Emotional Bonds as Promotors of IT Capability: A study of affective commitment in industrial business relationships

Authors

Cecilia Thilenius Lindh, Mälardalen University, VästeråsFollow
Emilia Rovira Nordman, Mälardalen University, VästeråsFollow

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prospective effect of affective commitment on relationship IT capability, and also investigate the role that relationship information exchange plays to support IT capability in industrial markets. Building on information systems research and business relationship research, a research model is developed and tested with LISREL on a sample of 353 customer-relationships of Swedish industrial firms. The results show that affective commitment in business relationships serves as a fundament that strengthens IT capability, when the exchange of information is important to a relationship. Interestingly enough, the LISREL-analysis provides empirical evidence that the effect of affective commitment on IT capability is mediated by information exchange in business relationships, but that the path from affective commitment to IT capability is not significant. Well-functioning information exchange systems are, thus, vital for affective commitment to impact IT capabilities in business relationship settings. This finding contributes with new knowledge about the role of emotions as prerequisites of IT capability development in the interfirm business relationships of industrial firms. The results highlight the importance of emotional bonds to support the development of interfirm IT capability

Recommended Citation

Thilenius Lindh, Cecilia and Rovira Nordman, Emilia (2020) "Emotional Bonds as Promotors of IT Capability: A study of affective commitment in industrial business relationships," Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems: Vol. 32: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/sjis/vol32/iss1/4