Eric W. T. Ngai

Information systems in supply chain integration and management

Supply chain management (SCM) is the 21st century global operations strategy for achieving organizational competitiveness. Companies are attempting to find ways to improve their flexibility and responsiveness and in turn competitiveness by changing their operations strategy, methods and technologies that include the implementation of SCM paradigm and information technology (IT). However, a thorough and critical review of literature is yet to be carried out with the objective of bringing out pertinent factors and useful insights into the role and implications of IT in SCM. In this paper, the literature available on IT in SCM have been classified using suitable criteria and then critically reviewed to develop a framework for studying the applications of IT in SCM. Based on this review and analysis, recommendations have been made regarding the application of IT in SCM and some future research directions are indicated.

Review: Application of data mining techniques in customer relationship management: A literature review and classification

Despite the importance of data mining techniques to customer relationship management (CRM), there is a lack of a comprehensive literature review and a classification scheme for it. This is the first identifiable academic literature review of the application of data mining techniques to CRM. It provides an academic database of literature between the period of 2000-2006 covering 24 journals and proposes a classification scheme to classify the articles. Nine hundred articles were identified and reviewed for their direct relevance to applying data mining techniques to CRM. Eighty-seven articles were subsequently selected, reviewed and classified. Each of the 87 selected papers was categorized on four CRM dimensions (Customer Identification, Customer Attraction, Customer Retention and Customer Development) and seven data mining functions (Association, Classification, Clustering, Forecasting, Regression, Sequence Discovery and Visualization). Papers were further classified into nine sub-categories of CRM elements under different data mining techniques based on the major focus of each paper. The review and classification process was independently verified. Findings of this paper indicate that the research area of customer retention received most research attention. Of these, most are related to one-to-one marketing and loyalty programs respectively. On the other hand, classification and association models are the two commonly used models for data mining in CRM. Our analysis provides a roadmap to guide future research and facilitate knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the application of data mining techniques in CRM.

Empirical examination of the adoption of WebCT using TAM

Abstract Web Course Tools (WebCT) have enhanced the ability and motivation of institutes of higher education to support e-learning. In this study, we extended the Technology Acceptance Model to include technical support as a precursor and then investigated the role of the extended model in user acceptance of WebCT. Responses from 836 university students were used to test the proposed structural model. The data showed that technical support has a significant direct effect on perceived ease of use and usefulness, while perceived ease of use and usefulness are the dominant factors affecting the attitude of students using WebCT. The results indicate the importance of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in mediating the relationship of technical support with attitude and WebCT usage.

A review for mobile commerce research and applications

Although a large volume of literature is available on mobile commerce (m-commerce), the topic is still under development and offers potential opportunities for further research and applications. Since the subject is at the stage of development, a review of the literature on m-commerce with the objective of bringing to the fore the state-of-art in m-commerce research and applications will initiate further research on the growth of m-commerce technologies. This paper reviews the literature on m-commerce and applications using a suitable classification scheme to identify the gap between theory and practice and future research directions. The 149 m-commerce articles are classified and the results of these are presented based on a scheme that consists of five distinct categories: m-commerce theory and research, wireless network infrastructure, mobile middleware, wireless user infrastructure, and m-commerce applications and cases. A comprehensive list of references is presented. We hope that the findings of this research will provide useful insights into the anatomy of m-commerce literature and be a good source for anyone who is interested in m-commerce. The paper also provides some future directions for research.

Application of decision-making techniques in supplier selection: A systematic review of literature

Despite the importance of decision-making (DM) techniques for construction of effective decision models for supplier selection, there is a lack of a systematic literature review for it. This paper provides a systematic literature review on articles published from 2008 to 2012 on the application of DM techniques for supplier selection. By using a methodological decision analysis in four aspects including decision problems, decision makers, decision environments, and decision approaches, we finally selected and reviewed 123 journal articles. To examine the research trend on uncertain supplier selection, these articles are roughly classified into seven categories according to different uncertainties. Under such classification framework, 26 DM techniques are identified from three perspectives: (1) Multicriteria decision making (MCDM) techniques, (2) Mathematical programming (MP) techniques, and (3) Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. We reviewed each of the 26 techniques and analyzed the means of integrating these techniques for supplier selection. Our survey provides the recommendation for future research and facilitates knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the application of DM techniques in supplier selection.

A literature review and classification of electronic commerce research

In this paper, we present a literature review and classification scheme for electronic commerce (EC) research. The former consists of 275 journal articles published between 1993 and 1999 in nine journals that are appropriate outlets for EC research. The results show that an increasing volume of EC research has been conducted for a diverse range of areas. The articles are classified and results of these are presented, based on a scheme that consists of four main categories: application areas, technological issues, support and implementation, and others. A comprehensive list of references is presented. Hopefully, this review will provide a source for anyone interested in EC research and help simulate further interest.

Measures for evaluating supply chain performance in transport logistics

Abstract This study aims to investigate the construct of, and develop a measurement instrument for, supply chain performance (SCP) in transport logistics. Based on the supply chain operations reference model and various established measures, a measurement model and a measurement instrument for SCP in transport logistics are developed. A 26-item SCP measurement instrument was constructed, reflecting service effectiveness for shippers, operations efficiency for transport logistics service providers, and service effectiveness for consignees. The empirical findings suggest that the measurement instrument is reliable and valid for evaluating SCP in transport logistics.

ERP systems adoption: An exploratory study of the organizational factors and impacts of ERP success

We examined the relationships between the success of ERP system adoption, extent of business process improvement (BPI), and organizational performance and investigated the associations between the outcomes of these initiatives and such organizational factors as strategic intent, senior management support, and the status of the IT function within a company. A correlation analysis of 96 firms was made to test our hypothesis that the strategic intent to use ERP was closely related to the success of BPI, ERP, and organizational performance. The results also demonstrated that CEO-IT distance may have little direct bearing on the outcomes of ERP and BPI initiatives. A closer CEO-IT reporting relationship, however, was found to be associated with higher levels of senior management support for both types of enterprise projects. This empirical evidence reinforced the long-held assumption that organization-level benefits, BPI, and ERP success were closely related; and that these relationships were subject to the influence of the organizational variables.

Information technology and systems justification : a review for research and applications

Information technology (IT) such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID), wireless, the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW), and Information Systems (IS) such as Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have had tremendous impact in education, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, retailing, pure services, and even war. Many organizations turned to IT/IS to help them achieve their goals; however, many failed to achieve the full potential of IT/IS. These failures can be attributed at least in part to a weak link in the planning process. That weak link is the IT/IS justification process. The decision-making process has only grown more difficult in recent years with the increased complexity of business brought about by the rapid growth of supply chain management, the virtual enterprise and E-business. These are but three of the many changes in the business environment over the past 10–12 years. The complexities of this dynamic new business environment should be taken into account in IT/IS justification. We conducted a review of the current literature on IT/IS justification. The purpose of the literature review was to assemble meaningful information for the development of a framework for IT/IS evaluation that better reflects the new business environment. A suitable classification scheme has been proposed for organizing the literature reviewed. Directions for future research are indicated.

Evaluation of knowledge management tools using AHP

This paper presents an application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) used to select the most appropriate tool to support knowledge management (KM). This method adopts a multi-criteria approach that can be used to analyse and compare KM tools in the software market. The method is based on pairwise comparisons between several factors that affect the selection of the most appropriate KM tool. An AHP model is formulated and applied to a real case of assisting decision-makers in a leading communications company in Hong Kong to evaluate a suitable KM tool. We believe that the application shown can be of use to managers and that, because of its ease of implementation, others can benefit from this approach.