PurposeUsing dynamic capability theory, this study investigates how information technology (IT) support affects firms' online and offline cross-channel integration (CCI). In addition, it applies institutional theory to examine how the relationships between IT support and CCI are moderated by firms' institutional environments.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 308 firms in China that conduct business in online and offline channels was empirically tested through hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsThe results showed two types of IT support facilitated CCI: IT support for strategy and IT support for process. The relationship between IT support for process and CCI was stronger than that between IT support for strategy and CCI. The results further indicated institutional environment (i.e. dysfunctional competition and government support) played differing roles in these effects, such that the relationship between IT support for strategy and CCI was significantly weakened by dysfunctional competition yet enhanced by government support. However, neither dysfunctional competition nor government support had a significant moderating role in the relationship between IT support for process and CCI.Originality/valueThis study identifies different IT support types as antecedents of CCI. It is also one of the earliest attempts to explore the influence of institutional environment on the relationship between IT support and CCI.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of WeChat public platforms (abbreviated as WPP) on blood donation behavior using data from the platforms’ backend and information system.Design/methodology/approachFirst, this paper established a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to evaluate the change before and after following the WPP under normal scenarios. The difference-in-difference-in-difference (DDD) method was further used to analyze the heterogeneous effects of gender, age, occupation and education. Second, a logit model was used to examine the impact of WPP on blood donation behavior under emergency scenarios (i.e. COVID-19).FindingsThe research shows that following WPP has a positive impact on donation volume. For each donor, the average blood donation volume after following WPP increased by 12.94% compared to before following. The WPP has a greater impact on groups with males, medical staff, middle-aged individuals and those with primary school education. Following WPP also enhanced blood donation behavior in emergency scenarios. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the probability of fans donating blood was 2.6% higher than non-fans, and the average blood donation volume of fans was 7.04% higher than non-fans, which was 5.9% lower than in normal scenarios.Originality/valueFor theory, this paper quantified the impact of WPP on blood donation behavior in normal and emergency scenarios and addressed the research gap surrounding the impact exerted by social media on blood donation behavior. For methodology, the time-varying DID model, DDD model and logit model were applied to the field of blood donation, which expanded the application scenarios. For practice, the findings are of great significance for recruiting blood donors and providing evidence for promotion on WPP.

PurposeWith the rapid development of cloud computing, most software firms face the significant choice of whether they should change the versioning strategy of enterprise software from releasing the on-premise version to the software-as-a-service (SaaS) version. Data being generated and hosted on SaaS vendors' servers brings multiple effects. It enables customers to enjoy the flexibility of accessing data and using the software remotely, named the “portability” effect. However, on the other hand, the cumulative data resources on the cloud also provide a clear target for external attacks, leading to the concern of information security. Considering these, the authors hope to offer insights for software firms by exploring the strategy selection problem.Design/methodology/approachTaking the portability effect and security risks of the SaaS licensing model into account, the authors develop a two-period model to figure out the market segmentation and identify the feasible conditions for employing three alternative strategies. Comparative statics analyses are conducted to explore the influencing mechanism of exogenous factors on strategy selection. The authors also discuss the strategy selection in the presence of the network effect and the security loss faced by users of on-premise software.FindingsOne significant finding is that the on-premise strategy can be excluded when the potential loss from security risks is small. Under this circumstance, the dual version strategy is optimal provided that the increase of customer valuation caused by portability effect is below a threshold. Otherwise, the SaaS strategy generates the highest profit. When the potential loss from security risks turns large, the on-premise strategy, the dual version strategy and the SaaS strategy are the optimal options in order as the portability effect on customer valuation gets stronger.Originality/valuePrevious literature has insufficiently addressed the versioning issue of enterprise software. In this paper, the distinctive features of the SaaS model are considered, and differentiated results compared with previous work are obtained. The research results provide guidelines for software firms in deciding their product releases in the future.

PurposeThe paper aims to build a customized hybrid multi-criteria model to identify the top three utilities of drones at both personal and community levels for two use cases: firefighting in high-rise buildings and logistic support.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid multi-criterion model that integrates fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP), Best Worst, fuzzy analytical network process (ANP), fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) is used to compute the criteria weights. The weights are validated by a novel ensemble ranking technique further whetted by experts at the community and personal levels to two use cases.FindingsDrones' fire handling and disaster recovery utilities are the most important to fight fire in high-rise buildings at both personal and community levels. Similarly, drones' urban planning, municipal works and infrastructure inspection utilities are the most important for providing logistics support at personal and community levels.Originality/valueThe paper presents a novel multi-criteria approach, i.e. ensemble ranking, by combining the criteria ranking of individual methods – fuzzy AHP, Best-Worst, fuzzy ANP and fuzzy DEMATEL – in the ratio of optimal weights to each technique to generate the consolidated ranking. Domain experts also validate this ranking for robustness. This paper demonstrates a viable methodology to quantify the utilities of drones and their capabilities. The proposed model can be recalibrated for different use case scenarios of drones.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of cross-functional coordination (cross-functional system, process and team coordination) on customer coordination (customer strategic and operational coordination) and operational performance. Following the lens of information processing theory (IPT), this study examines the diverse mechanisms of cross-functional coordination practices in enhancing firms’ information processing capabilities (IPCs) to cope with the higher information processing demands resulting from customer coordination, finally improving operational performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 410 Chinese manufacturers, the authors use the structural equation modeling method to test the theoretical model.FindingsThe authors found that cross-functional system coordination is positively associated with customer operational coordination (COC) but not customer strategic coordination (CSC). Cross-functional process coordination increases both customer strategic and operational coordination. Cross-functional team coordination significantly promotes CSC but not COC. Both customer operational and strategic coordination facilitate operational performance.Originality/valueThis research pioneers in identifying three dimensions of cross-functional coordination based on IPT and examine their distinct impacts on various customer coordination activities. The authors distinguish two customer coordination dimensions and reveal their effects on operational performance. This research contributes to the development of IPT. Additionally, this study provides guidelines for managers to coordinate internal departments and collaborate with external customers to enhance firms’ operational performance.

