Examining the relationship between business process improvement initiatives, information systems integration and customer focus: an empirical study

Purpose - The goal is to examine the relationship between business process improvement initiatives (BPII), information systems (ISs) integration, and customer focus. Design/methodology/approach - The data for the study were collected at the divisional levels from a list of "Fortune 500" firms. A total of 1,100 questionnaires were mailed to divisional managers and 115 responses were used for the data analysis. Findings - The results of this study support the hypotheses that BPII directly affects customer responsiveness and product/service innovation. In addition, data integration and communication networks flexibility are found to significantly affect customer responsiveness and product/service innovation. Communication networks connectivity did not have any significant effect on customer responsiveness and product/service innovation, respectively. Data integration, intrafirm networks connectivity and networks flexibility are found to significantly mediate the relationship between BPII and customer responsiveness and BPII and product/service development, respectively. Interfirm networks connectivity was not found to significantly mediate the relationship between BPII and customer responsiveness and BPII and product/service development, respectively. Research limitations/implications - The sample consists of divisions of Fortune 500 firms. Second, the study is cross-sectional; therefore, it lacks the predictive power to find the long-term effects of BPII and IS integration on customer focus. A longitudinal study can be a future research endeavor to validate the results of the study. Originality/value - To business managers, the study clarifies the role of IS integration in customer focus.