Beyond Data, towards Decisions: The Mediating Role of Information Use in Inventory Replenishment Effectiveness

This study examines the relationships among information quality (IQ), analytical capability (AC), decision information use (DIU), and perceived replenishment decision effectiveness (RDE) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Selangor, Malaysia. Drawing on organisational information-processing theory, the study distinguishes the quality of decision inputs and the capability to interpret them from their actual use in inventory replenishment. A survey of 360 SME respondents was conducted using purposive sampling in October 2026. The four constructs were represented by four five-point items each, and the reported analysis used composite-score regression and 2,500-resample percentile bootstrapping to examine direct and indirect associations. IQ and AC were positively associated with DIU (? = 0.430 and ? = 0.213, respectively), while DIU was associated with RDE after accounting for both predictors (? = 0.255). The specific indirect associations were 0.110 and 0.054, with reported confidence intervals excluding zero. The mediator and outcome models explained 24.9% and 16.5% of the variation in their respective outcomes. The findings highlight decision information use as an empirically specified link between organisational information resources and perceived replenishment effectiveness, while remaining associational rather than causal.