حرکت سیستم تامین تجهیزات بسمت اینترنت: پذیرش و استفاده از مدل های فن آوری تامین تجهیزات به روش الکترونیکی

This paper reports the results of a research project addressing the current state of e-procurement technologies. The results indicate that the final equilibrium may include several technologies, each one serving a different segment of the market. This multiplicity of solutions is likely to further delay the transition of the industry to its growth stage. Companies are approaching e-procurement technologies with very different strategies. We identify two main types of companies. The first type is moving aggressively to adopt e-procurement technologies, frequently experimenting with various solutions. The second type adopts a more conservative strategy by selectively experimenting, typically with one technology. This latter group relies on these limited experiences to provide the capabilities to move quickly into the technology as a dominant design emerges. The results suggest that e-procurement technologies will become an important part of supply chain management and that the rate of adoption will accelerate as aggressive adopters share their experiences.

Online procurement (e-procurement) has been identified as the ‘… most important element of e-business operational excellence for large corporations’ (Barua et al., 2001). An e-procurement technology is defined as any technology designed to facilitate the acquisition of goods by a commercial or a government organization over the Internet. E-Procurement technologies — including e-Procurement software, B2B (business-to-business) auctions, B2B market exchanges, and purchasing consortia — are focused on automating workflows, consolidating and leveraging organizational spending power, and identifying new sourcing opportunities through the Internet. Future developments are expected to extend these technology models to create collaborative supply chain management tools (Brunnelli, 1999 and Carabello, 2001). Not surprisingly, e-procurement technologies have been credited with providing significant benefits to companies who venture into them. These advantages include reducing administrative costs, shortening the order fulfillment cycle time, lowering inventory levels and the price paid for goods, and preparing organizations for increased technological collaboration and planning with business partners (Croom, 2000, Roche, 2001, Gamble, 1999, Greenemeier, 2000 and Murray, 2001). The relevance of these advantages suggested a rapid migration from traditional to e-based procurement models. Accordingly, just a few years back, market analysts predicted that Internet B2B transactions — a subset of e-procurement technologies — would increase from approximately $600 billion in 2000 to over $6.3 trillion by 2004 (Forrester Research, 2000). Unfortunately, this tremendous expected growth rate has been revised downwards. Recent market observations indicate that the adoption and integration of e-procurement technologies into the business mainstream is occurring at a much slower than expected pace. One reason is the implicit association that investors have made between e-procurement technologies and the business-to-consumer (B2C) models responsible for the Internet bubble. More often, the slow-down has been associated with technology-related issues. A 2001 study by the Conference Board points to problems in the implementation side and concludes that ‘organizations are …finding (e-procurement) implementation more complex, more expensive, and more time consuming than they originally envisioned’ and that consultants have been ‘widely criticized for overstating the business case for e-procurement’ (Conference Board, 2001). Companies were jumping onto the e-procurement bandwagon without fully understanding the inter-organizational collaboration and network effects underlying these technology models, the investment required to move the right information from suppliers to employees, and the complexities of integrating these technologies with existing Enterprise Resource Planning systems (Gilbert, 2000). In this paper we present the results of a research project undertaken to map current practices of e-procurement technologies, understand the drivers — benefits and risks — of their adoption, and project the expected evolution of these technologies in the near future. The findings are based on a survey supplemented by extensive discussions with industry experts and purchasing managers who are using e-procurement technologies. The analysis indicates that the slower-than-predicted growth is not the consequence of a single problem. Rather, e-procurement technologies are still in their early stages of the traditional technology S-curve, in which alternative technology models are rapidly evolving and users are still sorting out the winning model. This process is particularly complex because the final outcome may well be that different market segments will adopt different technology solutions. Because a well-defined business process is still unavailable, companies are using different strategies to approach these technologies. Some companies — aggressive adopters — are investing significant resources to experiment with alternative solutions with the expectation of identifying the technological winner and translating this leadership position into competitive advantage. Other companies — conservative adopters — are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. These companies are investing selectively in a reduced set of technology alternatives with the expectation of learning enough to be ready to move as soon as a winner emerges. Regardless of the current strategy of a company, the overall consensus is that e-procurement technologies will become an important management tool to enhance the performance of supply chains. The current focus on indirect goods as a way of experimenting with the technology is expected to evolve into procurement processes that facilitate inventory management and the purchase of capital goods. The actual benefits and risks of e-procurement technologies and managers’ evolving perceptions about these benefits and risks will determine the speed at which the technology moves from its developmental infancy to the adoption and maturity stages. However, the perceived risks that are holding back companies from investing in e-procurement technologies are numerous. In addition to technology-related risks, there are risks associated with the integration of these technologies with existing information systems, with the business model that these technologies impose on supplier–customer relations, and with the security and control mechanisms required to ensure their appropriate use. The evidence presented in this paper should enable finance, accounting, information technology, purchasing, and top managers to better prepare and plan for the future of e-procurement technologies in their organizations. After briefly outlining the research process in the second section, the paper maps the current state of e-procurement technologies in the third section by describing the positioning of the various technologies in the different market segments and by developing a typology of e-procurement technology adoption strategies. Next, it describes in the fourth section how companies are experimenting and learning about these technologies. The fifth section quantifies the economics of e-procurement technology through expected investments and savings, and elaborates qualitatively on the benefits and risks associated with them. The conclusion provides a summary of the current state of e-procurement technologies and expectations for future adoption. The four specific models of e-procurement technologies examined in this paper (defined in Table 1) are e-procurement software, market exchanges, B2B auctions, and purchasing consortia. Table 1. E-Procurement Model Definitions E-Procurement model Description E-Procurement software Any Internet-based software application that enables employees to purchase goods from approved electronic catalogues in accordance with company buying rules, while capturing necessary purchasing data in the process. The employee’s selection of a good for purchase from a supplier catalogue is automatically routed through the necessary approval processes and protocols. E-Procurement software investment may take several forms, including purchase of a software package from a third party technology provider (e.g., Ariba, CommerceOne), use of an e-procurement system embedded in an Internet market exchange, subscription to e-procurement software hosted and supported by an application service provider (ASP), or development of a proprietary in-house system. Internet market exchanges Web sites that bring multiple buyers and sellers together in one central virtual market space and enable them to buy and sell from each other at a dynamic price that is determined in accordance with the rules of the exchanges. Internet B2B auctions Internet B2B auctions are events in which multiple buyers place bids to acquire goods or services at an Internet site. There are a variety of e-auction formats. The two most popular auction formats are the Dutch auction (where the sellers control the minimum bid and prices move upward from the minimum bid) and the reverse auction (where buyers post ‘requests for quotations’ and sellers bid the price down). A major benefit of auctions is that they enable organizational buyers to identify the best offer from an expanded base of potential suppliers from around the world. Sellers benefit by obtaining access to bid for business on a level playing field rather than attempting to obtain business based on networks of personal relationships. Auctions also provide sellers with a ready market for the anonymous sale of excess inventory. Web sites such as freemarkets.com, purchasepro.com, fastparts.com, and sorcity.com, among others, can enable the e-auction process. Internet purchasing consortia Internet service that gathers the purchasing power of many buyers to negotiate more aggressive discounts. Some organizations aggregate buying power for manufacturing inputs (such as FOB.com), while others perform similar functions for indirect goods (such as BizBuyer.com).

