The Rise of Digital Businesses in the USA

The impact of flexible SC IT on a supply chain's knowledge creation capability can be better understood by examining the theoretical lens of absorptive capacity (Zahra and George 2002). Absorptive capacity refers to the organizational routines and processes that enable firms to acquire, assimilate, transform, and leverage knowledge, resulting in a dynamic organizational capability (Zahra and George 2002, p.186). The evolving market landscape presents a growing challenge for supply chain partners to navigate the intricate operating conditions, potentially jeopardizing the supply chain's capacity to absorb external knowledge. Flexible IT allows SC firms to easily customize their information systems to keep up with the ever-changing environment. When information systems are configured to adapt to the evolving needs of business, they bring in new information that can offer fresh perspectives to the supply chain. 

There are more chances to generate new knowledge in these situations with a versatile IT system.

SC IT can help maintain a seamless exchange of information among supply chain partners, even in the face of unpredictable or evolving market conditions. Organizations in the supply chain have the ability to easily adapt their IT infrastructure and application components to cater to the informational requirements of the new market. This enables supply chain partners to seamlessly share explicit knowledge that is generated by the versatile information systems. Partners who embrace flexible designs for IT infrastructure and applications are more equipped to support the flow of explicit knowledge compared to those who stick with rigid IT systems. SC IT can also facilitate the exchange of tacit knowledge between SC partners. With the help of Flexible SC IT, supply chain personnel can say goodbye to the burdensome task of re-configuring existing electronic linkages. This means they will have more time on their hands. The relational view of firms describes relational rent as a profit that is achieved through a collaborative exchange relationship, where both firms contribute their unique strengths and abilities. Dyer and Singh (1998) highlight the importance of firms' capabilities in recognizing the potential value of working together.

Knowledge can be applied, as demonstrated by Alavi and Leidner in 2001.

This study suggests that SC IT infrastructure capability has a positive impact on SC KM capability. The level of SC IT integration refers to how well SC IT is incorporated into a cohesive system, ensuring that data is consistently represented across different companies. Fragmented SC IT leads to isolated data, which hampers the firms' capacity to share knowledge and identify event patterns. Integrating SC IT can have a positive impact on SC KM capability by fostering strong relationships between SC partners, enhancing information processing capabilities, and bridging gaps between knowledge domains. In addition, employees play a crucial role in developing SC KM capability. Through the implementation of a seamless information exchange platform, SC IT integration can greatly enhance knowledge management processes. This platform allows employees from different functions to easily connect and interact with one another, fostering a collaborative and efficient work environment. SC IT flexibility refers to how easily a supply chain partnership can adapt its IT infrastructure and applications to keep up with changes in the business environment. Adaptable IT involves strategic planning and implementation.and resources to share valuable tacit knowledge related to the supply chain. Previous studies have shown that using flexible IT, such as standard business interfaces, can help alleviate concerns of lock-in among supply chain partners. This encourages partners to freely share valuable information without worrying about their proprietary data being used against them (Malhotra et al. 2007). IT plays a crucial role in incorporating knowledge into organizational routines and culture. If there is no change in IT, there is a danger of excessively exploiting the current knowledge, which could reduce the effectiveness of applying that knowledge. Having a flexible IT infrastructure enables organizations to easily update their IT systems to accommodate new

SC Relational Capability

Collaborations to stay ahead of the information demands in today's dynamic business landscape. The adaptability of SC IT will greatly facilitate the absorption of new information by the SC partnership. Furthermore, the adaptability of IT infrastructure and software applications can liberate SC personnel from monotonous re-configuration of current electronic connections, allowing them to focus on more valuable knowledge-based tasks. Thus, a hypothesis is put forth regarding the correlation between the IT infrastructure capability and the KM capability in the supply chain. Second hypothesis: The IT infrastructure capability of a supply chain will have a positive impact on its knowledge management capability. Supply chain firms operate within intricate networks that encompass economic, social, and technological dynamics (Lincoln et al. 1998; Lorenzoni and Lipparini 1996; Uzzi, 1997). Based on the relational view of the firm, if supply chain firms can creatively combine their resources, the buyer-seller relationship will generate relational rents. These rents will then give the participating firms a competitive advantage over those who cannot or will not mobilize their inter-firm resources (Dyer and Singh 1998). Relational rent can be seen as the advantages that arise from the synergies formed through interactions between companies.