Analyzing contextual antecedents for the stage-based diffusion of electronic supply chain management

This paper proposes a theoretical model for understanding the fundamentals of the diffusion of electronic supply chain management with multiple stages among trading partners. It also provides an empirical analysis of a framework that helps us to gauge the practical validity of our approach. We considered two control variables, industry type and firm size, and their effects on e-SCM diffusion. We developed our measurement approach on the basis of existing theory. We gathered data using a structured questionnaire that was administered through e-mail. The findings that we obtained reveal that the attributes for technological and collaborative structures have different impacts on the three diffusion stages. Overall, technological structure is a more important indicator for the adoption stage, while collaborative structure is more important in the assimilation stage. This is because the focus of innovation diffusion at the earlier stages is on the improvement of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and information security. Innovation diffusion at the later stages mainly lies in building good cooperative relationships among trading partners to facilitate their transactions. Industry type and firm size are correlated to different degrees with the attributes of technological and collaborative structures, and with the different diffusion stages.