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A Theory of Constraints approach to interorganizational systems implementation

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Abstract

Interorganizational systems (IOS) may provide substantial benefits, however many organizations are reluctant to implement them. This empirical research takes a novel approach and develops a model of IOS feasibility, which is based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC). It introduces the notion of maximal infeasibility, which is the highest among the values of five factors: economic infeasibility, organizational infeasibility, technological infeasibility, risks, and lack of financial resources. The highest value was selected because implementation is hindered even if only one of the feasibility requirements is not fulfilled. Data collected from 139 medium and large Israeli business organizations validated the model, and indicated that strategic motivation is the main driving force for an organization to initiate or to join an IOS, while the main barriers are organizational infeasibility issues such as lack of management support or uninterested potential partners. Adopting a TOC approach to IOS implementation may assist organizations to overcome these obstacles and increase the chance of a successful implementation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Management and Economics, The Open University of Israel, 108 Ravutski Street, P. O. Box 808, Raanana, 43107, Israel

    Nitza Geri

  2. The Marko and Lucie Chaoul Chair for Studies in Information Evaluation, Academic Director of Netvision Institute for Internet Studies, Faculty of Management, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

    Niv Ahituv

Authors
  1. Nitza Geri
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  2. Niv Ahituv
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Correspondence to Nitza Geri.

Additional information

An earlier shorter version of this paper was presented at WEB 2006, a pre-ICIS workshop on e-business, in Milwaukee, WI.

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Geri, N., Ahituv, N. A Theory of Constraints approach to interorganizational systems implementation. Inf Syst E-Bus Manage 6, 341–360 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-007-0075-8

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