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Automatic identificatio n and data capture/collectio n (AIDC) systems are one of the most widely used and under-recognize d IT strategic assets in use in the global economy. Data collection and integration strategies are essentia l to enterprise resource management systems as well as warehouse management systems. The developmen t of innovation through the developmen t and marketing of products and services has been a key source of competitiv e advantage for many large and small manufacturin g firms and is greatly aided by AIDC technologies . Management needs to control quality, cost, schedule , location of warehouses and plants, inventory levels, pricing , shipment , and a vast host of factors that are based almost entirely on the volume and quality of data and data collection . A discussio n of types of bar coding technologie s and their associate d software/hardware requirement s is included , with a mobile communication s example.

In the face of global uncertainties and a growing reliance on third‐party indices to obtain a snapshot of a country's operational risks, we explore the related questions: How accurately do third‐party indices capture a country's operational risk, and how does the operational risk of the country, in turn, affect the volume of its import and export supply chains? We examine these questions by empirically investigating 81 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) using archival data collected from UN agencies, independent think tanks, the WTO, and the Economist Intelligence Unit. We use seven third‐party indices to gauge a country's internal environment and map those indices to corresponding country‐specific operational risks to further understand the consequent effects of those operational risks on trading volume. Results provide strong evidence for the use of certain third‐party indices in assessing operational risk. In addition, operational risks are found to negatively affect the volume of import and export supply chains, albeit in varying degrees.

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