Supply network strategies and supply chain management for e-business

Abstract

This paper sets out to discuss the changing role of supply chain management for an e-business. We suggest that in order to sustain competitive advantage, an organisation adopting e-business methods of operation must make a transition from the tactical, short-term approach of supply chain management toward a longer-term, strategic perspective. In order to achieve this it becomes necessary to deploy a supply network strategy that encompasses the whole transformation system, including the necessary core competences, capabilities and resources. The paper adopts a parallel approach. First a review of the nature of supply chain management in context of a traditional business. Second, we discuss how a transition from the traditional model of business to one of e-business requires a more strategic supply system model. The aim of the paper is an enhanced understanding of the role of supply chain management and a supply network strategy for e-business. As part of this work we address issues of terminology and classification in a bid to clarify the nature of supply chain management and a supply network strategy. Their components and precepts are identified, definitions provided and their locus suggested as part of the wider discipline of operations strategies. The paper concludes with a short empirical case study outlining the transformation of a traditional business into an e-business, and their resultant transition from supply chain management to the adoption of a supply network strategy.