Business relationships redesign with electronic commerce tools: An empirical investigation

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand and provide an empirical illustration for howrnelectronic commerce (EC) tools are used to redesign business relationships. The amount and quality ofrnEC tools have mushroomed and the use of these to redesign and digitize relationships is still arnrelatively under-researched area. Most of the current research is conceptual in nature and empiricalrnresearch has rarely been conducted.rnDesign/methodology/approach - With the help of a literature review on EC and businessrnrelationships this paper provides the means to identify some important EC tools that can be used tornstreamline relationships. Besides, theoretical argumentation this research sheds some additional lightrnon how relationships can be redesigned and digitized with a case study from the steel industry.rnFindings - The case study reports on usage of the internet, enterprise resource planning systems andrnwireless local area network-based mobile solutions to eliminate extra manual work and speed uprnorder-to-delivery processes in a steel industry context.rnResearch limitations/implications - The paper provides only one case study from a specificrncontext.rnPractical implications - For managers, this paper illustrates how interfacing processes in a steelrnindustry business relationship can be conducted in a more cost-effective manner. For academics thisrnstudy highlights the need for further and consistent empirical research on the impact of EC tools onrnbusiness relationships.rnOriginality/value - This paper casts light on business relationship redesign with EC tools andrnproposes further studies on this pertinent topic.