Many firms operate in the belief that IT investments will increase their profit. However, can every firm benefit from IT investments? Will IT investments enhance all aspects of performance? This study seeks to empirically investigate the moderating effects of firm size on the relationship between the level of IT adoption and three performance levels, operational, financial, and strategic, in a context of apparel supply chain.
Using Dillman's (2000) mail survey method, a mail survey was sent out to 1,500 US apparel manufacturing companies and 113 usable data were analyzed.
The results indicated that firm size was a significant moderator variable for operational (lead time), but not strategic and financial performance. Specifically, large firms' operational performance increased after IT adoption.
All IT investment cannot be assumed to be made with equal effectiveness. The same level of adoption or investment does not guarantee the same results. If management wants to harness the IT's full potential, they should take the firm characteristics into account when deciding on a particular IT investment.
This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that a single measure of firm performance is too broad and should be assessed with various measures. This study also provides additional proof that IT is unlikely to produce positive effects independent of its context of implementation and use.
