Research Report. Can EDI Benefit Adopters?

A review of the literature showed that there appears to be very little research undertaken on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) adoption by small to medium sized business (SMEs) particularly in Singapore. This study is a preliminary attempt to quantify this area. Using a survey-based methodology, the research examined EDI adoption. Results indicate that Singapore SMEs confirm findings by some researchers that EDI adoption is significantly associated with a firm’s annual sales but is not significantly associated with employee size as other studies have shown (Rogers, Daugherty, & Stank, 1992). This study is at odds with previous single-dimension EDI adoption studies indicating a significant relationship between firm size (annual sales) and EDI depth (Williams, Magee, & Suzuki, 1998). Organization size showed a significant relationship with the volume and diversity of EDI use but not with the depth and breadth. The most important reason for Singaporean SMEs to adopt EDI was pressure from their EDI-capable trading partners, treating pressure from their competitors as the least important.

This paper studies the determinants of electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption and use in the Spanish automotive supply industry and the moderation effect of cooperation within the supply chain. The empirical results indicate that EDI adopters perceive more operational benefits, more external pressure and mutual understanding, and less technical and organisational difficulties than do non-adopters. The use of EDI is greater among suppliers that perceive more strategic benefits and less cost and organisational difficulties, have a proactive management, are less dependent on suppliers, and adopt EDI earlier. Cooperation is a moderator of organisational difficulties for EDI adoption and use, and strategic benefits for EDI use.

PurposeThe primary purpose of this research is to examine and explore quantitatively the determining factors that contribute electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption among Brunei's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) not addressed previously.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based upon survey approach to collect the primary data from 50 SMEs in Brunei Darussalam based upon stratified random sampling plan. A one stage normative model that is associative in nature was developed based upon reviewing the previous researches and further in line with the research objectives. The model elicits six factors that are grouped in three categories, namely, organizational, environmental and technological.FindingsThe findings based upon regression analysis indicate that factors such as perceived benefits, government support and management support are significant determinants of EDI adoption. The 35 percent of the total variance is explained by these three factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe small market size as well small sample size is one of the research limitations in addition that only 20 percent of the SMEs have adopted EDI. The inclusion of some more variables such as external pressure and competitive pressure will not only increase the shared variance, but will also bring broader perspective to the research. However, findings support similar other regional Asia‐Pacific studies.Practical implicationsThe study has practical significance as it provides help to the management of the SMEs with the factors contributing towards EDI adoption. In case, these SMEs have to capitalize on EDI adoption, the management with the government support should not only take a supporting role, but also act proactively and competitively. The management focusing on the potential benefits could further trigger the adoption.Originality/valueThis pioneering study adds value to the existing knowledge and supports previous work. It further provides a platform for the future research. The EDI adoption among Brunei's SMEs could further be geared up by considering the factors mentioned above.

This article analyses the moderation effect of co‐operation on electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption, and the influence of EDI use on the co‐ordinating activities in the automotive supply chain. The empirical results from a survey of 116 Spanish automotive suppliers indicate that EDI adopters perceive more operational benefits, more external pressure and mutual understanding, and fewer technical and organisational difficulties than do non‐adopters of EDI. The use of EDI is greater among suppliers that perceive more strategic benefits and fewer cost and organisational difficulties, have a proactive management, are less dependence on suppliers, and adopt EDI earlier. Co‐operation is a moderator of organisational difficulties for EDI adoption and use, and strategic benefits for the use of EDI. The results also show that companies use EDI to become more co‐ordinated with suppliers and customers.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) became popular to facilitate international business transactions in the 1990s, but, even today, it can be seen that its use is not introduced everywhere. This article reviews some statements on the adoption of EDI in companies and integration into other IT systems. Furthermore, it looks at situations in specific countries. Statements are made how to integrate Electronic Data Interchange in cloud-based systems.

:This paper examines the relationship between process reengineering and channel performance for firms implementing electronic data interchange (EDI) ordering within the U.S. grocery industry. Both quantitative and qualitative data sources are combined to demonstrate that channel transformation (interorganizational reengineering) involving both technological innovation (EDI) and redesign of replenishment processes enables performance improvements more than an order of magnitude greater than implementation of EDI ordering alone. New replenishment processes, enabled by EDI, provide retailers with 50–100 percent higher inventory turns for products using continuous replenishment processes (CRP) relative to retailer performance using traditional ordering processes. Firms adopting EDI for ordering without reengineering ordering processes have failed to realize statistically significant improvements in inventory levels or stockouts. This demonstrates the potential for extending the business process reengineering concept to include the entire supply chain.

