| This research examines the role of information technologies in enhancing a firm's demand management (DM) agility. These impacts are being assessed for four types of IT applications (internal supply side, external supply side, internal demand side, and external demand side). Besides the direct impacts of IT applications we also assess the synergistic impact of corresponding business initiatives. The categorization of technologies and business initiatives into these four types is based on their functional nature, and their scope within the overall supply chain. Further, while speed of agility has been examined in prior research, this research goes a step forward by studying the role of information technology in enhancing the effectiveness of a firm's DM agility. To make it a comprehensive evaluation, both speed and effectiveness of DM agility are measured as a combination of three different dimensions---adaptive, entrepreneurial and responsive.;The results indicate complex dynamics for leveraging IT impacts. The study finds that different types of IT systems have different ways in which they impact DM agility. Also, the nature of their synergistic interaction with the corresponding business initiative varies according to the nature of the technology. The research has both academic and managerial implications. Academically, this is the first attempt to establish the empirical impacts of IT systems on agility within a firm's demand management process. Also, the empirical analysis includes effectiveness along with the speed of agility. Finally, we establish the impacts of agility on supply chain performance. The study also develops new managerial knowledge related to the impact of information technologies on responsiveness to changes in customer demand. The knowledge of the differences in the impacts of different IT systems, for example, will help managers leverage these IT systems appropriately and hence realize greater value. We present a detailed discussion of results and their implications. |
