Robert B. Johnston

The need for a processual view of inter-organizational systems adoption

In order to sustain competitiveness, companies need to adopt electronic commerce (EC) enabled inter-organizational systems (IOS) to improve the efficiencies of entire supply chains. Adoption of IOS by companies, however, has proved difficult since such systems span organizational boundaries. Understanding IOS adoption is hampered by a lack of theory that can capture the complexity involved in IOS adoption since previous studies mostly employ the factor approach. In this paper, using Efficient Consumer Response as an example of an EC-enabled IOS, we demonstrate that the acknowledgement of the inter-organizational context of these systems naturally introduces the need for the processual approach and different notions of causality. We also show how the factor and the processual approaches to theorizing IOS adoption can be used in a complementary way.

A theory of industry-level activity for understanding the adoption of interorganizational systems

Increasingly we wish to ask and research questions about the adoption of interorganizational systems and electronic commerce at the industry level but are hampered by the lack of a theory of concerted purposeful action at this large level of analysis. In this paper we give the outlines of such a theory and indicate the uses to which it can be put. Particular attention is paid to how the routine day-to-day activities of the firms and support organizations that make up an industry group can be coordinated in such a way that we can speak of an industry as engaged in purposeful activity. We contend that only through a deep understanding of the possibilities and nature of routine coordinated activity at this level can issues concerning promotion, implementation and adoption of interorganizational systems by whole industries be properly framed.

An emerging vision of internet-enabled supply-chain electronic commerce

Abstract: Increasingly, large retail companies are finding that the traditional vision of Electronic Data Interchange, using a value-added network with expensive message-translation software and private wide-area networks, is unable to deliver its promise of paperless trading with their suppliers. Many companies have achieved a high level of EDI compliance from their large suppliers, but unsophisticated, usually small, suppliers generally remain outside their electronic commerce networks. This poses a serious problem, since the most important business reengineering benefits require 100 percent compliance. Many large retailers are turning to the diverse range of new Internet-based document distribution and presentation systems for ways of including unsophisticated traders in their replenishment systems. The traditional EDI vision resulted from the interaction of several aspects of the replenishment problem (available technology, transaction cost structure, the power of message-transmission intermediaries, notions about how to achieve supply-chain cooperation, shared understandings of correct e-commerce practice within the industry), but it achieved only partial supply-chain compliance because it failed to take account of the differences between sophisticated and unsophisticated trading partners. This paper argues that the commercial availability of the Internet does more than simply provide a cheaper alternative document-transmission channel. Rather, by upsetting the balance among the contextual forces, it allows the emergence of a new vision of supply-chain electronic commerce featuring a backbone any-to-any network of EDI-compliant, technologically sophisticated trading partners, with Internet-based subnetworks, centered on large players or third parties, using proprietary software, development tools, and message formatting to provide connection to unsophisticated players.

Theoretical perspectives in purchasing and supply chain management: an analysis of the literature

Purpose – This paper attempts to seek answers to four questions. Two of these questions have been borrowed (but adapted) from the work of Defee et al.: RQ1. To what extent is theory used in purchasing and supply chain management (P&SCM) research? RQ2. What are the prevalent theories to be found in P&SCM research? Following on from these questions an additional question is posed: RQ3. Are theory-based papers more highly cited than papers with no theoretical foundation? Finally, drawing on the work of Harland et al., the authors have added a fourth question: RQ4. To what extent does P&SCM meet the tests of coherence, breadth and depth, and quality necessary to make it a scientific discipline? Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the model outlined by Tranfield et al. for three journals within the field of “purchasing and supply chain management”. In total 1,113 articles were reviewed. In addition a citation analysis was completed covering 806 articles in total. Findings – The headline features from the results suggest that nearly a decade-and-a-half on from its development, the field still lacks coherence. There is the absence of theory in much of the work and although theory-based articles achieved on average a higher number of citations than non-theoretical papers, there is no obvious contender as an emergent paradigm for the discipline. Furthermore, it is evident that P&SCM does not meet Fabians test necessary to make it a scientific discipline and is still some way from being a normal science. Research limitations/implications – This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals, however the analysis of 1,113 articles from three leading journals in the field of P&SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. In addition, a further significant line of enquiry to follow is the rigour vs relevance debate. Practical implications – This article is of interest to both an academic and practitioner audience as it highlights the use theories in P&SCM. Furthermore, this article raises a number of important questions. Should research in this area draw more heavily on theory and if so which theories are appropriate? Social implications – The broader social implications relate to the discussion of how a scientific discipline develops and builds on the work of Fabian and Amundson. Originality/value – The data set for this study is significant and builds on a number of previous literature reviews. This review is both greater in scope than previous reviews and is broader in its subject focus. In addition, the citation analysis (not previously conducted in any of the reviews) and statistical test highlights that theory-based articles are more highly cited than non-theoretically based papers. This could indicate that researchers are attempting to build on one anothers work.

