The impact of partnership attributes on EDI implementation success

The growing interest in the use of electronic data interchange (EDI) to revolutionize the way in which business conducts trading activities leads to research questions concerning the characteristics of electronic partnerships that promote implementation success. The research model in this study shows that partnership attributes affect EDI implementation, which has three dimensions: integration. utilization and diversity, and performance. Partnership attributes encompass partner trust, interdependence. and commitment. Results show that partner trust, interdependence, and commitment affect the extent to which companies undertake EDI integration and increase the percentage of EDI exchange and performance. This suggests that companies contemplating EDI should set-up compatible business processes and a high-quality partner relationship for implementation and performance. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.