Management Information Systems and Uncertainty : Empirical Evidence in Closer Buyer–Supplier Relationships

Because buyer–supplier relationships change over time, management information systems should provide partners with suitable information across the different stages of the relationship. This paper investigates how the perceived usefulness of different management information characteristics may change in the context of building and maintaining closer buyer–supplier relationships (CBSR). It also analyses how uncertainty about the relationship and the environment moderates the effect of CBSR information sharing. The responses of 191 purchasing and sales managers, drawn from original equipment manufacturers in Spain, are examined using a structural equations technique and multigroup analysis. Results largely support our hypotheses, namely that sales and purchasing managers involved in a CBSR have different perceptions of the usefulness of management information characteristics. Results also show that only the perceived usefulness of management information of purchasing managers is moderated by internal and environmental uncertainty