| Information technology (IT) has increasingly been employed to perform interorganizational business activities. Internet, Electronic Data Exchange (EDI), and interorganizational information systems (IOS) have used for transacting products and services, exchanging information, and doing interactions among organizations.; The use of such information technologies contributes to build a tightly coupled relationship among organizations, which is called electronic cooperation. Based on the recognition of the importance of electronic cooperation, the present study examined the relationship between IT capabilities and electronic cooperation. The information technology examined was interorganizational information systems infrastructure (IOSI). Using an IT infrastructure framework, this study conceptualized IOSI as the shared IT resources among organizations and identified three IOSI dimensions based on its capabilities: technological, structural, and informational dimension. Using transaction costs theory and information-processing theory as theoretical foundations, the three IOSI dimensions were further divided into nine sub-dimensions and a theoretical model relating these IOSI sub-dimensions and electronic cooperation was developed.; The examination of the relationship between IOSI dimensions and electronic cooperation was conducted through structural equation modeling (SEM). A mailed-in survey with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted to collect data. The target population for data collection was IS managers in the manufacturing and retailing industries, since companies in these industries have used IOSI for the closer relationships with their partners.; The present study finds that IOSI capabilities determine the electronic cooperation between organizations. Especially structural and informational dimensions of IOSI are positively related with the joint decision-making and purchase/sales. However, the impact of technological dimension was found to be statistically insignificant. The findings of this study suggest that the two-step model will better explain the relationship between IOSI and electronic cooperation. In other words, instead of direct effects, the technological dimension will have indirect effects on electronic cooperation through influencing the structural and informational dimensions. In addition, there is a positive relationship between volumes and amount of sales and joint decision-making.; This study makes theoretical as well as empirical contributions to the literature. It addresses significant gaps in the literature and provides empirical evidence to support the solutions suggested in this study. Other contributions of the study are expected to provide guidelines for future research in both IS and supply chain management area, which examine the impacts of IT on interorganizational relationships. |
