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Omni-channel integration: the matter of information and digital technology

Omni-channel integration: the matter of information and digital technology
Omni-channel integration: the matter of information and digital technology

Purpose: this paper aims to explore how omni-channel data flows should be integrated by specifying what data, omni-channel agents and information and digital technologies (IDTs) should be considered and connected. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study method is used with 17 British companies. The studies are supported by 68 interviews with the case companies and their consumers, 5 site visits, 4 focus group meetings and the companies’ archival data and documentations. 

Findings: this paper provides novel frameworks for omni-channel data flow integration from consumer and business perspectives. The frameworks consist of omni-channel agents, their data transactions and their supporting IDTs. Relatedly, this paper formalizes the omni-channel data flow integration in the forms of horizontal, vertical and total integrations and explores their contributions to the adaptability of omni-channel, as a complex adaptive system (CAS). It also discusses that how inter-organizational governance mechanisms can support data flow integration and their relevant IDT implementations. 

Research limitations/implications: the breadth and depth of the required IDTs for omni-channel integration prove the necessity for omni-channel systems to move toward total integration. Therefore, supported by CAS and inter-organizational governance theories, this research indicates how data flow integration and IDT can transform the omni-channel through self-organization and autonomy capability enhancement. 

Originality/value: this research’s recommended frameworks provide a robust platform to formalize data flow integration as the omni-channel's core driver. Accordingly, it moves the literature from a basic description of “what omni-channel is” and provides a novel and significant debate on what specific data should be shared at what levels between which agents of the omni-channel, and with what type of relationship governance mechanism, to assure omni-channel horizontal, vertical and total integrations.

Big data analytics (BDA), Complex adaptive system, Data flow integration, Information and digital technology (IDT), Inter-organizational governance, Internet of Things (IoT), Omni-channel
0144-3577
1660-1710
Saghiri, Soroosh
6bfd600c-bdd1-4dde-9f33-d3f138e85e9d
Mirzabeiki, Vahid
ccb0119a-a6ac-4e49-8e9f-c9b742004eac
Saghiri, Soroosh
6bfd600c-bdd1-4dde-9f33-d3f138e85e9d
Mirzabeiki, Vahid
ccb0119a-a6ac-4e49-8e9f-c9b742004eac

Saghiri, Soroosh and Mirzabeiki, Vahid (2021) Omni-channel integration: the matter of information and digital technology. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 41 (11), 1660-1710. (doi:10.1108/IJOPM-04-2021-0262).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose: this paper aims to explore how omni-channel data flows should be integrated by specifying what data, omni-channel agents and information and digital technologies (IDTs) should be considered and connected. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study method is used with 17 British companies. The studies are supported by 68 interviews with the case companies and their consumers, 5 site visits, 4 focus group meetings and the companies’ archival data and documentations. 

Findings: this paper provides novel frameworks for omni-channel data flow integration from consumer and business perspectives. The frameworks consist of omni-channel agents, their data transactions and their supporting IDTs. Relatedly, this paper formalizes the omni-channel data flow integration in the forms of horizontal, vertical and total integrations and explores their contributions to the adaptability of omni-channel, as a complex adaptive system (CAS). It also discusses that how inter-organizational governance mechanisms can support data flow integration and their relevant IDT implementations. 

Research limitations/implications: the breadth and depth of the required IDTs for omni-channel integration prove the necessity for omni-channel systems to move toward total integration. Therefore, supported by CAS and inter-organizational governance theories, this research indicates how data flow integration and IDT can transform the omni-channel through self-organization and autonomy capability enhancement. 

Originality/value: this research’s recommended frameworks provide a robust platform to formalize data flow integration as the omni-channel's core driver. Accordingly, it moves the literature from a basic description of “what omni-channel is” and provides a novel and significant debate on what specific data should be shared at what levels between which agents of the omni-channel, and with what type of relationship governance mechanism, to assure omni-channel horizontal, vertical and total integrations.

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Omni-channel_integration-2021 - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 10 September 2021
Published date: 9 November 2021
Additional Information: Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the International Journal of Operations and Production Management's editor-in-chief, associate editor, special issue editors and anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews and constructive comments on the earlier editions of this paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Keywords: Big data analytics (BDA), Complex adaptive system, Data flow integration, Information and digital technology (IDT), Inter-organizational governance, Internet of Things (IoT), Omni-channel

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 472793
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472793
ISSN: 0144-3577
PURE UUID: ff5305f1-aa9f-4aa3-887c-c821bd46efc3
ORCID for Soroosh Saghiri: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3100-3207

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Dec 2022 17:33
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:16

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Contributors

Author: Soroosh Saghiri ORCID iD
Author: Vahid Mirzabeiki

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