Reports the results of a survey on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) use in the retail industry. Finds that contrary to expectations, the extent of EDI adoption is fairly modest with few companies employing EDI for transactions other than purchase orders and invoicing. Discovers that the motivating factors for the adoption of EDI appear to be rooted in tangible economic gains such as reductions in inventory and operating costs and intangible benefits in the form of improved vendor relations and competitive advantage are also perceived as important antecedents of EDI use in the retail industry.

Purpose: Indeed due to global advancement, rapid technological innovation, and enhancing regional influence, supply chain (SC) has become an essential element. Now, competition has shifted from organization to industry level; any disruption can not only disturb organization but also affect the whole industry. Although Pakistan is agriculture land still industry sector is supporting more than half population, especially the automotive sector is the highest growing sector. Due to regional and economic shift toward China and India, this sector is facing numerous problems. Only thirteen large-scale automotive organizations are operational by creating collaboration among them many issues can be resolved. Supply chain collaboration has dogged the performance in various industries and in various regions. The aim of this study is to explore the potential benefits of supply chain collaboration toward achieving operational performance.Design/methodology/approach: This is an empirical investigation conducting among supply chain department of automotive industries in Pakistan. Data were collected from 232 members of the supply chain that include suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. Factor analysis and multiple regressions through SPSS have been used for data analysis.Findings: The finding of this study reveals that two supply chain management approaches information sharing (IS), joint decision making (JDM) significantly effect, while Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) does not have a significant effect on operational performance.Research limitations: This study consists only three approaches, next study should include more approaches. Secondly, this study is limited to the automotive sector. Practical implications: [This study will help the managers of the automotive industry in making their operation smooth by applying information sharing, joint decision making, and electronic data interchange.Originality/value: First novelty of this study is the implementation of supply chain collaboration for developing country especially for Pakistan. Secondly, this study seed collaboration as communication and include all aspects of communication like formal communication, informal communication.

Over the last several decades, as businesses have expanded globally in search of higher profits, value chains have become longer and more intricate. Indicators like inventory levels, on-time-in-full deliveries, and shorter lead times all improved for companies that effectively embraced a lean, global style of manufacturing. Complex production networks were created with the goals of efficiency, closeness to markets, and output, but not always with openness or resilience in mind. This chapter examines how businesses in the value chains of manufactured products must rebalance their operations to better manage the inherent risk in their operations. Indicators of the risk in any given industry's value chain include the industry's susceptibility to various shocks and the inherent weaknesses of companies and the overall chain. Therefore, the authors look at the characteristics in supply chains and operations that might amplify disruption and losses as well as the management of variety of shocks.

With evolving societal lifestyles and changing popular perspectives on film consumption, online streaming has gradually supplanted the traditional cinema experience. Amid the rapid rise of the streaming era, this paper focuses on the emergence, market competition, and future prospects of streaming media. Taking Netflix as a case study, this platform has leveraged big data to reshape the downstream positioning of streaming media within the industry value chain. Comparative analysis of historical data reveals intense competitive confrontation among streaming platforms launched by other major entertainment corporations, shaping the landscape of the streaming market. It is observed that to thrive in this fierce competition, a marketing approach combining cinema with the concept of the Metaverse has demonstrated promising preliminary results and substantial developmental potential. The narrative structures of online films are better aligned with the dissemination patterns of streaming media compared to traditional theatrical releases, rendering streaming media a more preferred choice for audiences and continually expanding the user base of the streaming market. Investigating the future prospects of streaming media development not only supports the burgeoning film industry but also paves the way for a more diversified and enriched cinematic landscape.

