Identifying Application Capability of e-Business for IS Success: A Case study of Manufacturing Sectors

B2B electronic business has provided a means for many traditional manufacturing firms to improve interfirm cooperation, coordination and collaboration between supply chain partners. However, a number of technological and managerial capabilities related to the building and use of B2B e-business systems, which we called "application capability of e-business", are needed to achieve this potential value. In this study we develop a framework for understanding what types of application capability are needed for IS success. Based on this framework, we collected data from 10 successful Chinese manufacturing firms to make an exploratory case study, and six dimensions of application capability of e-business, different from e-business system capability, are identified in this study. The results show that these application capabilities are required to achieve powerful e-business system capability which, in turn, strongly improve IS success.