Tài liệu The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE This article was downloaded by: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] On: 24 January 2011 Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 907466557] Publisher Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37- 41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Production Planning & Control Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713737146 The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain K. W. Green Jr a ; D. Whitten b ; R. A. Inman c a School of Business, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia b Information and Operations Management Department, Texas A&M University, Mays School of Business, TX 77843 c College of Administration and Business, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272 Online publication date: 22 October 2010 To cite this Article Green Jr, K. W. , Whitten, D. and Inman, R. A.(2007) 'The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain', Production Planning & Control, 18: 4, 274 — 282 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/09537280701243926 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537280701243926 Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Production Planning & Control, Vol. 18, No. 4, June 2007, 274–282 The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain K. W. GREEN Jr*y, D. WHITTENz and R. A. INMANx ySchool of Business, Henderson State University, Box 7762, Arkadelphia, AR 71999 zInformation and Operations Management Department, Texas A&M University, Mays School of Business, Mailstop 4217, College Station, TX 77843 xCollege of Administration and Business, Louisiana Tech University, PO Box 10318, Ruston, LA 71272 Information produced by ERP systems is termed JIT-information, since it is provided at the right time in the right place with a minimum of waste. The JIT-information construct is defined and described and a measurement scale is developed. A JIT-information performance model is proposed and assessed using a structural equation modelling methodology. The results indicate that the model fits the data well: (1) supply chain management strategy positively impacts JIT-information, (2) JIT-information directly impacts both logistics and organisational performance, and (3) logistics performance directly impacts organisational performance. Keywords: JIT systems; Information systems; Supply chain management; Structural equation modelling 1. Introduction Organisations that adopt a supply chain management strategy (SCMS) are implementing enterprise resourc e planning (ERP) information systems as a part of the supply chain infrastructure. When successfully imple- mented, ERP systems provide the necessary operational, tactical, and strategic information to supply chain partners on a just-in-time basis. For the purposes of this study, the seamless, real-time information provided by ERP systems is termed JIT-information (JIT-I), because quality information is made available to users in the right quantities at the right place, at the right time, and because ERP systems are designed to remove waste from the information generation process. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of SCMS on JIT-I and JIT-I on logistics performance and organisational performance. Does the seamless, real-time information (JIT-I) emanating from ERP systems improve logistics performance and organisa- tional performance as expected? We theorise a JIT-I performance model that incorporates: 1. SCMS as an antecedent to JIT-I. 2. JIT-I as directly impacting supply chain performance. 3. Logistics performance as directly impacting orga- nisational performance. 4. JIT-I as directly impacting organisational performance. Using a traditional two-wave mailing methodology, data were collected from 142 manufacturers who primarily work as plant and operations managers and used to assess the proposed model. A review of the literature and discussion of the study hypotheses follow in the next section. A discussion of the methodology employed in the study is then presented followed by a description of the results of the scale assessment and the structural equation model- ling results. Finally, a conclusions section, which *Corresponding author. Email: greenk@hsu.edu Production Planning and Control ISSN 0953–7287 print/ISSN 1366–5871 online ß 2007 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/09537280701243926 Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 incorporates discussions of the contributions of the study, limitations of the study, suggestions for future related research, and implications for practising managers. 2. Literature review and hypotheses According to Vokurka and Lummus (2000), low cost, high quality, and improved responsiveness are three strategic imperatives that have evolved over the last century. Vokurka and Lummus (2000) further describe how adoption of the JIT philosophy and associated practices can balance these strategies within supply chains. Wisner et al. (2005, p. 208) describe JIT as a philosophy ‘encompassing continuous problem solving to eliminate waste’. Davy et al. (1992, p. 655) expand the definition to include ‘the full utilisation of people, equipment, materials and parts’. JIT strategies, therefore, focus on the elimination of waste and the full utilisation of resources. Although JIT was originally focused on the production function within manufacturing plants, it has expanded to include the production, purchasing, and sales functions as well (Claycomb et al. 1999b, Green and Inman 2005). Olhager (2002) and Vokurka and Lummus (2000) emphasise that this external extension of the JIT philosophy to include suppliers and customers requires that information be openly shared among channel