Trust, dependence and interorganizational systems

Abstract

Organizations form interorganizational relationships and utilize information technology to improve performance. This thesis discusses the influences of dependence and different types of trust on the use of interorganizational systems and subsequently the attainment of strategic benefits. The findings indicate that dependence can influence efforts of individuals, internal business-processes and knowledge repositories. The findings also indicate that when trust is based on perceptions of competence or reliability, organizations customize efforts of individuals and their internal processes to match the business partner. When trust is based on perceptions of openness, the organizations customize efforts of individuals and their knowledge repositories instead. This thesis also discusses how the different types of resources facilitate the attainment of strategic benefits. The findings indicate that organizations need to combine their resources to achieve successful information exchange. The successful interlinkage of business-processes and the successful sharing of knowledge positively influence the attainment of strategic benefits