Impact of eBusiness Supply Chain Technology on Inter-organisational Relationships: Stories from the Front Line

Implementing e-business systems on supply chains has been predicted to lead to closer inter-organisational (IO) relationships. Adopting a qualitative and exploratory approach, we conducted a preliminary interview study and a comparative case study that sought to surface more specifically the underlying dynamics of how e-business systems affect IO relationships. In total we conducted 75 interviews. Participants were drawn from two customer organisations: a large food retailer and a large aerospace component manufacturer, and from their supplier bases. Following the implementation of e-business supply chain management systems (e-SCMS) in the customer companies, we observed substantial changes to various relationship aspects such as communication, perceived transparency, trust and collaboration. Differences in contextual factors such as customer approach to customer-supplier relationships, inter-firm process re-engineering initiatives, and e-SCMS functionalities implemented, appeared to determine the extent to which IO relationships became closer. We propose a set of tentative mechanisms to explain IO relationship changes and discuss some of the wider implications of the increased transparency created by e-SCMS on IO relationship dynamics.