members. Claycomb et al. (1999b) go so far as to state that, ‘JIT integrates the entire supply chain’s market ing, distribution, customer service, purchasing, and produc- tion functions into one controlled process’. Siau and Tian (2004) describe three generations of ERP systems. The first generation focused on single- company, single-site implementations. The second extended the system to include multiple sites of a single organisation. Third generation ERP systems incorporate multiple sites and multiple companies. With the third generation, the focus has shifted from internal efficiencies to the integration and coordination of mult iple organisations within a supply chain (Siau and Tian 2004). Third generation ERP systems serve as a prim ary enabler of successful supply chain manage- ment (Vokurka and Lummus 2000, Siau and Tian 2004,) by providing the infrastructure necessary for the required sharing of information across the entire supply chain. Implementation of supply chain manage- ment strategies requires that organisations within supply chains mutually and openly share information with both suppliers and customers (Morash and Clinton 1997, Vokurka and Lummus 2000, Mentzer et al. 2001). Well designed and successfully implemented ERP systems supply operational, tactical, and strategic information to all supply ch ain members (Morash and Clinton 1997, Siau and Tian 2004). Rajagopal (2002) aptly describes the value of ERP systems as providing ‘one single information’ that is available to all supply chain members. This ‘one single information’ is accessed seamlessly (Siau and Tian 2004) in real-time (Gefen and Ragowskyrik 2005). Competition at the supply chain level requires integration of all chain partners. Operational, tactical, and strategic information accessed seamlessly and in real-time enables this desired end-to-end connectivity (Rajagopal 2002). The seamless, real-time characteristics of third gen- eration ERP systems support the provision of quality information to supply chain partners in the right form , in the right place, and at the right time. Customer demand for information is no longer requir ed to work its way from the customer sequentially through multiple information systems to retailers, to wholesalers, to manufacturers, to suppliers, resulting in time delays and distortion (Cigolini et al. 2004). Today, customer information is entered directly into the supply chain database and is accessible by all members of the supply chain. The JIT philosophy requires that waste be eradicated from all supply chain processes (Vokurka and Lummus 2000). Third generation ERP systems were developed and designed to eliminate the time delays and distortion pointed out by Cigolini et al. (2004). It stands to reason then that information supplied by ERP systems may be labelled as JIT-information. The systems drive waste from the information generating processes within the supply chain and provide quality information on a JIT basis (right-form, right-place, right-time). 2.1 Construct definitions Wisner (2003, p. 7) described a supply chain manage- ment strategy as ‘ideally a linkage of internally-focused, mature, and successful supplier/customer-oriented cap- abilities throughout the supply chain’s members’. The objectives of such a strategy are to provide the supply chain’s final customers with the quantity and quality of goods and services at the precise time desired by the customers. ERP systems are implemented with the primary aim of generating JIT-information for supply chain partners. JIT-information is, therefore, defined as information generated by ERP systems that is seamlessly shared among manufacturers, suppliers, and customers on a real-time basis throughout the full extension of the supply chain (Vokurka and Lummus 2000, Olhager 2002, Rajagopal 2002, Wisner 2003). Logistics performance captures a measure of performance external (manufacturer/supplier) to the The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain 275 Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 manufacturing firm. Firms operating within high performing supply chains exhibit high levels of logistics performance (Bowersox et al. 2000). Logistics performance incorporates customer service, quality, and productivity related to the delivery of goods to customers (Bowersox et al. 2000). Organisational performance encompasses both finan- cial and marketing performance at the firm level (Green and Inman 2005). Financial performance focuses on a firm’s return on investment, return on sales, and profitability as compared to its competition. The marketing performance component compares the firm’s sales volume, sales growth, and market share as compared to its competition. 2.2 Hypotheses The top managers of US manufacturing organisations believe that supply chain management is critical to the success of their individual organisations (Patterson et al. 2004). Successful supply chain management requires significant integration of all supply chain partners (Ho et al. 2002, Siau and Tian 2004), and this integration is enabled with information supplied on a JIT-basis (Vokurka and Lummus 2000, Rajagopal 2002). Patterson et al. (2004, p. 6) go so far as to describe information technology as the ‘crux of modern supply chain management’. Firms that adopt a supply chain management strategy must, therefore, necessarily develop enabling information systems. H1: A supply chain management strategy is positively associated with the development of JIT-information. The empirical work by Claycomb et al. (1999b) alludes to a link between implementation of a total JIT system with logistics performance. They found that firms implementing JIT-purchasing, JIT-production, and JIT-selling as an integrated strategy reduced out-bound (logistics-related) inventory