Contextual ambidexterity of an interorganizational relationship (IOR) is the ability of its management system to align partners' activities and resources for short-term goals and adapt partners' cognitions and actions for long-term viability. It is an alternative to structural ambidexterity in which separate units of the IOR pursue short- and long-term goals. We theorize that when utilized to coordinate the IOR, information technology (IT)-enabled operations and sensemaking, along with interdependent decision making, promote the IOR's contextual ambidexterity. We test our hypotheses on both sides of a customer-vendor relationship using data collected from (1) the account executives of one of the world's largest supply chain vendors (<i>n</i> = 76) and (2) its customers (<i>n</i> = 238). We find commonalities and differences in the influence coordination mechanisms have on contextual ambidexterity from the vendor's and the customer's perspectives. For both customers and vendors, contextual ambidexterity improves the quality and performance of the relationship, and decision interdependence promotes contextual ambidexterity. For customers, using operations support systems (OSSs) and interpretation support systems (ISSs) enhances contextual ambidexterity. For vendors, the impact of both OSS use and ISS use on contextual ambidexterity depends on the duration of the relationship. Our study shows that IT-enabled operations and sensemaking are key enablers of IOR ambidexterity and that vendors should combine these IT capabilities with relationship-specific knowledge that accumulates with relationship duration.
This study seeks to identify the means by which information technology helps cocreate relational value in the context of interfirm relationships in the logistics industry--a large and information-intensive industry. We identify a set of IT functionalities-single-location shipping, multilocation shipping, supply chain visibility, and financial settlement--that can be used to manage the flows of physical goods, information, and finances across locations in interfirm logistics processes. Progressively more advanced sets of IT functionalities, when implemented and used in the interfirm relationship to execute logistics processes, are proposed to form four distinct IT capability profiles of increased sophistication. Interfirm IT capability profiles of higher sophistication are proposed to help cocreate greater relational value by facilitating the flows of physical goods, information, and finances across locations in the interfirm logistics process. Besides their direct role in helping cocreate relational value, these interfirm IT capability profiles are proposed to further enhance relational value cocreation when complemented by interfirm communications for business development and IT development. Our empirical study was situated in one of the world's largest logistics suppliers and over 2,000 of its interfirm relationships with buyers across industries. Integrated data from four archival sources on the IT functionalities implemented and used in interfirm logistics relationships, interfirm communications, relational value (share of wallet and loyalty), and multiple control variables were collected. The results show that the proposed interfirm IT capability profiles and interfirm communications have both a direct and an interaction effect on relational value. Implications for cocreating relational value in interfirm relationships with the aid of IT are discussed.