THE IMPACT OF EDI IMPLEMENTATION COMMITMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESS ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Electronic Data Interchange Systems (EDI) are increasingly being used by business firms to improve operations and customer service. One of t he major motivations for business organizations using EDI is to gain a strategic advantage in the marketplace. Although EDI has been impleme nted by many organizations, unfortunately not all have gained the same level of expected advantage or envisioned benefits. In this study we focus on the impact of EDI implementation commitment and implementatio n success on competitive advantage and firm performance. We study two categories of companies: companies that initiate the development of ED I and are known as hub companies and those that are their non-hub coun terparts. Findings indicate that non-hub firms may not reap the same l evel of expected benefits resulting from EDI technology adoption and i mplementation as hub firms.