Ralf Wölfle

Current Trends and Challenges in Electronic Procurement: An Empirical Study

This paper presents results from a longitudinal study on the use of ICT for B2B-related business processes in large Swiss companies. In an empirical survey, 68 questionnaires were personally collected from procurement heads and subsequently analysed. The study was initiated by industry partners who wanted to gain more detailed knowledge about the maturity of e-procurement in the Swiss market. Based on an extensive literature review and previous empirical studies, we developed a research framework addressing strategic as well as operational issues. The findings show that reduction of purchase prices is the top priority when setting procurement goals. For 78.2% of the respondents IT makes an important contribution to successfully carrying out the procurement function. Nevertheless, these companies are striving for further optimization and improved process integration. Electronic exchange of invoices (e-invoicing) is a current key topic for over 70% of the companies. Procurement heads sense a lack of supplier involvement, which makes the realization of balanced B2B solution scenarios difficult. The study shows that IT, without doubt, plays a significant role in everyday procurement, but that the expectations of IT are rarely completely fulfilled.

E-Business in the Era of Digital Transformation

In recent years, the development of information technology has reached a new level of evolution. It should be noted, however, that digitalization and digital transformation are not fundamentally new phenomena. A phase marked by strong digitalization, for example, was the result of the increased business use of the Internet in the early 1990s. The era of e-business began. The focus was on the digitalization of cross-company processes, which also brought new business models and interlinked value-added structures. Against the background of current developments, the question arises as to what role e-business now plays in digital transformation. The aim of this chapter is to show the current developments in e-business and their relationship to digital transformation. Following an introductory clarification of concepts and a consideration of the importance of mobile computing, the classic areas of e-business are addressed, in particular e-commerce, e-procurement and e-organization. The results show that e-business has always involved digital transformation processes and that these three perspectives of e-business are still helpful in analyzing the effects of digital transformation and identifying digitalization potential in and between companies. Besides information technology itself, the concepts of e-business become an important driver of digital transformation.