Electronic Markets and Electronic Hierarchies

Abstract

The innovations in information technologies of the past two decades have radically reduced the time and cost of processing and communicating information. These reductions have in turn brought many changes in the ways that tasks are accomplished in firms. Data-processing systems have transformed the ways in which accounting data are gathered and processed, for example, and CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacture) has transformed the ways in which complex machinery is designed. Underlying (and often obscured by) these changes in how business tasks are performed may be more fundamental changes in how firms and markets organize the flow of goods and services through their value-added chains (e.g., see Porter & Millar, 1985). This chapter addresses this more basic issue of how advances in information technology are affecting firm and market structures and discusses the options that these changes present for corporate strategies.

An Empirical Examination of Fit between Supply Chain Integration and Environmental Uncertainty

“…Demand uncertainty connect with the customer demand, nevertheless, customer demand uncertainty is one of main factor of demand uncertainty. Malone et al [25] pointed out that asset specificity and description complexity will affect purchasing uncertainty. Chopra and Meindl [26] indicated that demand uncertainty should fall into two demand uncertainty such as implied demand uncertainty and demand uncertainty.…”