levels. JIT- information as described facilitates this necessary collaboration and integration resulting in improved logistics performance. Hypothesis 2 follows from the theoretical justification and empirical evidence. H2: JIT-information is positively associated with logistics performance. Organisational strategies that support supply chain strategies should strengthen the competitive position of the supply chain which, in turn, enhances performance of each of the individual supply chain partners. Although no empirically tested measure of supply chain performance was found, logistics performance focuses outside the manufacturing function on the manufacturer/customer relationshi p, and, as Bowersox et al. (2000) describe it, logistics performance is a reflection of supp ly chain superiority. Based upon the theoretical justification, hypothesis 3 is stated as follows: H3: Logistics performance is positively associated with organisational performance. ERP systems produce integrated information that is seamlessly available in real-time to all supply chain participants. This seamless, integrated, real-time infor- mation supports decision making at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels. ERP systems are designed to eliminate waste associ ated with the local development and sequential movement of information through a supply chain from organ isation to organisation. In essence, ERP systems provide infor mation on a JIT basis. While JIT-I has not been specifically studied, JIT strategies, such as JIT-manufacturing, JIT-purchasing and JIT-selling, have been found to improve organisa- tional performance (Inman and Mehra 1993, Germain and Dro ¨ ge 1997, Germain and Dro ¨ ge 1998, Claycomb et al. 1999a, b, Brox and Fader 2002, Kinney and Wempe 2002, Green and Inman 2005). Considering that waste is eliminated from the information generat ing processes within the supply chain, Stratman and Roth (2002) hypothesise that ERP competence is an antecedent to improved business performance. They further identify integration with suppliers and customers, enabled by the availability of JIT-I, as measures of improved business performance. Other benefits of ERP implementation have been found to include reduced direct operating costs, lower inven- tory levels and improved cash flow management (Mabert et al. 2003), enhanced cross-functional coordi- nation (Rajagopal 2002), better managed inventories resulting from integration, coordination, and colla- boration fostered by the availability of information (Vokurka and Lummus 2000), quick response to changes in customer demand facilitated by resulting accurate and timely information (Cigolini et al. 2004), and internal cost savings in functional areas such as warehousing, manufacturing, and accounting via the adoption of information technologies (Patterson et al. 2004). This empirical evidence theoretically justifies hypothesis 4. H4: JIT-information is positively associated with organisational performance. 3. Methodology Plant and operations managers working for large US manufacturers were surveyed using a traditional initial 276 K. W. Green Jr et al. Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 and follow-up mailing procedure. Plant and operations managers were targeted because of their particular knowledge related to manufacturing, purchasing, sell- ing, and information related processes within their organisations. A mailing of 1600 packets resulted in 18 returned due to bad addresses. Further, 121 ‘non-participating’ forms were returned. One hundred and forty-two manufacturers responded with completed instruments for a response rate of 9.7%. All of the respondents indicated that they worked for manufactur- ing organisations. Sixty-two percent of the respondents identified themselves specifically as plant or ope rations managers. An additional 15% held purchasing and inventory management positions. Nineteen specific manufacturing SIC codes were identified. Respondents represented 33 different states. The response rate is not atypical of that obtained in industrial research (Harmon et al . 2002). Other report ed response rates under similar circumstances are: 7.5% (Nahm et al. 2003, Nahm et al. 2004), 9.6% (Mabert et al. 2003), 10.8% (Harmon et al. 2002), and 6.7% (Tan et al. 2002). While manufacturing managers are the prime source for supply chain management related data, they are often under severe time and resource constraints. Non-response bias was assessed using a common approach described by Lambert and Harrington (1990) in which the responses of early and late respondents are compared. Fifty-four percent (77) of the study respon- dents were categorised as early respondents and 46% (65) were categorised as late respondents. A comparison of the means of the descriptive variables and the scale items for the two groups was conducted using one-way ANOVA. With one exception, the comparisons resulted in statistically non-significant differences. The exception was for an item in the logistics performance scale that was ultimately eliminated during the assessment for unidimensionality. Because non-respondents have been found to descriptively resemble late respondents (Armstrong and Overton 1977), this finding of general equality between early and late respondents supports the conclusion that non-response bias is not a major concern. When data for the independent and dependent variables are collected from single informants, common method bias may lead to inflated estimates of the relationshi ps between the variables (Podsakoff and Organ 1986). Harman’s one-factor test was used post hoc to examine the extent of the potential bias. Substantial common method variance is signalled by the emergence of either a single factor or one ‘general’ factor that explains a majority of the total variance (Podsakoff and Organ 1986). Results of the factor analysis revealed six factors, whi ch combined to account for 73% of the total variance. While the first factor accounted for 33% of the total variance, it did not account for a majority of the variance. Based upon these results, problems associated with common method bias are not considered significant. 