THE IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE ON THE SUPPLY CHAIN B2B IN IRELAND

The ability to redefine inter-firm relationships and processes, internet-enabled and other Business to Business (B2B) mechanisms facilitate the integration and management of inter- or intra-organisational business processes that produce value for customers. B2B e-commerce in supply chain management (SCM) becomes more important due to its performance implications. Process integration involves upstream and downstream coordination with supply chain partners. In these interactions, supply chain B2B e-commerce helps minimize complexity and increase flexibility while enhancing a higher degree of communication and operational efficiency.Supply chain management; Business to Business marketing; Electronic commerce; Globalization.

The Effect of Electronic Commerce in Business Value and Supply Chain Process: Evidence from Iran

This paper aims to develop and test a model to analyze the relationships between three aspects of technical electronic commerce (EC)-based information system (IS) resources and, the supply chain process integration, and business value. The paper is consistent with the perspective on IS-enabled organizational capabilities and resource based view of the firm. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 204 supply chain, logistics, or procurement/ purchasing managers of manufacturing firms. Findings show that supply chain process integration, a key EC-enabled organizational capability, can enhance business value. Additionally, the capability serve as a catalyst in transforming technical EC-based IS resources (technical quality of EC applications, EC advancements, EC alignment and E-branding) into higher value for a firm. Our results suggest that supply chain process integration is an important intermediate organizational capability through which value of EC-based IS resources can be materialized. However, the technical aspects of EC-based IS resources needs to developed to effectively form supply chain capabilities.Key words: Supply chain integration; Business value; Electronic commerce; Business performance; Resource-based view; Information system; E-brandin

Electronic commerce‐enabled supply chain process integration and business value

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model to analyze the relationships between three aspects of technical electronic commerce (EC)‐based information system (IS) resources; the supply chain process integration; and business value. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is consistent with the perspective on IS‐enabled organizational capabilities and resource based view of the firm. A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted to collect data from 214 supply chain, logistics, or procurement/purchasing managers of leading manufacturing firms. Findings: The findings suggest that supply chain process integration, a key EC‐enabled organizational capability, can enhance business value. We found that this capability serve as a catalyst in transforming technical EC‐based IS resources (technical quality of EC applications, EC advancements, and EC alignment) into higher value for a firm. Research limitations/implications: Among other limitations, this paper does not address human IS resources as the other potential determinants of firm's supply chain capabilities. Moreover, this study relies on cross‐sectional data. Practical implications: The results suggest that supply chain process integration is an important intermediate organizational capability through which value of EC‐based IS resources can be materialized. The technical aspects of EC‐based IS resources need to be developed to effectively form supply chain capabilities. Originality/value: The paper is perhaps one of the first to show theoretically and empirically how firms, in particular in developing countries, can generate business value from EC‐enabled supply chain process integration; also it broadens the scope of EC alignment in relation to process integration and business value to the entire supply chain

Supply Chain Management in the Emergin Context of Electonic Commerce

This research will examine the different kinds of supply chains by providing modeling variations that include coordination mechanism, production planning and scheduling, and logistics management in the emerging context of electronic commerce. In contrast to most of the supply chain literature that takes the existing supply chain as given and attempts to optimize material flows or information flows, the research will focus on emerging forms of supply chain enhanced by new technologies such as open EDI, the Internet, intranets, and extranets. An observation in supply chain management, which recently gained popularity, the bullwhip effect, suggests that demand variability increases as one moves up a supply chain. Solutions for bullwhip effect include supply chain integration through information sharing and supply chain partnership. However, in emerging business-to-business electronic commerce, a perfectly competitive market is possible, where many suppliers and buyers can keep track of real-time demand and supply of a product, thus the price being adjusted promptly by market itself. Although problems such as quality assurance and increasing transaction/coordination cost may arise in return for reliable supply chain partners, causes of bullwhip effect such as demand forecast update, order batching, price fluctuation and shortage gaming may diminish in electronic marketplaces due to immediate information about the availability of products as well as price and demand. Such information is costly and difficult to get, unless strong partnership and information sharing exists between many supply chain parties. Hence, the first research question is: In terms of bullwhip effect, will market mechanism coordinated by electronic intermediaries reduce the demand distortion in upstream supply chain? If so, how effective is it compared to the hierarchy mechanism with vertical integration or information sharing? Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have become popular in 1990s with business process reengineering practices. ERP systems attempt to automate and integrate all functions in an enterprise’s value chain. With the burst of the Internet and electronic commerce, companies using or planning to use ERP, are beginning to demand interface functions that enable flexible communications among supply chain partners. Moreover, in electronic marketplaces, computerized agents (e.g. searching agent, purchasing agent) and intermediaries are expected to be the solution for controlling huge amount of information and material flow. The second research question regarding this issue, thus, is: What kinds of information systems or technologies are needed in order to support a firm’s supply chain or supply chain as a whole, in particular in electronic markets? While optimizing supply chains with regard to information flows and/or material flows, we expect that the following components for supply chain management will clearly be identified as enablers of successful supply chain management. • ERP extensions/modules that link adjacent supply chain partners • Supply chain reengineering and Web-enabled supply chain via intranet and extranet • Agents/intermediaries that control the costs (purchasing, sales, distribution), quality (parts, finished product), and time (on-time delivery, online demand information

