Procurement Systems – A Project Management Perspective Chapter 7 – E-Business and Project Procurement Derek H.T. Walker, Guillermo Aranda-Mena, Mario Arlt and Justin Stark
7. E-Business and Project Procurement Derek H.T. Walker, Guillermo Aranda-Mena, Mario Arlt and Justin Stark
Chapter Introduction E-business in its variety of forms that use information communication technologies (ICT) has changed the way that business transactions can take place (Sawhney and Parikh, 2001). E-Procurement has drastically altered the value generation equation by ICT reducing transaction costs (Duyshart, 1997; Duyshart, Mohamed, Hampson and Walker, 2003) and facilitating internet commerce (Lawrence, Lawrence, Newton, Dann, Corbitt and Thanasankit, 2003). In today’s market, many companies present themselves to the world via their internet site, they tender and respond to tenders use web enabled technologies, manage and control their accounting and information exchange using electronic means and they also use groupware internet technologies for sharing knowledge, decision making, coordination and project control. Moving from paper-based to object oriented data models has transformed much of the procurement process and improves supply chain integration.
E-business
The organisation Level 4 – full ICT and transactional exchanges across supply chain
BU 1
BU 2 BU 3
BU n
BU 1 E-commerce
Integrated Online + Offline
Suppliers
Level 3 – EDI + transactional between organisation communications
BU 1 BU 2
BU 3
Linked
BU n
Level 2 – communication and data organisation-internal exchange systems
Sub-contractors
Level 1 – standalone independent transactional IT systems
Clients
Isolated Online OR Offline
Paper based
Figure 7-1 – e-Business Trajectory
There has been a clear journey along a value curve over time for many companies that suggests the following trajectory: stand alone data/information processing (for internal applications); communication and information/data exchange between
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