Study of internet usage in the fresh produce supply chain in the UK and China

A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy of the University of BedfordshireFresh produce supply chain management faces a high level of complexity and uncertainty and a number of challenges due to fresh produce's perishable, seasonal and fragile characteristics. It is argued that effective implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (leTs) has great potential for improving efficiency and reducing wastage within the fresh produce (fruit and vegetable) supply chain. While' the Internet is used by many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the fresh produce industry, the extent to which it is applied and further developed after the initial adoption varies widely. Much research has been carried out to investigate Internet adoption and usage, but very limited effort has been focused on the identification of the current level of technology integration and deve!opment and the factors affecting the level of the development after the adoption, especially in the context of SMEs in the fresh produce supply chain. This research attempts to address this issue by developing a theoretical framework to illustrate the evolutionary process of Internet adoption and diffusion and to identify factors affecting the development of Internet-based supply chains by following the Technological/Organisational/Environmental (TOE) framevork. First, five development levels of post-adoption of Internet technologies in the supply chain were defined, and factors from the technological, organisational and environmentalcontexts were identified according to literatures and exploratory interviews. Second, questionnaire surveys were conducted in the UK and China to investigate the current situation of internet technologies used by SMEs in the fresh produce supply chains in the two countries. Finally, factors the proposed framework were validated and discussed. The empirical findings show that the Internet is no longer a new technology for most fresh produce SMEs in the UK and China. However, a large proportion of SMEs surveyed are still using basic functions of the Internet, and there is little difference between the UK and Chinese SMEs when comparing the use of complex applications in the supply chains. The results also show that most of the factors in the organisational and technological contexts are positively related to the current development levels of the Internet-based supply chain, whereas, in the environmental context, pressures from customers in the UK and mutual trust among partners in China have a significant impact on current development levels. Additionally, in both countries, companies in a better development level of Internet-based supply chain would achieve a higher degree of integration in their supply chain in five years. Overall, the research has made a number of important contributions to knowledge, current debate and practice in an under-researched sector. The five-level post-adoption framework can be adapted to identify ICT development levels and key factors in other sectors. The empirical data collected has added value to and sheds lights on the current applications of the Internet in the supply chain in general, and in the fresh produce SMEs in China and the UK in particular. The key factors identified as impeding the further development of the Internet, such as factors related to the business environments in the UK and China, will help government policy-makers, supply chain facilitators and IT service providers to be more focused in their efforts to improve the situation and to stimulate the further diffusion of emerging Internet technologies. The research has certain limitations due to the time constraints and sample selections. These limitations provide a platform for directing future research

Research in progress: Understanding the process of implantation IT Enterprise Applications in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

This research deals with the implantation of IT enterprise applications in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It comprises two main phases. The first phase aims at deepening the existing understanding of the process of adoption and implantation of IT Enterprise applications in SMEs. Besides a literature review this phase includes the realization of case studies and interviews of the different players in the adoption and implantation process. The second phase aims at producing models and methods to guide SME in implantation of IT enterprise applications. This phase follows is being carried out under the Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm. This document presents the advances and results obtained in understanding the problem and determines the work to be done soon. The main findings to date are: Government regulations are the main motivations for implanting IT enterprise applications in SMEs, the cost is not the main selection parameter for SMEs with previous experience in applications, it is necessary a person inside the company that knows the core of the business, to save costs it is not necessary to migrate all the data of previous solutionsThis work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013, the Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador (SENESCYT) and the Universidad Técnica del Norte – Ecuador

Technology Assimilation Across the Value Chain: An Empirical Study of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

ABSTRACT This paper is the first study of technology assimilation that aggregates across technologies and across the assimilation stages for SMEs. It employs twin lenses of organizational innovation and elements of institutional theory. The research validates some institutional actors and most firm characteristics as important determinants. The relative weaknesses of the institutional actors provide evidence of structural isolation in the SME environment that is inhibiting information flow from intermediaries such as government support agencies and vendors. The study recommends a proactive role on the part of technology and enterprise intermediaries to design SME-appropriate solutions

RESULTS OF A QUALITATIVE SURVEY ABOUT THE AP-PLICATION OF BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN GERMAN CRAFT ENTERPRISES - FIRST FINDINGS OF AN ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECT

The present study shows the current status of a preliminary study about the use of business infor-mation systems (BIS) based on five exemplarily selected case studies in German craft enterprises. The question of whether similarities and differences concerning the application of information and com-munication technologies (ICT) exist in practice. For this purpose, exemplary case demonstrating the scope and usage of organizational ICT in various crafts are presented. The case studies are based on a survey of CEOs and IT managers of selected craft enterprises. Based on the results of the survey, hypotheses about the use of information technologies were derived. Based on these hypotheses, inter-dependencies of craft enterprises are presented and justified regarding the use of BIS, the actuality of the hardware, the requirements to branch-specific IT solutions, the measures taken toward data pro-tection and data security and the visibility on the Internet. As a result of the preliminary study it can be stated that a widely heterogeneous IT landscape as well as good IT competence can be found in the enterprises involved

ERP systems in SMEs: A literature review

Published version of a chapter in Proceedings of the 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Also available from the publisher: http://doi.dx.org/10.1109/HICSS.2011.191This review summarizes research on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Due to the close-to-saturation of ERP adoptions in large enterprises (LEs), ERP vendors now focus more on SMEs. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, and the huge information flow across and within SMEs nowadays, more and more SMEs are adopting ERP systems. Risks of adoption rely on the fact that SMEs have limited resources and specific characteristics that make their case different from LEs. The main focus of this article is to shed the light on the areas that lack sufficient research within the ERP in SMEs domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, suppliers, and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC BUSINESS IN SAUDI ARABIA USING THE TECHNOLOGY-ORGANIZATION- ENVIRONMENT FRAMEWORK

