Collaborative Implementation of Inter-organizational Interoperability in a Complex Setting

Collaboration is now considered as a strategic advantage for enhancing effectiveness in Inter-Organisational Information System (IOIS) implementation, particularly in electronic government (e-government). As governments strive to improve their service delivery systems with constraint resources, IOIS was seen as the key factor for efficacy. Findings in this study revealed that the rhetoric and the reality of IOIS implementation were misaligned. Social and human factors were revealed as pertinent for this disparity and good governance was seen as the redeeming factor for IOIS implementation. Understanding these factors is critical in improving the probability of success in future IOIS implementation.

Nowadays, high competitive market needs fast, effective, high responsiveness, online interactive, 24 hours 7 days availability and easy to follow up order processing. Consequently, there is a need for a model in which interdisciplinary approaches for understanding the range of Supply Chain Management (SCM) Information System (IS) capabilities are provided. In this study, an integrated model of SCM IS was developed that is supported by empirical evidence specific to SCM IS implementations. The developed model integrates and enriches theories of competitive strategy, supply chain management and inter-organizational information systems. Then, a case study of an automotive manufacturing industry was conducted to demonstrate the proficiency of the proposed model. As a result, better understanding of capabilities of implemented supply chain management information systems and expected future capabilities could be identified by practitioners and decision makers. Finally, findings of this study are listed together with some future works.

Business integration is no longer optional. With the opening of local and world markets to international competition, businesses have been actively looking at managing their costs, their competition, and their customers' expectations. Integrating business processes amongst partners was deemed as an efficient way to meet these objectives. Amongst various concepts, Inter-Organizational Information System (IOIS) has seen a significant interest from organizations and researchers alike. IOIS is an inter-partners information system that enables adding seamlessness to business processes crossing these partners' systems. The component inside IOIS responsible for the bridging between different partners' systems is the Inter-Organizational Middleware System (IOMS). IOMS is both a technical tool managing communication and data exchange between heterogeneous systems and a business tool proactively participating in the business process. This duality has been a strength but also a problem for IOMS. Indeed, organizations tend to resist updating and upgrading it and in the process causing it to suffer the problem of legacy processes. When these legacy processes become unupgradable, i.e. can no longer be updated using standard methods and tools, the risk to business increases and the cost of keeping these processes functioning becomes excessive. The authors embarked on a four-year journey investigating the problem of Unupgradable Legacy Processes (ULP) in IOMS and propose numerous artifacts addressing various elements of the issue. Riding on these artifacts, this paper looks at their journey from an implementational perspective and assesses lessons learnt for organizations to both manage and avoid ULPs. First, the concept of IOMS is presented. Then the problem of ULPs in IOMS is discussed. Research findings are then presented as lessons learnt before the outcomes are analyzed and limitation of the research are debated.

This paper uses fractal theory to analyze interorganizational information systems (IOS). Firstly, IOS’s structure has fractal characteristics of self-similarity, self-optimization and self-organization, consequently, gives the concept and definition of fractal interorganizational information systems (FIOS). Thirdly, builds IOS topological structure fits actual needs based on Diffused-Limited Aggregation (DLA) model to optimize the growth rule of IOS, then, designs six topological structures of FIOS and estimates approximatively their fractal dimension values. Finally, gives fractal interorganizational information systems application to optimize the supply chain network structure to improve operation efficiency.

Despite extensive research and practitioner literature on inter-organizational information systems (IOIS), our understanding of non-adoption still has some under-explored issues. This paper offers an explanation of non-adoption that focuses on the potential structural changes that IOIS adoption entails; in particular, we contend that the contradictions between the initial social structure and the structure enacted in the use of an IOIS can be a cause of non-adoption. This paper analyses adoption from a logic of opposition where non-adoption occurs because forces of transformation are offset by forces of persistence. Relying on the concepts of social structure, duality of structure, and structural contradiction from Structuration theory, we develop a framework that categorizes the underlying social structure where an IOIS is to be adopted, and formulate some theoretical propositions. From a practitioner perspective, this paper contends that the fact that IOIS management uncovers the contradictions in the social structure that result from IOIS adoption can help avoid dead ends. Accordingly, this framework, which can be used as a coarse-grained picture for anticipating adoption problems, can inform managers when devising an IOIS implementation strategy.

As corporations rely on collaborations with partners to enhance their competiveness, they use interorganizational information systems (IOIS) as a powerful tool to link with their partners in the supply chain. The purpose of this study is to measure IOIS performance in the supply chain. The proposed framework considers both internal and external organisational perspectives and is based on the balanced scorecard. This study also uses experts’ pairwise comparisons in the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process approach to consider the relative weight or importance of diverse indicators of the framework. Then, this study applies the proposed framework to the Taiwanese information technology industry. The results provide references for managers and future researches when assessing IOIS performance in the supply chain. The proposed model can serve as a useful instrument for helping managers to better understand the main facets of IOIS performance, to be more capable of prioritising improvement projects, and to adopt the right solutions to enhance overall performance.

