Revising concepts for interfirm collaboration - a case-based approach (ePub)

Diploma Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Computer Science - Commercial Information Technology, grade: 1.3 (A), European Business School - International University Schloß Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel (Information Systems), language: English, abstract: The pressure on today's companies to outperform their competitors has been amplified by ever-growing customer demands. Diversification of products and operations in various markets entail heightened levels of uncertainty and risk in the wake of a pronounced economic downturn. Technical advances and strategic reconsiderations in the Business-to-Business (B2B) market have led companies to meet such challenges with new forms of collaboration. Especially considering its drawbacks, the success of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has confirmed the demand for interfirm connectivity. Combined, current forms of collaboration are limited both in scale and scope, as few companies have had the vision and drive to prepare themselves for what is ahead of proprietary one-to-one exchanges.

Since 1999, industrial organizations have separately attempted to enable common interfirm trade with the help of online trading platforms and e-marketplaces. In most industries, the use of these platforms has been reduced to low numbers of intra-industry transactions between first-movers and strategic visionaries. Despite their damped optimism, companies' readiness has progressed along with the market potential. Tackling the initial weaknesses, an integrative B2B trading network that is based on true interoperability and openness is now well-positioned to exploit this increased potential.

Still, collaboration in its current forms may not be sufficient: considering the present dominance of customer demands, an increasing number of individual solutions must be mass-tailored to order. At first sight, this leaves companies with no choice but to at least neglect, if not give up the goals of synergies, economies of scale as well as critical mass. In reply to this increasingly dynamic and competitive market environment, companies may outsource supporting functions and focus on their core competences. So far however, Western firms have lacked access to the right partners for the required resources, allowing only the outsourcing of selected operations or collaboration on projects of limited. Similar to e-marketplaces, outsourcing has so far not only been restricted in both its strategic and operational scope, but also repeatedly been employed ineffectively or inappropriately. To fully account for the challenges of today's companies and to leverage their dormant potential, e-marketplaces and outsourcing are to be combined.