Should Start-up Companies Be Cautious? Inventory Policies Which Maximise Survival Probabilities

New start-up companies, which are considered to be a vital ingredient in a successful economy, have a different objective than established companies: They want to maximise their chance of long-term survival. We examine the implications for their operating decisions of this different criterion by considering an abstraction of the inventory problem faced by a start-up manufacturing company. The problem is modelled under two criteria as a Markov decision process; the characteristics of the optimal policies under the two criteria are compared. It is shown that although the start-up company should be more conservative in its component purchasing strategy than if it were a well-established company, it should not be too conservative. Nor is its strategy monotone in the amount of capital it has available. The models are extended to allow for interest on investment and inflation.

Adoption of efficient consumer response: the issue of mutuality

The adoption of efficient consumer response (ECR) has been slow in many regions, despite its many potential benefits to supply chain participants through reduction of inventory level and operating costs. There has not been any well‐developed theory that can explain this slow uptake. Argues that the inherent characteristics of ECR have actually created barriers to its own adoption. As an inter‐organisational system (IOS), ECR adoption requires co‐operation and trust between trading partners, which are unlikely to happen unless costs, benefits and risks of ECR implementation can be mutually shared. Shows, using a case study conducted within one supply chain, that an unequal distribution of costs, benefits and risks among manufacturer, distributor and retailer is inherent in the implementation of cross‐docking, which typifies the overall ECR program. The findings of this study lead to a new direction in understanding the barriers to adoption of ECR and IOS in general.

Planning or organizing: The implications of theories of activity for management of operations

In this paper we examine a dominant approach to management at the operations level which we refer to as management-as-planning. Our contention is that this approach to operations management rests on an implicit assumption of the plausibility of a particular theory of the nature of on-going, purposeful activity, the planning model of activity, which we describe in detail in order to draw out its underlying assumptions. We present three examples of the management-as-planning approach from the diverse settings of robotics, manufacturing production management and public sector policy formation and conclude that many of the assumptions of the planning model of activity cannot be satisfied in realistic environments. There is a need to found management at the operations level on a more realistic conception of the nature of purposeful activity which is currently being articulated in the fields of cognitive science and social theory. This change of view leads to a new approach to the nature operations management which we call management-as-organizing. The beginnnings of this new approach at work can be discerned in three examples of counter approaches in use in the same three areas studied.

Adoption of efficient consumer response: key issues and challenges in Australia

Efficient consumer response (ECR) is an electronic commerce (EC)‐enabled grocery industry supply chain management strategy, which is designed to make the industry more efficient and responsive. Despite the many benefits obtainable from ECR, the adoption rate has been slow in many regions. At this stage, there is no well‐developed theory of adoption of technologies at this wide scale that can explain this slow uptake. This paper explores the experiences of the Australian grocery industry with ECR adoption. In order to obtain a more reliable snapshot of ECR adoption practices, barriers and perceptions, this study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Since the Australian grocery industry has a unique structure, important observations obtained from this study enrich previous ECR adoption studies.

Rethinking the place of the artefact in IS using Heidegger's analysis of equipment

The IT artefact, conceived as a bundle of features or properties, is frequently seen as the core object of interest in IS. We argue that this view of IT derives from a worldview that stresses a duality between the individual and the external world. Using a stylized account of an IT implementation project, we show how this worldview conditions the phenomena that show up as most central in the IS discipline and the way mainstream theories and research approaches make sense of these phenomena. Retelling the same story through the lens of Heideggers analysis of equipment in Being and Time (1927/1962), we present an alternative conception of IT as equipment holistically interwoven with other equipment, user practices, and individual identities. This allows rethinking what are central and peripheral concepts and phenomena in the IS discipline, and outline implications of such a shift for IS theorising, research practice and design.

Theory of interorganizational systems: industry structure and processes of change

The paper concerns the development and adoption of interorganizational systems (IOS): information systems that span organizational boundaries. These business-to-business e-commerce systems have considerable economic importance. The paper outlines a multi-level theory of IOS that explicitly recognizes the importance of the industry as a macro-level unit of analysis in addition to the units (enterprises) at the micro-level. The roles of the external environment and the technology based IOS are also recognized. Theories of intentional agency drawn from the areas of robotics, intelligent software agents and human-computer interaction are used to explain how industry-level activity occurs. Concerted activity is attributed to the reciprocal causal effect of the group upon the individual units, rather than to any form of regular group deliberation about action. It is expected that change at the industry level will tend to be incremental, building on routine, situated actions of different players. Propositions concerning industry structure, processes of change and the development of IOS are illustrated with case studies.