Integrating ICTs and Supply Chain Management: The Case of Micro‐Sized Firms

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have changed the relationship between suppliers and buyers, and the nature of supply chain management. Previous research has studied this topic, but not from the point of view of micro-sized companies. Micro-sized companies are of critical importance for economies worldwide. Thus, in Europe 90% of companies are micro-enterprises and account for 53% of employment. This article presents a new perspective by studying the impact of the introduction of e-supply chain management on such firms. Through a literature review, we identified four key supplier-related factors, that is, the use of ICTs, process efficiency, workforce capabilities, and the introduction of e-supply chain management. However, these factors could differ in the case of microsized companies. The data used for the empirical analysis came from a survey of 405 micro-sized companies in Spain. Using a structural equation modeling, the results indicate that ICTs have a positive direct effect on e-supply chain performance. It is also found that this effect is accompanied by the improved development of human resource skills and enhanced process efficiency. In addition, a number of recommendations for improving managerial practices are also proposed. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Information Sharing with ICT in Production Systems and Operational Performance

“…Petrick et al [47] indicates that ICT improves the production process, which directly affects the profits of the company in the short and long term. Llach and Alonso-Almeida [17] declare that the adoption and use of ICT help to redesign internal processes, and this means that they improve the efficiency of the Information Exchange in Production Control, causing activities to be fast, easy to handle, and more precise. To measure the impact of ICT in Production Control, the following five items are measured [17,47,48]: maintenance planning, performing tasks in the work area, delays in the process, introducing new products and services, and responding to market changes.…”

“…Gunasekaran et al [49] and Llach and Alonso-Almeida [17] claim that ICT adoption in managing the SC has strategic value because it provides competitive benefits in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in the production process, since it facilitates planning machine maintenance, provides solutions to delays, and streamlines the introduction of new processes. In addition, Shishodia et al [50] indicate that these ICT in production processes minimize human errors thanks to the automation of processes, which is reflected in the achievement of a better performance of the SC.…”

“…In addition to the above, companies gain benefit from combining ICT with Operations Management, improving human skills and the production system control [17], that is, by integrating ICT into productive operations, there is better control of processes, and product development, procurement, logistics, production scheduling, and customer service are promoted [48]. In other words, the agility to control production quickly and accurately gives companies the ability to respond and recover from business interruptions, thus saving processing costs [48].…”

The Role of Planning and Implementation of ICT in Operational Benefits

“…Likewise, the work of Li and Lin [39] reveals that the management technology of education and training of personnel helps to integrate ICTs in SC activities. According to Fuentes et al [40] and Llach and Alonso-Almeida [41], education and training supports the sharing of adequate information and is a great support for the content of technology management, which helps meet the needs of clients and suppliers; however, it is the responsibility of senior management to carry out these training plans and follow up on them. Based on the above, the following hypothesis is proposed: Hypothesis 2 (H 2 ).…”

Digital supply chain performance metrics: a literature review

“…Recent studies have reported several benefits of the digitalized (digital) supply chain (DSC) over the traditional supply chain, including improved financial performance (Haoud and Hasnaoui, 2019;Youssef and El-Nakib, 2015), operational efficiency (Lu et al, 2012;Sharma and Bhagwat, 2006;Zhao and Jiang, 2013), customer satisfaction (Jiang and Zhao, 2014;Jonsson and Gunnarsson, 2005;Zhao and Jiang, 2013), employee skills (Llach and Alonso-Almeida, 2015;Srinivas, 2007) and supplier relations (Ranganathan et al, 2011;Zhao and Jiang, 2013), along with a reduction in operational and manufacturing cost (Haoud and Hasnaoui, 2019;Korpela et al, 2017;Di Vaio and Varriale, 2020), cycle time (Haoud and Hasnaoui, 2019) and errors (Youn et al, 2014). Realizing the significant advantages offered by the DSC on firm competitiveness, many firms have started the process of full or partial digitalization of their supply chain (Wu et al, 2016).…”