of Inter-organizational ICT implementation could depend on country context. In the Dutch context, the transaction cost based perspective provides a valuable explanation for the use of Inter-organizational ICT, while in the Chinese context, both transaction cost economics, and relational exchange theory based perspectives help understand enablers for Inter-organizational ICT. Managers of global companies can use insights from this study to help guide their implementation of ICT strategy. Particularly, it may be noted that, despite a desire for uniformity and standardization, there might be different ways of implementing ICT that are attributed to country contexts.