Moderated Multiple Regression of Absorptive Capacity Attributes and Deployment Outcomes: The Importance of RFID IT Infrastructure Integration and Supply Chain Process Integration

In this study, the author examines organizations’ perceptions of the importance of absorptive capacity attributes in the deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) in a supply chain and their relationships with operational efficiency and market knowledge creation as moderated by information technology infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire administered online to members of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). Four proposed hypotheses were partially supported in this study. Both variables, IT infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration, moderate the relationships between three predictor variables, business process modularity, standard electronic business interfaces, and breadth of information exchange and the two dependent variables examined in this study, operational efficiency and market knowledge creation to a considerable extent. This study has clear implications for how decision makers affecting their firm’s supply chains should make a business case for robust IT elements that support both IT infrastructure integration and supply chain process integration.