Esko Penttinen

Impacts of the Implementation of Electronic Invoicing on Buyer-Seller Relationships

In this paper, we examine the effects of the implementation of electronic invoicing on buyerseller relationships. We apply the framework by Cannon & Perreault [1] to analyze the changes in the relationship connectors between the two parties. Drawing on qualitative interview data from a single case study, we find that the implementation of electronic invoicing has a strong impact on the information exchange component as well as on the operational linkages component. In addition, we find that both parties have made adaptations due to the implementation of electronic invoicing. It was also concluded that the switching costs have increased and the commitment improved between the seller and its customers. While the investments in electronic invoicing usually reduce costs for the buyers, the sellers benefit from the implementation of electronic invoicing in creating long-lasting relationships and even dependence between the two parties.

SUPPORTING IT IMPLEMENTATION DECISIONS WITH ANP — SUPPLIER SCHEDULING FOR e-INVOICING

Companies aim to make their supply chains more efficient by using modern information technology (IT). Owing to limited resources there is a need to prioritize IT projects and those generating the highest business value should be implemented first. In this paper, we first develop the theoretical foundations for the prioritization decision and then implement the theoretical principles by applying the ANP (analytic network process) approach. A model is developed to aid a buyer company in selecting prioritized suppliers for adopting electronic invoicing. The case company is a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company. The ANP approach is considered suitable for this type of decision problem with many interconnected decision-making criteria. As the result of the analysis, the prioritized suppliers, representing different supplier types in the case company, are determined. The results can be applied to schedule e-invoicing implementation projects among the supplier companies. Based on the case study it can be concluded that the theoretical principles and the ANP approach can also be applied to other IT implementation decisions concerning supply chain efficiency.

Assessing the Effect of External Pressure in Inter-organizational IS Adoption – Case Electronic Invoicing

We assess the effect of external pressure in IS adoption in the inter-organizational settings of electronic invoicing. Electronic invoicing has been hailed as one of the biggest savings generators for businesses in recent years. However, the adoption in different countries has been much slower than anticipated. Based on earlier literature on diffusion of innovations, adoption of inter-organizational information systems, and institutional theory, we build a research model to empirically estimate the relative importance of external pressure in the context of an IOS implementation. We test the research model empirically using a survey data of companies that have received a letter enforcing them to move to electronic invoicing. We find that organizational readiness, external pressure, and perceived benefits are the most important factors affecting the adoption of electronic invoicing systems in small and medium sized companies (SMEs). We also find evidence for the “bandwagon effect” as well as for the supplier pressure.

Outsourcing of Disaggregated Services in Cloud-Based Enterprise Information Systems

In this paper, we examine outsourcing of disaggregated information-intensive services. Drawing on the theoretical streams of Global Information-Intensive Service Disaggregation and Transaction-Cost Economics, we formulate our research model to understand the phenomenon of disaggregation in the context of cloud computing. The model encompasses frequency, asset specificity, uncertainty, information intensity, and need for customer contact as characteristics of tasks that we use to explain the outsourcing of disaggregated services. We are especially interested in understanding the interplay between these characteristics and the increasingly popular cloud-based systems. Our results partially support previous research on the effects of characteristics on outsourcing. The main finding of the paper is impact of the cloud-based information systems on the interaction of these characteristics.

Supporting the Supplier Scheduling Decisions in the E-Invoicing Implementation Projects - An Application of the ANP Method

In this paper, an ANP (Analytic Network Process) model is developed to aid a buyer company in prioritizing suppliers for adopting electronic invoicing. The case company is a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company. Because implementing e-invoicing with all the suppliers at the same time would require too many financial and other resources, it is necessary to schedule the implementations among the suppliers. Since the problem involves a lot of interconnected decision making criteria, the ANP method is considered suitable for this type of decision problem. The ANP model is constructed based on the business value concept as the main goal. As the result of analysis, the priorities between the suppliers are computed and the results can be applied to schedule the e-invoicing implementations among the supplier companies.