Despite the proliferation of e-business adoption by organisations and the world-wide growth of the e-business phenomenon, there is a paucity of empirical studies that examine the adoption of e-business in the Middle East. The aim of our study is to provide insights into the salient e-business adoption issues by focusing on Saudi Arabian businesses. We developed a conceptual model for electronic business (e-business) adoption incorporating ten factors based on the technology-organization-environment framework. Survey data from 550 businesses were used to test the model and hypotheses. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to assess the reliability and validity of constructs. The findings of the study suggest that firm technology competence, size, top management Support, technology orientation, consumer readiness, trading partner readiness and regulatory support are important antecedents of e-business adoption and utilisation. In addition, the study finds that, competitive pressure and organisational customer and competitor orientation is not a predictor for e-business adoption and utilisation. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for future inquiry are presented

Software Characteristics of B2B Electronic Intermediaries: A Novel Design Science Approach

Long being seen as commercially unsuccessful after the dot-com era, web-based B2B electronic intermediaries are currentlyundergoing a renaissance driven by globalization and an ever increasing cost-pressure on procurement departments ofenterprises. These systems are getting more sophisticated almost by the day, which is also reflected by numerous relatedscientific articles. This development raises the question of the latest characteristics of such systems scientifically described.In order to answer this question, the work at hand depicts the results of a novel design science approach based on a structuredliterature review. The outcomes of this research are i) a state-of-the-art overview of scientifically described softwarecharacteristics of B2B electronic intermediaries, and ii) a taxonomy for structuring software characteristics of this type ofsystems. The results may help practitioners to further develop B2B electronic intermediaries and e-procurement systems, andwill serve as a basis for future research endeavors in the field

Investigating e-procurement barriers within six Saudi Arabian SMEs

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Bedfordshire.This study aims to investigate factors affecting the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The study adopted the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model as a theoretical framework and foundation for the research to investigate current status and readiness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived critical success factors and perceived future organisational performance. Through an extensive literature review and detailed data analysis, the study extended the model to incorporate perceived cultural and external factors that were found to be necessary for the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. Through case studies and AHP analysis, the proposed model elements were validated and prioritised in the Saudi Arabian context. Three different methods were adopted for data collection. First, an exploratory study was conducted to understand the current status of e-procurement and provide an overview of the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement using the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model.Second, a detailed survey was conducted to find the relative importance of various factors related to each of the five elements of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. Third, detailed interviews were conducted across four selected SMEs to gain an insight into the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. The results of the exploratory study were helpful in identifying perceived factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. Detailed survey analysis using AHP validated the theoretical framework and the relevance of the factors of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. However, some of the factors were found to be more important than in the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model, while others were less important. Results of the qualitative study (interviews) found additional factors that were relevant to each of the five elements of the GN model. They further suggested that “Current e-procurement activities” was an additional factor in the “current status and readiness” element and “Increased transparency” was an additional factor in the “perceived benefits” element. Similarly, the analysis of the qualitative results found two additional factors in the “perceived barriers” element (i.e. absence of e-procurement specific laws and regulations and lack of trust in the electronic transfer of funds), three additional critical success factors (i.e. cost-benefit analysis of the solution, technical maturity of the marketplace and user-friendliness of the solution) and two additional factors in perceived future organisational performance (i.e. strategic alliance and networking and knowledge management and data warehousing). Further, analysis of the qualitative findings revealed two additional elements (i.e. perceived external and perceived cultural factors). The study thus suggests that organisational culture, cultural inertia and business culture of the country are three important cultural factors that are perceived to affect the adoption of e-procurement, while government support, having one’s own postal addresses and delivery services, providing secure and trustworthy online payment options, low cost and high speed internet connection, suppliers’ willingness and readiness, pressure from competitors, policy and regulations are the seven important perceived external factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The results of the qualitative data analysis led to the development of an extended Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model to incorporate perceived culture and perceived external factors. The study has significant implications in terms of further e-procurement research for SMEs in Saudi Arabia and also its adoption in the developing world in general

Relationship of supply chain capabilities and supply chain technology adoption towards supply chain operational performance in textile and apparel industry

In today’s dynamic business environment, competition is no longer between firms, but between supply chains. The supply chain dependency leads the business focused on supply chain performance. Considering the importance given to the third industrial master plan by the Malaysia government, current supply chain environment accentuated the need of supply chain technology adoption to facilitate supply chain management. To explain the concerns, this study examined the impact of supply chain capabilities namely, relational capability, information technology capability, and organizational culture capability on supply chain operational performance and supply chain technology adoption. This study also examines the successive impact of supply chain technology adoption on supply chain operational performance and investigates whether supply chain technology adoption mediates supply chain capabilities and performance relationship under study. In order to achieve the research objectives, a two-step approach namely quantitative research method and a triangulation research approach are necessitated. 201 survey questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Malaysian textile and apparel organizations. 121 usable responses representing 60% response rate were empirically tested through structural equation modeling by using SPSS and SmartPLS. Research findings revealed that relational capability, organizational culture capability, and supply chain technology adoption contributed to firm’s supply chain operational performance, whereas, information technology capability was insignificant. The findings further revealed that supply chain capabilities have a positive influence to supply chain technology adoption. The findings also revealed a significant mediation effect of supply chain technology adoption in the model under study. A triangulation research approach was employed through face-to-face interviews with four industry practitioners to get their in-depth experiences and perceptions on the model under study. ATLAS.ti results showed that developed model had achieved agreement of industry experts with the suggestion of two emerging terms (human support and work experience) as moderators for future study on the model. Limitations and recommendations for future study are discussed