Information technology standards choices and industry structure outcomes: The case of the US home mortgage industry

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wigand, RT; Steinfield, CW; Markus, ML
• 署名单位: University of Arkansas System; University of Arkansas Little Rock; University of Arkansas Fayetteville; Michigan State University; Bentley University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0742-1222
• DOI: 10.1080/07421222.2005.11045843
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 165-191
• 关键词: ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE; business value; organizational performance; productivity paradox; EDI; MARKETS; systems; integration; commerce; IMPACT

摘要

Vertical IS standards prescribe data structures and definitions, document formats, and business processes for particular industries, in contrast to generic information technology (IT) standards, which concern IT characteristics applicable to many industries. This paper explores the potential industry structure effects of vertical information systems (IS) standards through a case study of the U.S. home mortgage industry. We review theoretical arguments about the potential industry structure effects of standards for interorganizational coordination, and we compare the characteristics of XML-based vertical IS standards with those of electronic data interchange (EDI) to gauge the applicability of prior literature. We argue that the lower costs and wider accessibility of XML-based standards that use the Internet can result in significant changes to the structure of the mortgage industry. However, the nature of industry change will depend on the specific ways in which standards are implemented by organizations in the industry-there are many patterns of implementation with potentially different effects at the industry level of analysis. We illustrate these theoretical arguments with data from our case.