IOS Resources, Electronic Cooperation and Performance: A Conceptual Model

In today´s rapidly changing and highly competitive operating contexts, businesses are increasingly seeking cooperative, long-term inter-organizational relationships. Inter-organizational systems (IOS) are major enablers of inter-organizational cooperation. Drawing upon transaction costs economics theory and resource-based view as the theoretical frames, this study presents electronic cooperation value model, suggesting electronic cooperation as an intermediary/mediator between IOS resources and competitive advantage. In this study, technological and human IOS resources are investigated as predictors of electronic cooperation. Examined are four key dimensions of electronic cooperation including information sharing, action simplicity, joint action, and continuity. Electronic cooperation value model would be useful to both research and practice since the model explains how and why IOS resources contribute to electronic cooperation, which in turn, leads to competitive advantage.