PurposeTo analyze how e‐collaboration tools affect different partners along the supply chain, and to categorize firms according to their level of collaboration planning within a supply chain environment.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a field study, which focuses on one large telecommunications equipment manufacturer and a few strategic first‐tier suppliers, provides the basis to fully understand the e‐collaboration methods and the various issues and concerns of the different members of the supply chain. It is followed by an electronic survey conducted with 53 firms worldwide acting in the same supply chain, which constitutes the second phase of the study.FindingsDifferent roles may be attributed to collaboration tools such as facilitating access to information, which affects knowledge creation capabilities, and assisting in the design of flexible supply chains. Furthermore, three separate groups with different levels and types of collaboration planning were identified. These groups appropriately represent the telecommunications equipment supply chain, where firms are either deeply involved in supply chain collaboration or very minimally concerned by it.Research limitations/implicationsBy focusing on the initial stage of CPFR, we might overlook some important links with the other two stages of CPFR. However, with a more focused approach, we were able to obtain detailed information on the collaborative planning stage. A second limitation is the selection of one specific supply chain, which makes the generalization to other supply chains difficult.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role of CPFR in their supply chain and, more importantly, the role of collaboration planning in developing a network of partners.Originality/valueThis paper looks at how collaboration is planned, through CPFR actions, between members of a supply chain.

PurposeDrawing on the operations and information systems literature as well as concepts tied to buyer‐seller relationships, the objective of this exploratory research is to measure the influence of joint collaboration planning actions on the strength of relationships, interorganizational information systems (IOISs) use and firm flexibility. The path model proposed in this study also posits that joint collaboration planning actions and the strength of relationships positively affect IOISs use, which in turn positively affects firm flexibility.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical evidence is gathered through an electronic survey conducted with 53 suppliers in a single supply network in the telecommunications equipment industry.FindingsThe present study demonstrates that joint collaboration planning actions positively and significantly impact the strength of relationships. The results also show that IOISs use mediates the impact of joint collaboration planning actions and of the strength of relationships on firm flexibility.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to managers' understanding of the critical role played by joint collaboration planning actions between partners and IOISs in a demand‐driven supply chain.Originality/valueThis research is amongst the few that have examined the preparation or other activities that precede the actual collaboration between partners.

In this paper, we focus on the relative efficiency of different e‐collaboration tools and their impact on the performance of individual firms positioned along the supply chain. In exploratory study, the supply chain of one large telecommunications OEM was analyzed in two consecutive phases, namely a detailed case study and an electronic survey. This led to the examination of an entire supply chain from both upstream and downstream perspectives. Supply chain execution and supply chain planning e‐collaboration tools were identified and their relative efficiency was assessed. We attempt to map out the tools' potential to enhance the performance of, individual firms, in particular the link between e‐collaboration configurations and key performance dimensions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in the assessment of both information technology (IT) and human factors required to support their business processes (BPs) by taking into account the interdependence and alignment of these factors, rather than considering them independently. Design/methodology/approach A design science research methodology was followed to build a maturity model (MM) enabling this assessment. The proposed design process is composed of four steps: problem identification, comparison of 19 existing MMs in business process management (BPM), iterative model development, and model evaluation. The last two steps were specifically based on three research methods: literature analysis, case studies, and expert panels. Findings This paper presents a MM that assigns a maturity level to an organization’s BPs in two assessment steps. The first step evaluates the level of sophistication and integration of the IT systems supporting each BP, while the second step assesses the alignment of human factors with the technological efforts. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted with SMEs, leading to results that may be specific to this type of organization. Practical implications Practitioners can use the proposed model throughout their journey toward process excellence. The application of this model leads to two main process improvement scenarios: upgrading the sophistication and integration of the software technologies in support of the processes, and improving the cohesion of the resources the organization already owns (human and IT resources). Originality/value The proposed MM constitutes a first step in the assessment of the interdependence between the factors influencing BPM.

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