Exploring the relationship between information sharing, information quality and customer integration: A contingency perspective

Customer integration is a fundamental principle of supply chain management, which is closely related to information sharing. However, there is little empirical research that draws linkages between these constructs. Furthermore, while information sharing offers great potential for customer integration, recent empirical evidence suggests that more information does not necessarily imply more value. Research should focus on contextual aspects and couple them with information sharing practices. More specifically, research should look at the quality of information as well. We address these gaps in the literature through the following research questions: 1) To what extent do information sharing and information quality impact upon customer integration, 2) To what extent is the relationship between information sharing and customer integration contingent upon information quality. The data was obtained through a survey of 228 manufacturing companies in the Republic of Ireland, and the data analysed using ordinary least square regression analyses.