Trailing edge cooling cavities in modern gas turbine airfoils play an important role in maintaining the trailing-edge temperature at levels consistent with airfoil design life. In this study, local and average heat transfer coefficients were measured in a test section, simulating the trailing-edge cooling cavity of a turbine airfoil using the steady-state liquid crystal technique. The test rig was made up of two adjacent channels, each with a trapezoidal cross-sectional area. The first channel, simulating the cooling cavity adjacent to the trailing-edge cavity, supplied the cooling air to the trailing-edge channel through a row of racetrack-shaped slots on the partition wall between the two channels. Eleven crossover jets issued from these slots entered the trailing-edge channel and exited from a second row of race-track shaped slots on the opposite wall in staggered or inline arrangement. Two jet angles were examined. The baseline tests were for zero angle between the jet axis and the trailing-edge channel centerline. The jets were then tilted toward one wall (pressure or suction side) of the trailing-edge channel by 5 deg. Results of the two set of tests for a range of local jet Reynolds number from 10,000 to 35,000 were compared. The numerical models contained the entire trailing-edge and supply channels with all slots to simulate exactly the tested geometries. They were meshed with all-hexa structured mesh of high near-wall concentration. A pressure-correction based, multiblock, multigrid, unstructured/adaptive commercial software was used in this investigation. Standard high Reynolds number k−ε turbulence model in conjunction with the generalized wall function for most parts was used for turbulence closure. Boundary conditions identical to those of the experiments were applied and several turbulence model results were compared. The numerical analyses also provided the share of each cross-over and each exit hole from the total flow for different geometries. The major conclusions of this study were (a) except for the first and last cross-flow jets which had different flow structures, other jets produced the same heat transfer results on their target surfaces, (b) jets tilted at an angle of 5 deg produced higher heat transfer coefficients on the target surface. The tilted jets also produced the same level of heat transfer coefficients on the wall opposite the target wall, and (c) the numerical predictions of impingement heat transfer coefficients were in good agreement with the measured values for most cases; thus, computational fluid dynamics could be considered a viable tool in airfoil cooling circuit designs.

Improving the efficiency in the links in the supply chains of agri-food products is relevant in terms of the assessment methodology and practical aspects for ensuring and supporting sustainable supply chains of products not only in individual channels of product movement but also in the end-to-end supply chain of products, i.e., from the field to the end consumer. However, it is still unclear which supply chain opportunities in commodity distribution channels are more effective for creating end-to-end sustainable supply chains for agri-food products. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for assessing the impact of agri-food supply channels on the efficiency and link in supply chains, taking into account the factors affecting them and developing recommendations for their improvement. Quantitative methods based on correlation and regression analysis using the EViews program on the basis of Kazakh statistical data for 2008–2022 were used. A methodology is proposed for assessing the effectiveness of the functioning and links in commodity movement in the supply chains of agricultural products at the macroeconomic level based on the consideration and use of important factors affecting the efficiency and links: production and sales volumes, total costs, and profitability for each supply channel: “production–processing–industrial production–trade”. The relationship between the efficiency and the links in supply chains and also the key factors that affect them have been established. The results showed that the increase in the efficiency in supply channels in the commodity distribution system leads to a decrease in the coefficient of the link in commodity movement and inventory availability. To reduce the link ratio in the supply chains of agri-food products, it is necessary to increase the efficiency in supply chains in each supply chain link and reduce the share of retail trade in the gross turnover. Recommendations are proposed to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce links to support and create end-to-end sustainable supply chains of agri-food products. The study makes an essential contribution to providing empirical evidence of the relationship between the effectiveness of agri-food supply channels and the link in the supply chain. Since few works describe the relationship between the links of product distribution and the efficiency in supply chains in the literature, in this work, it was possible to propose a methodology and identify factors and gaps in research to identify potential areas for future research.

This study aimed to describe: (1) the mistakes of standard expressions such as the use of capitalization, spelling and punctuation used in the scientific writing works of teachers with IV/a rank category, especially those found in the repository of research reports in West Nusa Tenggara Province during the evaluation period of August 2012 based on the General Guidelines of the Revised Indonesia Spelling and the Regulation of Ministry of National Education No. 46 of 2009 as of July 31, 2009, (2) the use of Indonesia language contained in the research reports as a source of learning materials, including its teaching methods, for high schools. This is qualitative-descriptive research. The data were collected using a document analysis with a note-taking technique. The analysis of data used a distributional method. Result of the analysis show that all the research reports were found to contain mistakes. Out of six samples of the research reports examined, a great number of mistakes were found, i.e. 67 standard word usage, 77spellings, 320 capitalization and 918 punctuations. The use of Indonesia language contained in the research reports may be useful as source of learning materials for Indonesia language subject in high schools, especially those related to the report writing skills. To apply this, teachers can employ both lecturing and giving assignments.

International standards play an increasingly important role in the world economy. Research in the field of economics on standardisation has focused on addressing the question of how and in which situations standards should be generated. While this analysis is important, it tends to overlook the subsequent process of implementation, despite its importance for an appropriate standard setting. This paper uses empirical evidence from Japanese firms in order to identify the reasons why and under which conditions firms do not comply with international standards. The Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT) standard, which defines data exchange networks, and the ISO 9000 standard, which defines quality management processes, are the two case studies. I also draw comparisons to the implementation of these standards in Germany I conclude that non-compliance with standards is a common phenomenon with specific, regional characteristics. At the end, I make preliminary conclusions about new ways of thinking about how international standards are set.

