E-business and Supply Chain Collaboration

The current study proposes and tests a model of the relationship between EB implementation, buyer-supplier collaboration, and performance, using empirical data. Data has been collected from 154 companies within the German automotive industry. The novelty of this model is that it does not assume that an increase in collaboration and EB technology implementation automatically leads to improved performance. Moreover, it assumes and tests the effects of alignment between the degree of collaboration and level EB implementation on performance. Results indicate that EB infrastructure improves a firm''s performance indirectly through buyer-supplier collaboration. However, the degree of improvement depends on the level of alignment between EB infrastructure and buyer-supplier collaboration. These findings confirm the importance of measuring EB related performance impact within the context of buyer-supplier relationships.