Logistics information systems adoption: an empirical investigation in Brazil

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the level of logistics information systems (LIS) adoption in manufacturing companies is influenced by organizational profile variables, such as the company's size, the nature of its operations and their subsectors.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the mainstream literature on LIS was carried out to identify the factors influencing the adoption of such information systems and also some research gaps. The empirical study's strategy is based on a survey research in Brazilian manufacturing firms from the capital goods industry. Data collected were analyzed through Kruskall‐Wallis and Mann Whitney's non‐parametric tests.

Findings

The analysis indicates that characteristics such as the size of companies and the nature of their operations influence the levels of LIS adoption, whilst comparisons regarding the subsectors appeared to be of little influence.

Originality/value

This is the first known study to examine the influence of organizational profiles such as size, nature of operations and subsector on the level of LIS adoption in manufacturing companies. Moreover, it is unique in portraying the Brazilian scenario on this topic and addressing the adoption of seven types of LIS in a single study.

Citation

Hisano Barbosa, D. and Andreotti Musetti, M. (2010), "Logistics information systems adoption: an empirical investigation in Brazil", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 110 No. 6, pp. 787-804. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635571011055054