An Analysis of the Impact of Reputation on Supply Webs

In long-term, recurring contractual relationships, which are common in the B2B-area, reputation and trust play an outstanding role. The impact of reputation and price-based assessment of suppliers on the material flow in the supply chain will be investigated in this analysis. Positive reputation proves to be a key factor to reach a market dominating position. We observed in our simulation, that the assessment of suppliers towards a reputation-based choice has a positive effect on supply chain stabilitiy. In the worst case, a strong reputationbased choice leads to the formation of monopolies. The Bullwip-Effect, that could be observed as a second phenomenon in our simulation setting, represents a countertendency to the reputation-based monopoly effect. This countereffect is observed to be even stronger for members of tiers with a high fluctuation of order rates

The impact of potential flexibility gains and losses on the intention to outsource business processes

In an ever accelerating world demanding fast adjustment to changing business environments, organizational flexibility becomes increasingly important. By outsourcing business processes (BPO), there are both potential flexibility losses (e.g. loss of control) and potential flexibility gains (e.g. the transformation of fixed to variable costs). Firms have to balance this trade-off to retain sufficient flexibility or even enlarge their strategic and operational flexibility. Based on an empirical study with Germany’s Top 200 Banks it is shown that the perception of both flexibility gains and losses have a profound impact on the outsourcers’ attitude towards BPO. In particular, potential flexibility losses have a higher impact on outsourcers’ attitude than potential flexibility gains. Subsequently, in accordance with the theory of reasoned action it turns out that attitude is an antecedent of the intention towards outsourcing. Therefore we argue that flexibility-related issues should be explicitly considered in outsourcing evaluations and service providers should emphasize on contractual means to demonstrate that organizational flexibility will not be negatively affected

Globalization and Diffusion of E-Business: Two Sides of the same Medal

Is globalization driving the diffusion of e-business or is the diffusion of e-business applications driving globalization? In this paper we analyze the empirical data from a crosscountry survey with 903 firms from Denmark, France, Germany, and the US from a German perspective. In our survey, more than one third of all firms responded that the implementation of e-business contributed substantially to improve existing operational processes and to expand markets. Although e-business technologies may be available theoretically in all industries and firms, a sustainable impact on business processes depends on the extent and number of deployed e-business applications. A further prerequisite for efficient usage is the consistent and broad integration of applications to meet global competition. On a macroeconomic level, different economic environments and specific national drivers have a significant influence on the diffusion and resulting impact of e-business applications among the industries analyzed

Drivers and Inhibitors for Outsourcing Financial Processes - A Comparative Survey of Economies of Scale, Scope, and Skill

Economies of scale, scope, and skill are known to be major drivers or inhibitors for outsourcing business processes but they may play different roles for outsourcing primary or secondary processes. In this paper, based on two empirical surveys with Fortune 1,000 non-banks and Fortune 500 banks in Germany, a comparative analysis reveals different appreciation of (the impact of) economies of scale, scope, and skill by managers responsible for outsourcing financial processes in non-banks and banks. Consistent with the theory, economies of scale and skill are identified as drivers for outsourcing business processes while economies of scope represent an inhibitor. Overall, Chief Credit Officers estimate scale and skill effects due to outsourcing to be higher than non-bank Chief Financial Officers do. Furthermore, economies of scope, which inhibit selective sourcing, are evaluated as being less problematic. As a result, Chief Credit Officers are more likely to outsource (parts of) their - primary - financial processes. The surveys also suggest that quite in contrast to common perception German banks are on the verge of industrialization and modularization

The Role of Information Technology Business Alignment in Value Creation: A Multiple Case Study among German Banks

A key question in Information Systems research is how information technology creates business value. In this paper, our aim is to help reveal the role of alignment between IT and business resources in business value creation. In particular, we propose that the contribution of IT to business process performance should be investigated in the context of actual IT usage, with IT business alignment as a moderating variable. Also, IT flexibility should be explicitly considered. Using five case studies from the German financial services industry based on a causal model of IT business value creation reveals that the process of IT business value creation indeed strongly depends on the alignment between business and IT. But it also turns out that actual presence of business competencies is crucial and that even superior IT cannot compensate for business competency deficiencies