Managing Electronic Supply Chains

During the early 2000s, the advent of internet and e-communication enabled organizations to be more responsive and cater to their customers' needs in a better way. Over the last few years, integrated technologies and ERP systems has allowed organizations to gain market share and establish themselves as e-commerce players. This has been achieved through better synchronization, business realignment, and operational flexibility. The rapid development in fields of information technology has transformed old partnerships between suppliers, buyers, and service providers into a more collaborative business process where information and knowledge sharing is a key success parameter. Through enhanced IT capabilities, SMEs can cooperate to form a network and promote their joint capacities to acquire a complex project and integrate resources for a better planning and execution. In this chapter, the author seeks to highlight the importance for e-SCM to be implemented and adopted, current status of adoption through case studies, benefits of e-SCM as strategy and challenges plaguing adoption of e-SCM.