Implementing Electronic Invoicing in a Textile and Cleanliness Company-Impacts on Buyer-Seller Relationships

In this paper, we examine the effects of the implementation of electronic invoicing on buyer-seller relationships. We apply the framework by Cannon and Perreault 1999 to analyze the changes in the relationship connectors between the two parties. Drawing on qualitative interview data from a single case study, we find that the implementation of electronic invoicing has a strong impact on the information exchange component as well as on the operational linkages component. In addition, we find that both parties have made adaptations due to the implementation of electronic invoicing. It was also concluded that the switching costs have increased and the commitment improved between the seller and its customers. While the investments in electronic invoicing usually reduce costs for the buyers, the sellers benefit from the implementation of electronic invoicing in creating long-lasting relationships and even dependence between the two parties.

Turning robotic process automation into commercial success – Case OpusCapita

OpusCapita Group is a Finnish company offering financial processes and outsourcing services to medium-sized companies and large corporations. OpusCapita particularly focuses on comprehensive Purchase-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash processes. In hopes to stay ahead of the curve in financial process automation, OpusCapita is betting on Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This teaching case presents challenges faced by Mr. Petri Karjalainen, Senior Vice President at OpusCapita Group, who is looking for ways to introduce RPA to the market, and provide added value to new and existing customers.

What Influences Choice of Business-to-Business Connectivity Platforms?

ABSTRACT Business-to-Business platforms provide connectivity and data exchange services and compete in several dedicated services, such as electronic invoicing (e-invoicing). Thus far, little research has examined the factors that influence firms’ choice among competing platforms: Which platform features matter, and in what proportion in the decision maker’s choice? To address this gap, we conduct an empirical study and triangulate with past theoretical explanations that have sought to account for the firm’s choice. Based on the analysis, we formulate a platform selection model that includes nine features: (1) reach, (2) total cost, (3) usability, (4) ease of system integration, (5) implementation capability, (6) platform support for service improvement, (7) service customization, (8) platform reputation, and (9) long-term sustainability. We apply conjoint analysis using firms’ selection data, collected from 282 firms that have recently made a purchase decision among e-invoicing platforms. All features except the vendor’s implementation capability are found to significantly influence the platform choice. Two features—usability and reach—dominate the choice and account for nearly 50 percent of the likely outcome. We use cluster analysis to examine the effect of firm size on firms’ preferences in platform features. As hypothesized, larger companies prefer interoperability, scale, and network effects, while smaller companies value local use efficiency and ease of use because they are more concerned with usability and cost. Our theoretical and managerial claims concerning platform choice highlight the difficulty of bootstrapping, the role of pricing and cost, the minor importance of implementation-related features, and the impact of longevity during platform contracting.

Constructing Continuities in Virtual Work Environments: A Multiple Case Study of Two Firms with Differing Degrees of Virtuality

In this paper, we study how continuities are constructed in virtual work environments by comparing two firms with differing degrees of virtuality. Using Organizational Discontinuity Theory and drawing on a qualitative study of two accounting firms operating in Finland, we observe virtual work discontinuities in the two firms and identify constructed continuities. We find that in constructing continuities, virtual organizations need to balance rigid and flexible approaches regarding governance structure, the role of technology, communication management, and workflow management. Our main contributions are an empirical application of Organizational Discontinuity Theory to the comparison of virtual work environments and a set of propositions regarding how firms approach continuity construction in different virtuality contexts.

Onboarding customer companies to electronic invoicing platform – developing a marketing and a partnering strategy for Tieto, an e-invoicing service provider

This teaching case deals with onboarding and partnering issues of electronic invoicing service providers. The students are expected to familiarize themselves with e-invoicing, a current form of many-to-many inter-organizational information systems that is being adopted widely, understand the business model of an e-invoicing service provider, and develop an onboarding and a partnering strategy for the service provider. The student (or student case group) is given one out of three profiles of e-invoicing service providers, and the students are expected to solve the case taking into consideration their specific profile. A case discussion is encouraged in class so that the student (given a profile of an e-invoicing service providers) may interact and negotiate with other students (student groups with different profiles).