4. Results 4.1 Measurement of constructs Because JIT-I has not been previously measured, it was necessary to develop a new two-factor, multi-item scale. Seventeen items were developed from a careful analysis of the related literature. The first eight items focus on the seamless, real-time characteristics of JIT-I and were primarily developed from descriptions provided by Vokurka and Lummus (2000). The last nine items focus on the integration characteristic of JIT-I and were derived from the works of Wisner (2003), Olhager (2002), Freeland (1991) and Rajagopal (2002). A 12-item scale developed by Wisner (2003) was used to measure supply chain management strategy. Respondents were asked to indicate the importance of the listed issues and concerns to their organisation’s supply chain efforts. Logistics performance was mea- sured using a 13-item scale developed by Bowersox et al. (2000). Respondents were asked to rate their organis a- tion’s performance compared to that of their competi- tors on the performance metrics relat ed to custom er service, cost management, quality, productivity, and asset management performance metrics. A previously used two-factor, seven-item organisational performance scale (Green and Inman 2005) assessed both the financial and marketing performance of the organisation. Quality measurement scales must exhibit content validity, unidimensionality, reliability, discriminant validity, convergent validity, and predictive validity. Since the SCMS, supply chain performance, and organisational performance scales were taken directly from prior research (Bowersox et al. 2000, Wisner 2003, Green and Inman 2005), content validity is assumed. Items for the JIT-I scale were gleaned from a careful review of the literature to ensure content validity. Unidimensionality was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis as recommended by Gerbing and Anderson (1988). Re-specification of the JIT-I, supply chain strategy, and logistics performance scales was necessary to achieve sufficient dimensionality. JIT-I was assessed as a two factor scale and subsequently reduced to nine items, the supp ly chain strategy scale was reduced from 13 to seven items, and the logistics performance scale from 13 to six items. The organisational The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain 277 Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 performance scale was assessed as a two factor scale (Green and Inman 2005). Generally, items with standardised coefficients less than 0.70 and items that contributed to standardised residuals with values greater than 3.00 or less than À3.00 were deleted (Raykov and Marcoulides 2000). The scales and factors, as re-specified, yielded Goodness-of-fit index (GFI) values greater than 0.90 (Ahire et al. 1996), non-normed-fit index (NNFI) and comparative-fit index values great er than 0.90 (Garver and Mentzer 1999), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) values between 0.05 and 0.08 (Garver and Mentzer 1999), indicating sufficient unidimensionality. Scale items remaining after re-specification are identified in table 1. Alpha and construct-reliability values greater than or equal to 0.70 and a variance-extracted measure of 0.50 or greater indicate sufficient scale or factor reliability (Garver and Mentzer 1999). The alpha, constr uct- reliability, and variance-extracted values for each of the re-specified scales and factors exceeded the recom- mended values indicating sufficient reliability. Table 1. Measurement scales. JIT-information Please indicate the extent to which agree or disagree with each statement (1 ¼ strongly disagree, 7 ¼ strongly agree). 1. We are able to more quickly respond to customer needs by sharing information with our suppliers. 2. Information flows seamlessly between the suppliers, manufacturers and customers in our supply chain. 3. We openly share information with our suppliers and customers. 4. Our suppliers and customers openly share information with us. 5. The information shared by participants (suppliers, manufacturers and customers) in our supply chain is available on a real-time basis. 6. Our customers make inventory and sales information visible to us on a real-time basis. 7. Visibility of customer inventory and sales information has allowed us to quickly replenish customer’ inventories with precise quantities at precise locations at precise times. 8. Information distortion is minimized throughout our supply chain through quick, frequent and accurate information transfer among supply chain members. 9. As a part of our supply chain management efforts, we have worked to develop an information system that is compatible with the systems of our suppliers and customers. Supply chain management strategy Please indicate the importance of each of the following issues/concerns to your organisation’s supply chain management efforts (1 ¼ low importance, 7 ¼ high importance 1. Reducing response times across the supply chain. 2. Searching for new ways to integrate SCM activities. 3. Creating a greater level of trust throughout the supply chain. 4. Identifying and participating in additional supply chains. 5. Establishing more frequent contact with supply chain members. 6. Involving all supply chain members in your firm’s product/service marketing plans. 