"This research thesis examines the establishment of Supported Playgroups in Schools (SPinS). The aim of the project was to examine SPinS as an under-researched area of early childhood education, involving parents, children and schools promoting children’s access to play. Children’s access to play is important because play in the early years is known to increase children’s later learning outcomes (Roberts, 2010). A sociocultural approach to this study was used to understand ways in which parents learn. This thesis explores parents’ participation in SPinS and the influence of this participation on parents’ perspectives of children’s play. The research was framed by one research question: What influence does participation in a SPinS have on parent perspectives of children’s play at home and in a playgroup setting? A key focus of the study understood the provision of SPinS to support parents to engage with their children during a play-based program, and how parent engagement in children’s play was transferred to the home. In Australia, many families attend playgroups in their local communities for the purpose of play and social engagement (Playgroup Victoria, 2012). These playgroups are self- managed and run by the parents attending. A key role of supported playgroups is to engage families in the community who do not attend community groups. These groups are funded by the State Government and employ a trained playgroup coordinator. The key focus is usually to deliver a service that supports the parent role and promotes children’s learning through play. This project reports on a new initiative of providing supported playgroups in local primary schools to establish and extend on partnerships between early years services, community organisations and parents. Research on supported playgroups is limited and much of the work in Australia has been conducted by only a few researchers (Matthews, 2009; McArthur et al, 2010 and Jackson, 2011b). The research conducted so far has been on supported playgroups, but not supported playgroups located in schools. Existing research suggests that parent support is a major component to improving educational outcomes of children by promoting quality Home Learning Environments and play-activities in the home (Sylva et al., 2014). Support for parents is achieved by providing access to “high quality learning environments that encourage parents to engage in conversations about children, children’s play and children’s development (Jackson, 2010, 2012). The research reported in this thesis therefore focussed on the influence participation in a Supported Playgroup in a School (SPinS) had on parents’ perspectives of children’s play at home and in the playgroup. This was to expand on existing research regarding supported playgroups and to also better understand if SPinS could be used as a parent support or intervention approach for promoting children’s play at home. To conduct the research informing this thesis I used a sociocultural framework that informed social interactions were vital to support learning through guided participation. Rogoff, Matusov and White (1996) investigated a model of learning where learning is described as a process of transformation of participation in sociocultural activities within communities rather than the transmission of knowledge. The focus of learning was parents’ perspectives on play in the home and the playgroup during their participation in SPinS. A sociocultural theoretical perspective explored the perspectives about play parents derived from their participation in SPinS and how they applied these perspectives in the home and at playgroup. A qualitative research design using a single case study methodology was employed in this research. This approach was well suited to the chosen epistemology because it allowed direct interaction with the participants and represented their views and perspectives. Focus groups were conducted at each of the primary school sites during a SPinS session. The participants were parents attending the SPinS with their children living in the local area. Purposive sampling was chosen for this study because it involved understanding the opinions of a predefined group or target population that was easily accessible. The data analysis was conducted using an inductive approach. This was because there was not pre-determined, well established research in the area of investigation. The purpose of inductive analysis is to allow research findings to be generated from significant themes in the raw data. This allows for the development of a model or theory for explaining the structure of experiences. (Thomas, 2003). The results suggested participation in SPinS positively influenced parents’ perspectives of play at home and in the playgroup. These perspectives included how they viewed play at home and at the playgroup. A third finding considered the importance of the social connections established by parents during their participation in the SPinS. This finding was consistent with existing research that shows that supported playgroups provide opportunities for families with children under five years old to learn new parenting skills, as well as building social networks (Jackson, 2011a). The primary outcomes reported by Hancock et al., (2011) suggest that playgroup participation improves children’s developmental outcomes, particularly disadvantaged children. The findings were used to propose a new model for educators to understand how parents learn about children’s play through supported playgroups. This new model was called The Cycle of Intent Engagement (Lambert, 2015). The Cycle of Intent Engagement Model (Lambert, 2015) was created from Rogoff’s (2003) theories on transformation of participation to show how parents’ perspectives of play were influenced by their participation in the SPinS. The Cycle of Intent Engagement Model (Lambert, 2015) focuses on empowering change through collaborative engagement. This investigation identified the necessity for further research into the way parents engage in their children’s play during SPinS and at home. Findings from this study may be used to inform early childhood professionals, families, schools and governments by expanding their awareness of the benefits associated with supporting families to participate in supported playgroups in the community, especially local primary schools."