Explaining organizational susceptibility to coercive pressure: results from a field experiment on e-invoicing IOIS adoption

The establishment of the interoperability of accounting and other IS with those of business partners is regarded as a primary source of efficiency gains and innovation for organizations in today’s networked economy. Thus, inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) play a critical role in present day organizations and their relationships with business partners. Nevertheless, potential benefits that can be achieved from an IOIS implementation are tightly connected to the achievement of a critical number of adopters among business partners. One primary strategy introduced in this context is the exertion of coercive pressure to persuade business partners to adopt. However, results of prior investigations on the influence of coercive pressure on organizational adoption decisions have varied, while experimental investigations of coercive pressure as a strategy to foster adoption of IOIS among business partners have remained scarce. This study conducts a controlled field experiment on organizational level to investigate the effect of applied coercive pressure on the adoption of IOIS among 126 business partners of a medium-sized firm in Germany. Results present empirical evidence for a positive effect of coercive pressure. Assuming a configurational perspective, several organizational characteristics are further hypothesized to moderate this relationship. The type of industry and the degree of technology readiness are found to be significant moderators. The results emphasize the importance of a configurational perspective in investigations on the organizational level, and provide decision-makers with valuable insights into the mechanisms that drive the effect of coercive pressure as a strategy to foster adoption of IOIS among business partners.