Supporting supply chain management and E-commerce through a IT/IS infrastructure

摘要

E-commerce (business to consumers/business to business) is a phenomenon that is significantly changing the way in which organisations conduct their business and the purchasing behaviour of consumers. Not only is there an exponential growth in the exchange of goods and services over the Internet, it has changed the way information can be accessed and used. This paper proffers that E-commerce and Internet technology have fundamentally changed the way information capabilities and requirements of businesses supply chains. It also describes how the Internet has changed the visibility of the processes in the organisation's supply chain. Visibility means that both information about processes and the capability for interacting with these processes. The paper also discusses why a horizontal wide view of all partners in a supply chain has to be taken to reap the commercial advantages offered by the new technology.