The impact of justice on information sharing and innovation performance: a social exchange theory perspective
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 17 April 2023
Issue publication date: 20 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
With more demand-driven innovation activities, manufacturers must proactively engage in information sharing activities with their customers for better innovation performance. This study aims to inquire into the impacts of information sharing activities between manufacturers and customers (including information system usage and information content sharing) on manufacturers’ innovation performance and considers interfirm justice (including distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) as information sharing antecedents.
Design/methodology/approach
The social exchange theory is applied to develop the conceptual model. The authors examine the conceptual model with the structural equation modeling approach using data collected from 213 Chinese manufacturers.
Findings
Interactional justice promotes information system usage. Both interactional justice and procedural justice increase information content sharing, while distributive justice decreases it. Information content sharing directly improves innovation performance and fully mediates the relationship between information system usage and innovation performance.
Originality/value
This research enriches empirical studies on justice-information sharing relationships by systematically investigating the impacts of three types of justice on different information sharing activities. It also adds to the application of social exchange theory in the practices of interfirm justice and information sharing. Besides, it probes into influencing mechanisms of different information sharing activities, information system usage and information content sharing, on innovation performance. The findings can guide firms to implement interfirm justice and information sharing practices for superior innovation performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 72091214, 71821002), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant number SK2023010).
Citation
Huo, B., Liu, X. and Li, S. (2023), "The impact of justice on information sharing and innovation performance: a social exchange theory perspective", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 11, pp. 2519-2532. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-04-2022-0179
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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