Outsourcing of IT-supported business processes (systems development; customer relationship management; helpdesk, etc.) has become increasingly common in Western economies since the late 1990s. Such outsourcing is totally dependent on the provision of inter-organizational information systems (IOSs), which act as the “glue” to link vendor(s) and client(s). Hence understanding the importance of IOSs, and conversely, the downsides or risks they embody, is a critical part of ensuring that outsourcing arrangements are successful. In this chapter the theory behind outsourcing is unpacked, and readers are alerted to sometimes-overlooked aspects of the IOSs on which outsourcing depends. These raise the risks, and reduce the benefits, of outsourcing if they are not well thought through. Decision makers are advised to explicitly include the notion of risk in their outsourcing business cases, including those risks associated with the IOSs that support outsourcing arrangements.

Jointly developing a business case for inter-organizational information systems (IOS) is difficult as: (1) in a business network there are benefits that may not appear at the site where costs occur, and (2) the involved stakeholders often have different or even conflicting organizational goals. This paper analyzes the use of value modeling as a way to address these two challenges and support business case development in a network. We carried out a case study to explore the usefulness of the value modeling logic during an IOS implementation project and conclude that the integration of value modeling into business case development can help to improve the quality of the business case. The value model allows business partners to get insights into the way value is exchanged in the network and check the distribution of costs and benefits, yet doing so without having to reveal confidential details about internal business processes.

Businesses are increasingly engaging in inter-organizational collaboration. At the same time, assessing the benefits and the success of an inter-organizational system is still a challenge. Academia and businesses alike struggle with insufficient assessment methods and benefits measurement processes. Our research applies and extends a recently developed framework for the assessment of expected and realized benefits in IS implementation projects (expectations-benefits framework). The framework was developed using an established case study methodology (experience methodology) including more than 140 case studies of real-world IS projects. In this paper we selected a sample of 16 suitable cases for the study of inter-organizational information systems and found 190 realized and 59 unexpected benefits in the described implementation projects. The findings show several patterns in the benefits in relation to the existing integration scenarios and the benefits categories.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is applied to support the creation of electronic markets (e-markets). Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the exchange of structured data between information systems of different organizations. EDI is often considered as the first step towards e-markets. In the course of time EDI was extended and interorganizational information systems (IOS) were used to create electronic marketplaces. IOS serve as intermediaries between buyers and sellers. Probably the most well known examples of IOSs are airline reservation systems, which are closed systems having typically a limited number of participants.

The failure rate of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementations is estimated to be greater than 65%. Lowering the failure rate and supporting the success of information systems (IS) are the ultimate goals of IS practitioners and researchers. However, most previous research in the area has focused on identifying factors such as critical success factors (CSFs) that are correlated with IS success. There has been little research on how IS implementation may lead to successful results. The state of knowledge in IS implementation may be likened to cooking with a list of ingredients but not the recipe. Drawing on process theory, this study examines the process of IS implementation by explaining how factors of IS implementation influence each other and how interactions among them produce results. Based on one successful case and two unsuccessful cases, we develop the process model of IS implementation, by which the process of IS implementation and the dynamics of IS success can be explained. The proposed model facilitates an understanding of how repeating patterns of IS failure can be reversed, and could serve to guide new IS implementation projects.

The objective of this paper is to clarify the complex notion of flexibility and to explore the impact of inter-organisational information systems (IOS) on the flexibility of the interaction between organisations. Based on previous research and on Vickers's appreciative systems thinking, the paper examines flexibility as a multidimensional concept, influenced by the inter-organisational context. Following an interpretive approach and a multiple case design, it analyses the flexibility of the interaction of two retailers and two suppliers. Based on the empirical findings, it shows that the use of IOS can constrain even competent organisations. It also shows how different organisational contexts affect the flexibility of inter-organisational collaboration. It finally discusses the socio-technical and dynamic nature of flexibility, as well as examining the relationships between its different dimensions.

Critical success factors of inter-organizational information systems

Information systems that link businesses for the purpose of inter-organizational transfer of business transaction information (inter-organizational information systems, or IOIS) have been in use since the 1970s (Lankford & Riggs, 1996). Early systems relied on private networks, using electronic data interchange (EDI) or United Nations EDIFACT standards for format and content of transaction messages. Due to their cost and complexity, the use of these systems was confined primarily to large companies, but low-cost Internet commercialization has led to much more widespread adoption of IOIS. Systems using the Internet and the World Wide Web are commonly referred to as B2B (business-to-business) systems, supporting B2B electronic commerce. Technological innovations have led to several forms of B2B Internet implementations, often in the form of online exchanges. These are virtual marketplaces where buyers and sellers exchange information about prices, products, and service offerings, and negotiate business transactions. In addition to substituting proprietary lines of communication, emerging technologies and public networks have also facilitated new business models and new forms of interaction and collaboration, in areas such as collaborative product engineering or joint offerings of complex, modularized products. During the years 1999-2001 a number of online exchanges were introduced, but many of these failed (Gallaugher & Ramanathan, 2002), due mainly to an inability to attract participating business partners. Those that have survived are often owned by companies or consortia that are also exchange customers or suppliers. The objective of this overview is to describe the evolution and the characteristics of B2B Internet implementations, and to discuss management considerations, the evaluation and adoption of B2B applications, and the technical infrastructure supporting these systems. We also indicate some of the open issues that remain as the technology and its adoption continues to evolve.

Developing a More Robust Approach to Global Supply Chain Information Systems in a Turbulent World