E-Procurement technologies have been the subject of much discussion and great expectation. The market has been disappointed with what e-procurement models have delivered to date. Nevertheless, in most cases, these technologies present attractive value propositions for greater organizational efficiency and reduced costs and cycle times. Nothing in our analysis indicates that the apparently inexorable shift in business communications toward the Internet is grinding to a halt. However, the report does provide evidence that organizational participation, investment, and use of e-procurement technologies is occurring at a slower pace than the market expected. E-Procurement technology and its applications are still in their infancy and going through growing pains not uncommon to new technologies and changing initiatives. Aggressive adopters are moving steadily into these technologies and the future outlook indicates that their importance will grow as companies move from experimenting to fully adopting e-procurement technologies. The quantifiable savings as well as the qualitative benefits associated with these technologies indicate that the rate of adoption will accelerate as aggressive adopters share their positive experiences regarding perceived technology and business risks. The overall respondent perception is that e-procurement technologies will become an important element in the management of supply chains. Except for a small group of companies that have chosen to sit on the side and let others experiment, organizations are actively involved in these technologies. Most organizations are participating with small investments that allow them to be aware of developments and develop the required capabilities to move into these technologies. These experiments with e-procurement technologies are run on non-core supply processes such as office supplies and computers. A selected group, however, is investing heavily in e-procurement technologies with the expectation of deriving the promised benefits ahead of their competitors. These aggressive adopters are companies that enjoy a better competitive position. The economically determined selection process at this early stage suggests that the outcome may not be a single dominant design but a set of technological solutions that vary across market segments. Thus, companies planning to move their core supply processes to an e-procurement solution should carefully weigh the economics of the various e-procurement technologies. A scaled-down version of the best solution for a large organization may not be the best technology for a smaller company. E-Procurement technologies are still perceived to involve significant risks. From a technology point of view, the lack of an overall accepted standard is holding back a sizeable number of companies from adopting technologies. These companies fear buying into a ‘closed’ technology that cannot communicate with other technologies and thus limits access to a broader network of supply chain constituencies. But the risks are not limited to technology, they also involve the business model that will emerge to support e-procurement technologies. These technologies will redefine the supplier – customer relationship — who can be a supplier? who pays for the investment required to access the technology? what information gets shared? The success of some e-procurement technologies relies on network effects that appear only if enough players adopt these technologies. Finally, there are risks that bridge business and technology, including security and control systems that will ensure the reliability of e-procurement technologies. The good news is that companies that have aggressively moved into these technologies perceive these risks to be lower than companies that have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach. If this lower risk perception is related to their experience with e-procurement technologies, the cost that slower adopters perceive may be over-estimated and will come down as aggressive adopters share their experiences. In summary, the results of the survey provide a comprehensive picture of the current state of e-procurement technologies. The results should be assessed in light of the fast-paced technological changes in the marketplace and the volatile history and hype that have recently accompanied emerging Internet-based business applications such as e-procurement.