7. Communicating your firm’s future strategic needs to suppliers. Organisational performance Please rate your organisation’s performance in each of the following areas as compared to the industry average (1 ¼ well below industry average, 2 ¼ well above industry average) 1. Average return on investment over the past three years. 2. Average profit over the past three years. 3. Profit growth over the past three years. 4. Average return on sales over the past three years. 5. Average market share growth over the past three years. 6. Average sales volume growth over the past three years. 7. Average sales (in dollars) growth over the past three years. Logistics performance Please rate your company’s performance in each of the following areas as compared to the performance of your competitors (1 ¼ much worse than competition, 7 ¼ much better than competition) 1. Customer satisfaction. 2. Delivery speed. 3. Delivery dependability. 4. Responsiveness. 5. Delivery flexibility. 6. Order fill capacity. 278 K. W. Green Jr et al. Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 Convergent validity was assessed using the normed-fit index coefficient as recommended by Ahire et al. (1996) with values greater than 0.9 indicating strong validity. The NFI for each of the scales exceeds the 0.90 level indicating sufficient convergent validity. Discriminant validity was using a chi-square difference test for each pair of scales under consideration, with a statistically significant difference in chi-squares indicating validity (Ahire et al. 1996, Gerbing and Anderson 1988, Garver and Mentzer 1999). All possible pairs of the study scales were subjected to chi-square difference tests with each pairing producing a statistically significant difference indicating sufficient discriminant validity. Predictive validity was assessed by determining whether the scales of interest correlate as expected wi th other measures (Ahire et al. 1996, Garver and Mentzer 1999). A review of the correlation matrix (table 2) for the study values supports claims of predictive validity for each study variable. The study variables are positively correlated with the coefficients significant at the 0.01 level. 4.2 Structural equation modelling results Summary values for the study variables were computed by averaging across the items in the scales. Descriptive statistics and the correlation matrix for the summary variables are presented in table 2. All correlation coefficients are positive and significant at the 0.01 level. Figure 1 illustrates the model with the structural equation modelling results specified in the LISREL 8.7 output. The relative chi-square (chi-square/degrees of freedom) value of 1.25 is less than the 3.00 maximum recommended by Kline (1998). The root mean square error of approximation (0.04) is below the recommended maximum of 0.08 (Schumacker and Lomax 1996) and values for NFI (0.98), GFI (0.99), and adjusted-GFI (0.96) all exceed the recommended 0.90 level indicating good fit (Schumacker and Lomax 1996). In addition to an overall good fit for the model, all study hypotheses are supported by the standardised estimates and associated t-values. The relationship between SCMS and JIT-I (hypothesis 1) is significant at the 0.01 level with an estimate of 0.50 and t-value of 6.28. The estimate of 0.38 for the relationship between JIT-I and logistics performance (hypothesis 2) is significant at the 0.01 level with a t-value of 4.90. The relationship between logistics perfor mance and organi- sational performance (hypothesis 3) is significant at the 0.05 level with an estimate of 0.18 and t-val ue of 2.14 indicating significance at the 0.05 level. The relationship between JIT-I and organisational performance is sig- nificant at the 0.01 level with a standardised estimate of 0.26 and an associated t-value of 3.10. As theorised, a supply chain management strategy is antecedent to the provision of JIT-information to all supply chain partners. Further, the provision of JIT-information leads to improved logistics Table 2. Descriptive statistics and correlations. Mean Standard deviation Skewness Kurtosis A. Descriptive statistics (n ¼ 142) Supply chain management strategy (SCMS) 5.03 1.08 À0.542 0.724 JIT-information (JIT-I) 3.84 1.20 0.128 À0.550 Logistics performance (LP) 5.42 0.88 À0.915 1.250 Organisational performance (OP) 4.60 1.15 À0.234 À0.041 B. Correlation matrix (n ¼ 142) SCMS JIT-I LP OP SCMS 1.000 JIT-I 0.495** 1.000 LP 0.276** 0.381** 1.000 OP 0.242** 0.331** 0.281** 1.000 **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed). Logistics performance Financial/marketing performance Just-in-time information 0.38 (4.90**) 0.18 (2.14*) 0.26 (3.10**) 0.50 (6.28**) Supply chain management strategy Figure 1. Theorized JIT-information performance model with standardised estimates and (t-values). Relative chi- square ¼ 1.25; chi-square P -value ¼ 0.29; GFI ¼ 0.99; RMSEA ¼ 0.04. **Significant at 0.01 level; *Significant at 0.05 level. The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain 279 Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 performance and organisational performance, and logistics performance is also shown to impact organisa- tional performance. 