Leveraging Open-standard Interorganizational Information Systems for Process Adaptability and Alignment: An Empirical Analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the value creation mechanisms of open-standard inter-organizational information system (OSIOS), which is a key technology to achieve Industry 4.0. Specifically, this study investigates how the internal assimilation and external diffusion of OSIOS help manufactures facilitate process adaptability and alignment in supply chain network.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument was designed and administrated to collect data for this research. Using three-stage least squares estimation, the authors empirically tested a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 308 manufacturing firms in China.FindingsThe results of the study show that OSIOS can perform as value creation mechanisms to enable process adaptability and alignment. In addition, the impact of OSIOS internal assimilation is inversely U-shaped where the positive effect on process adaptability will become negative after an extremum point is reached.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights on how OSIOS can improve supply chain integration and thus promote the achievement of industry 4.0. By revealing a U-shaped relationship between OSIOS assimilation and process adaptability, this study fills previous research gap by advancing the understanding on the value creation mechanisms of information systems deployment

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

A Case Study Of E-Supply Chain & Business Process Reengineering Of A Semiconductor Company In Malaysia

Penglibatan e-perniagaan dalam rantaian bekalan telah mewujudkan e-rantaian bekalan yang baru (e-SC) di firma-firma tempatan dan global. Due to globalization and advancement in information technology (IT), companies adopt best practices in e-business and supply chain management to be globally competitive as both are realities and prospects in 21st century

Placing the Networks on the Web: Challenges and Opportunities for Managing in Developing Asia

Placing the networks on the Web poses a fundamental challenge, but also provides new opportunities for managing in Developing Asia. There is a huge efficiency gap between the region's manufacturing systems and the management of complementary, knowledge-intensive support services. The challenge is to reduce this gap as quickly as possible by embracing the Internet as a core business function, despite a weak base of accumulated knowledge of how to manage IT-based information systems. Asian companies, even the best, lag substantially behind their American and European counterparts. There is a potential vicious circle that needs to be broken: a belated transition to IT-based information systems has prevented the accumulation of knowledge, through trial-and-error, of how to design and implement an appropriate IT organization that reflects the peculiar strengths and weaknesses of diverse Asian management systems. Limited resources prevent any attempt to address these problems in a big leap forward. This implies that in-house efforts need to be supplemented with outsourcing of IT services. There is also a need for strategic partnering with major suppliers of Internet software and networking equipment. The opportunity is that the Internet provides almost unlimited opportunities for the outsourcing of mission-critical support services, such as ERP (enterprise resource planning), HRM (human resource management). Furthermore, fierce competition among major producers of Internet software and networking equipment has created a buyers' market - placing Asian firms in a reasonably strong bargaining position. These developments are generally not well covered by existing studies, which are primarily focused on developments in the U.S. and Europe. The paper tries to fill this gap, and explores how placing global production networks on the Web affects managing in Developing Asia. A conceptual framework is introduced in parts 1 to 3. That framework is then applied to one of the role models of managing in Asia, Taiwan's Acer Group. Part 1 introduces a taxonomy of expected benefits from Internet-enabled transformations of business organization. In part 2, we argue that the real issue is to analyze how the Internet reshapes the organization of global production networks. In part3, we access conflicting claims on how an increased use of the Internet to manage global production networks affects international knowledge diffusion. In part 4, the example of Taiwan's Acer Group is used to describe the challenge for Asian firms to embrace the Internet as a key management function. And in part 5, we ask what Acer's experience tells us about Developing Asia's opportunities.