Factors Driving Value Creation in Online B2B Banking

Introduction

The emergence of the Internet as a global distribution channel, and more importantly, as a trans-border, nomadic trading platform, has significantly altered the landscape of the banking sector (Lee, 2007b). The advent of the Internet has increasingly become a strategic weapon, revolutionizing the way businesses operate, deliver, and compete against each other (Alsajjan & Dennis, 2006; Chen, 2011; Seitz & Stickel, 1998). It has not only spurred the development of new business sectors, but also changed the business model of many existing industries. In the banking sector it has altered the competitive patterns of traditional banking while opening doors for innovation and new service opportunities in the corporate banking arena (Ruben, Llobet, & Fuentes, 2010). Online channels (e-channels) which provide alternatives for faster delivery of banking services to a wider scope of customers (Gunasekaran & Love, 1999) have gained increasing popularity in delivering banking services and dramatically changed the rules and operations of the banking industry. Online banking (e-banking) already has revolutionized relationships within organizations and between organizations and individuals (Salehi & Alipour, 2010).

The nature of opportunities and obstacles in e-banking at the business-to-customer (B2C) or individual level is different from B2B banking, as the bank-corporate customer relationship remains a key issue for competitive advantage in the market. It is crucial to design and quickly implement new banking services that are positively accepted (Berndt, Herbst, & Roux, 2005) without losing customers while developing and maintaining better relationships (González, Quesada, Picado, & Eckelman, 2004), especially for corporate customers since they are a major source of profits (Tyler & Stanley, 1999; Zins, 2007). The likelihood of obtaining fresh new insights is especially high in fields that remain largely unexplored in information systems theorizing (Kock, 2009). The conventional focus of online banking research is shifting from technological developments to customer behavior (Alsajjan & Dennis, 2006). At the same time, the extant literature on online B2B (e-B2B) banking is lacking. Given this background, this paper has three major purposes:

• 1.

  Identifying the drivers and inhibitors of B2B e-banking value for employees;

• 2.

  Determining an appropriateness of Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework; and

• 3.

  Identifying the factors that form B2B banking value for firms from the employee perspective.

Hence, this research explores the technological, organizational, and environmental factors that drive value creation in online B2B banking. Managers and researchers may use our model and findings to better understand the factors that affect e-business success.