The psychological ownership of adopting IoT in supply chains from socio-technical systems’ perspective

Purpose Effective information sharing enhances supply chain practices, but it may undermine partners’ psychological ownership of shared data. The Internet of things (IoT) connects objects through embedded IP addresses, enabling them to share information intelligently and actively. This connectivity may raise questions about data ownership. The purpose of this study is to investigate how data ownership and preferences regarding ownership can impact the efficiency and adaptability of a supply chain that adopts IoT technology. Design/methodology/approach A new research model is developed that comprises seven constructs and six research hypotheses. The seven constructs are assessed using well-supported measures drawn from the literature. Data collected from 302 major manufacturing firms in Taiwan are subjected to structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. Findings Socio-technical systems have a positive influence on psychological ownership, which in turn enhances both efficiency and adaptability in supply chains. Preferences increasing positive associated with the relationship on social system to psychological ownership but decreasing positive associated with the relationship on technical system to psychological ownership. Research limitations/implications The empirical study focuses on supply chains, with data collected from manufacturing firms in Taiwan. With the research model developed, cross-industrial studies can compare the role of socio-technical systems in psychological ownership across different types of supply chains. Practical implications The findings of the paper provide useful insights into how supply chain should reinforce socio-technical system should be strengthened to enhance ownership-based relationships in supply chains, thereby enabling the supply chains to achieve competitive advantages in efficiency and adaptability. Originality/value The newly developed research model facilitates exploration of the relationships between socio-technical systems and various factors that influence psychological ownership. The model demonstrates that psychological ownership enhances the efficiency and adaptability of a supply chain and both social and technical systems drive this ownership. Additionally, our findings indicate that social preferences strengthen the positive relationship between social systems and psychological ownership, whereas technical preferences tend to weaken this relationship.