PurposeThe authors develop a conceptual model to examine how three basic psychological needs (i.e. needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness) affect employee social media use (i.e. work- and social-related use). The authors propose that the need for autonomy positively moderates the relationship between need for competence and work-related use, whereas it negatively moderates that between need for relatedness and social-related use.Design/methodology/approachTo test the proposed model, 332 internal and 271 external social media users in the workplace were recruited.FindingsThe results indicate that needs for competence and autonomy and needs for relatedness and autonomy positively affect the work- and social-related use, respectively, of internal and external social media. Need for autonomy positively moderates the relationship between need for competence and work-related use of internal social media, and it negatively moderates that between need for relatedness and the social-related use of internal social media. Need for autonomy has no moderating effect on the relationship between need for competence and work-related use, whereas it negatively moderates the relationship between need for relatedness and the social-related use of external social media.Originality/valueFirst, the authors’ findings offer significant empirical support for the different social media uses, namely work and social related. Second, this study highlights the importance of psychological needs of employees in determining the form of social media use. Third, this study empirically demonstrates the differences in psychological needs and social media use between two different social media contexts.

Exploring the supply chain and organizational interfaces between performance measurement systems and modern digitization Introduction and background There is a substantially increasing amount of research on new information technologies and digitization in the context of Industry 4.0 and supply chain management. The integrated technology field in supply chain management, especially multi-stakeholder and interorganizational technology, has seen a large surge in the past decade.

PurposeThis study investigates both direct and moderation effects of two dimensions of contract control and information technology governance on platform participants' financial performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing data collected from 384 platform participants from China's two largest digital platforms, hierarchical regression is used to validate the conceptual model and hypotheses.FindingsThe empirical results show that contract completeness and information technology governance independently improved financial performance, while contract enforcement had an inverted U-shaped effect on financial performance. Furthermore, information technology governance amplified the positive effect of contract completeness, but not of contract enforcement, on financial performance.Originality/valueThis study advances the literature on partnership control by showing the interactive role of information technology governance and contract control. It also enriches research on information technology usage by revealing how information technology governance benefits business partnerships. Finally, it extends transaction cost theory by demonstrating that different dimensions of contracts have different effects on governing interfirm relationships.

PurposeThis study establishes a set of seafood processing circular supply chain capabilities (CSCCs) in Vietnam using qualitative data analytics. This study specifies the interrelationships and hierarchical structure comprising six aspects and 24 criteria for the seafood processing circular supply chain in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachFuzzy Delphi method is used to confirm the validity. Fuzzy set theory is used to deal with the complexity and uncertainties from the qualitative information. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is used to examine the interrelationships among attributes. The analytical network process segregates (or displays) the capabilities in a hierarchical structure.FindingsThe results show that management control and technological capability dominate in circular design, circular sourcing, circular production and resource recovery. In practices, the strategic planning, action planning, information technology and technological facilities are important to seafood processing industry.Originality/valueThe CSCCs are pivotal in establishing a concrete foundation for the execution of circular supply chain management, with the aim of optimizing resource utilization and eliminating waste; however, prior studies have lacked a focus on the capability associated interrelationships and hierarchical structure in qualitative data analytics.

PurposeSupply chain integration (SCI) is key to implementing omni-channel retailing (OCR) strategy. In this paper, the authors explore the role of digitalization as a driver of SCI, as well the role of human capital (HC) in digitalization, using a knowledge management (KM) perspective.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted using survey research. A sample of 188 omni-channel retailers in the Chinese market was analyzed using factor analysis and structured equation modeling (SEM) to examine the hypotheses presented in the conceptual model.FindingsThis study reveals that HC is positively related to the level of a firm's digitalization in OCR, and that digitalization is positively related to the retailer's SCI. Moreover, the authors found that employees' capital has a greater impact on digitalization than managers' capital, while digitalization has a stronger driving effect on internal and customer integration.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that although digitalization requires retailers to accept the long-term investment challenges, it has a significant positive effect on the key of OCR strategy implementation, i.e. SCI. The findings also provide evidence for the application of KM in OCR, as this theoretical lens enriches our understanding of the phenomena of SCI in OCR and provides explanation to our results by linking digitalization and HC.Originality/valueDigitalization is quantified and examined in OCR. Moreover, this study reveals the importance of HC on the implementation of digitalization and the different effects of digitalization on each dimension of SCI.