5. Conclusions The JIT-information structural model achieved ‘good- fit’ status and support was found for all study hypotheses. Adoption of a supply chain management strategy necessitates development of an information systems infrastructure capable of providing JIT-infor- mation to all supply chain partners. The availability of such seaml ess, real-time information positively impacts organisational performance both directly and indirectly through logistics performance. While the objectives of the study were successfully accomplished, limitations of the study should be noted. A survey methodology was used that resulted in a relatively low response rate raising concerns of potential non- response bias. Although the two waves of responses were compared and no evidence of bias was noted, a more direct assessment of the potential bias utilising data from a third wave and an intensive follow- up on non-respondents would have strengthened the study. Because responses related to both the dependent and independen t variables were collected from the same individual, the potential for common method bias was a concern. While subsequent testing for the bias relieved the concern, collection of the strategy and performance data from separate sources would also have strength- ened the study. Of the scales used, only the organisational perfor- mance scale s had bee n previously subjected to a thorough assessment of unidimensionality, reliability and validity. The JIT-information scale was newly developed, and the supply chain management strategy and logistics performance scales were necessarily re-specified to achieve unidimensional ity leaving these scales with somewhat fewer items that originally specified (Bowersox et al. 2000, Wisner 2003). Such re-specification may result in the loss of items important to the definition of the original construct. It was determined, however, that the importance of using uni-dimensional scales overrode this concern. As Mabe rt et al. (2003) found, small, medium, and large manufacturers have adopted ERP systems capable of meeting the information needs of supply chain partners. They found that firm size significantly impacted why and how firms implemented ERP systems and in the benefits that firms accrued following the implementation. This study focused only on relatively large US manufacturers. Noting the differences based on firm size found by Mabert et al. (2003), generalising the findings of this study to small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms should be done with caution. The narrow focus on relative ly large manufacturers points to the need to survey both small- and medium- sized manufacturing firms. Further, since the da ta analysed were collected from manufacturers, the results support implementation of the JIT-information perfor- mance model in a manufacturing context. Supply chain management is a strategic initiative that has application in the service and governmental sectors as well as the manufacturing sector. All sectors have the need for seamless, real-time information provided on a JIT basis. Because of the fundamental differences in the sectors specifically in terms of how production processes are designed and how performance is measured, it is not possible, based upon the reported results, to generalise the efficacy of a JIT-information strategy to these other sectors. Future research in the service and governmental sectors is recommended. JIT-information is made available through the successful implementation and operation of enterprise resource systems. Such ERP systems are very expensive to design, implement, and maintain and the benefits are difficult to identify precisely. 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Sci., 2002, 33(4), 601–628. Tan, K.C., Lyman, S.B. and Wisner, J.D., Supply chain management: A strategic perspective. Int. J. Oper. Prod. Manage., 2002, 22(6), 614–631. Vokurka, R.J. and Lummus, R.R., The role of just-in-time in supply chain management. Int. J. Logist. Manage., 2000, 11(1), 89–98. Wisner, J.D., A structural equation model of supply chain management strategies and firm performance. J. Bus. Logist., 2003, 24(1), 1–26. Wisner, J.D., Leong, G.K. and Tan, K., Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach, 2005 (Southwestern: United States). The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain 281 Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 Kenneth W. Green Jr is Associate Professor of Management at Henderson State University. He has published papers in International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Industrial Management and Data Systems and Journal of Computer Information Systems. Dwayne Whitten is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Information Systems in the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University. His main research interests include IT outsourcing, IT security, and supply chain efficiency. He has published in several business and information systems related journals including the Harvard Business Review, European Journal of Information Systems, Decision Sciences Journal, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Communications of the AIS, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Industrial Management and Data Systems, Journal of International Technology and Information Management, International Journal of Mobile Communications, International Journal of Electronic Healthcare and International Journal of Human Resources Management. R. Anthony Inman is Ruston Building and Loan Professor of Management at Louisiana Tech University. He has published papers in Decision Sciences, Interfaces, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Production and Inventory Management Journal, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Production Planning and Control and International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management. 282 K. W. Green Jr et al. Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Korea Maritime University] At: 02:09 24 January 2011 . G.K. and Tan, K., Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach, 2005 (Southwestern: United States). The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain. papers in International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal,. capable of providing JIT-infor- mation to all supply chain partners. The availability of such seaml ess, real-time information positively impacts organisational performance both directly and indirectly