A multiple buyer – supplier relationship in the context of SMEs’ digital supply chain management

Abstract

By underlining the relevance of the use of ICTs, knowledge sharing and electronic markets for SMEs, it emerges the need for stimulating a debate on digitisation process of supply chain management (SCM). Electronic infrastructure in the service sector are reducing each kind of cost and improving multiply buyer-supplier relationships, facilitating negotiations and transactions. However, since the coordination costs are still high, the use of ICTs is limited. This phenomenon thus attracts the interests of scholars and practitioners. Although it still needs to further investigate. Especially, the optimal use of ICTs within SMEs' SCM have not been studied yet. Therefore, by leveraging on four proxies: ICTs specialised human resources, knowledge sharing activities, buyer-supplier relationships, adoption of electronic markets this optimal was analysed via structural equation modelling based on a sample of 1254 SMEs operating in the service sector in Italy.

Multistage implementation framework for smart supply chain management under industry 4.0

“…Time and again, many scholars have highlighted the significance of the digital supply chain ( Addo-Tenkorang and Helo, 2016 ; Scuotto et al., 2017 ; Crittenden et al., 2019 ; Riemer and Schellhammer, 2019 ). In this regard, the previous literature draws attention to the digital supply chain in the industrial sector (Büyüközkan and Göcer, 2018 ).…”

“…Also, in their study, Buyukuzkan and Gocer (2018) have highlighted that, despite the advantages of industry 4.0 that are cited in the extant literature, the actual examples of empirical implementation across the supply chains are still scant. Similarly, Scuotto et al. (2017) have claimed that there is a lack of evidence based on the collaboration through the concept of digital transformation.…”

A Self‐Tuning Model for Smart Manufacturing SMEs: Effects on Digital Innovation

“…Hence, manufacturers may proactively seek external sources of knowledge in order to engage in the innovation process. The resultant collaboration with external parties can lead to the adoption of an informal inbound open innovation model that is suitable for self‐tuning SMEs and has been investigated in several research studies (Santoro, Bresciani, and Papa, 2018; Scuotto, Caputo, Villasalero, and Del Giudice, 2017a), some of which have analyzed the enhancement of technology patterns by debating the effects produced within open innovation boundaries (Bresciani, Ferraris, and Del Giudice, 2018; Lee, Olson, and Trimi, 2012). Other scholars have underscored the complexity of the challenges faced by SMEs, especially in regards to investments in information and communication technologies (ICT), knowledge exchange (Scuotto, Del Giudice, and Carayannis, 2017b), technological breakthroughs (Del Giudice and Straub, 2011), and the search for innovation ambidexterity (Lin, McDonough, Lin, and Lin, 2013).…”

Managing Healthcare Service Ecosystems: Abstracting a Sustainability-Based View from Hospitalization at Home (HaH) Practices

“…This basic statement is nowadays under discussion [7][8][9][10]; changing social and economic dynamics and market turbulence, indeed, have highlighted the need for companies interested in survival so as to enlarge their approaches and catch the emerging challenges and dynamics [11][12][13]. Accordingly, market trends have progressively shown an increasing relevance of consumers' needs as well as the related need for companies to adapt their approaches and strategies to the market expectations [14][15][16]. Traditional managerial approaches have exhibited an increasing incapability to explain the growing market interest in social and environmental topics, and to support both practitioners and researchers in defining models for adapting companies' structure and dynamics to the emerging market configuration [17][18][19][20].…”