Standards-based approaches to B2B workflow integration

E-business automates the overall activities of a company and allows distributed systems to communicate their information. Process automation and information sharing improve a company’s productivity and responsiveness, while Business-to-Business (B2B) workflow systems electronically aid the progress of business processes among trading partners, and also help companies to monitor and administrate their process execution. This study analyzes the technologies and standards for B2B workflow integration, and extracts a reference model for B2B workflow integration. Based on the reference model, three approaches to B2B workflow integration will be introduced here. In addition, we have developed a prototype system of one approach and have illustrated an example for B2B workflow integration. The result of our research can help business partners understand the workflow standards and the messaging technologies for B2B workflow integration, and also help them understand how to implement workflow integration systems that are appropriate to their e-business environments.     

B2B e-commerce supply chain integration and performance: A contingency fit perspective on the role of environment

Drawing upon contingency theory “fit” research in the IT and supply chain management literature, we applied the “fit” concept to the relationship between B2B e-commerce supply chain integration and performance. The results demonstrated that the effect of B2B supply chain integration on financial, market, and operational performance decreased as product turbulence and demand unpredictability jointly increased. Managerial implications include the conditions under which IT investments yield performance improvement and the need for firms to actively manage demand uncertainty.     

The adoption behaviour of information technology industry in increasing business-to-business integration sophistication

A supply chain is not a linear type of inter-firm structure but is often considered as a network. Business networks are underpinned by the firms' resources, social legitimacy and associated power, which are also seen in the adoption theories of business-to-business integration (B2Bi) in the supply chain. However, there appears to be scarcity of the discussion on the theoretical relationship between them. This paper aims to enrich the previous findings of technology adoption theories in a business-to-business context by proposing a structural model and using Structural Equation Modelling approach to test it. It focuses on the integrated supply chain to test, analyse and extend the adoption factors to the use of computer-based information systems (IS). The survey data were collected in the Taiwanese Information Technology Industry. The path analyses indicate the answers for three issues raised from the research framework and confirm the associations between a firm's existing system support readiness and the network determinants outside organizational boundaries. Further, it identifies the interrelationships among these factors and indicates that some of them mediate the enterprises' behaviour on investments to increase current IS for B2Bi purposes.     

A coordination-theoretic investigation of the impact of electronic integration on logistics performance

Using the Coordination Theory, we explored the impact of electronic integration of intra-organizational and inter-organizational business processes on organizational performance in terms of logistics cost and service improvements. Our work extends knowledge on adoption of information technology (IT) in logistics operations, with a focus on examining the performance implications of electronic integration within and between firms in a supply chain. Data was collected from 227 trading firms in Hong Kong and analyzed to investigate the research issues. Our empirical findings revealed that electronic integration is positively associated with logistics performance in cost but not in service, suggesting that electronic integration is not sufficient for delivering superior logistics services. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.     

Measuring and evaluating IS expectations and benefit success from B2B electronic trading: a new survey approach

This article demonstrates a survey approach for measuring and evaluating IS benefit success from business-to-business (B2B) electronic trading. This article is of significance in demonstrating practical benefit success mechanisms for evaluating complex IS projects. A new survey approach is used to help evaluate the IS benefit success for each participating organisation. Disconfirmation theory and the expectations paradigm are used to justify the overall approach taken. A central tenet of the overall evaluation approach has been the need for a combined evaluation of benefit success based on interpreting or diagnosing two outcomes: (a) the ‘realised benefit outcome’ (RBO), or the actual number of realised strategic and operational benefits a company has achieved, regardless of initial expectations, as well as (b) the ‘benefit state outcome’ (BSO), or the extent of benefit planning gap (BPG) experienced within each company relative to their original expectations. This article demonstrates in detail how to measure benefit success from survey data using a perceptual self-assessed rating instrument. The approach will be useful for other academics and practitioners in the development of usable IS benefits evaluation mechanisms.     

An enterprise integration methodology

As more and more organizations pursue the benefits of e-business, they are looking to a process called enterprise integration, or EI, as a key technical enabler in transforming their business processes. A typical form of EI is Webification; in this scenario, a company wants to offer its existing products and services over the Internet, so it builds Web front-end systems and integrates them to its backend legacy systems. (In this article, we use "legacy system" to mean any IT system already in operation.) A more complex El scenario involves enterprise application integration. By this process, the organization links up previously separate and isolated systems to give them greater leverage. For example, an organization might integrate a customer-relationship-management system, a call center system, and legacy customer account systems to give the organization a consolidated view of its customers. An emerging EI scenario is business-to-business (B2B) integration (also called extended enterprise models), which occurs when an organization integrates its own business processes with those of its business partners to improve efficiency within a collaborative value chain.     

Web Services在B2B集成中的应用

介绍了Web Services技术，Web Services在实现真正的跨语言、跨平台．跨企业的集成中是非常重要的。着重分析了采用Web Services技术为实现B2B集成带来的优势，并结合具体项目实现B2B集成，讨论了Web Services技术在B2B集成系统中的具体应用方法。     

Social isolation and integration in electronic environments

Abstract

This paper examines the role of communications technology advances in affecting social interactions in groups and organizations. A discussion of the functions of communication and contact leads to the development of the concept of the ‘electronic environment’. Past research identifies issues of a person's need for contact and the costs and benefits of contact in computer-mediated or other electronic communications media. In this paper, these issues focus on social isolation, integration, and feedback between group members as vital aspects of effective group interaction. Understanding of these aspects is presented as a key to appreciating the influence of communications media on organizational and social behaviour. Although the initial focus of this paper is on interactions between individuals within a group, applications are also discussed regarding interactions between groups, or between individuals and others outside the primary group. Examinations of the implications of the concept of electronic environments includes directions for future development and integration of research perspectives.     

Mapping the intellectual structure of research in decision support systems through author cocitation analysis (1971–1993)

This study applies factor analysis of an author cocitation frequency matrix derived from a database file that consists of a total of 23,768 cited reference records taken from 944 citing articles. Factor analysis extracted eleven factors consisting of six major areas of DSS research (group DSS, foundations, model management, interface systems, multicriteria DSS, and implementation) and five contributing disciplines (multiple criteria decision making, cognitive science, organizational science, artificial intelligence, and systems science). This research provides hard evidence that the decision support system has made meaningful progress over the past two decades and is in the process of solidifying its domain and demarcating its reference disciplines. Especially, much progress has been made in the subareas of model management such as representation, model base processing, model integration, and artificial intelligence application to model management leading towards the development of a theory of models. To facilitate the transition from the pre- to post-paradigm period in DSS research, this study has completed important groundwork.     

Understanding the influence of integration on ERP performance

This research investigates the influence of five levels of ERP integration on ERP performance in different user-friendly interface groups. The five levels are system-specification, Island of Technology, organizational, socio-organizational, and global integration. We conducted an empirical study that involved 102 ERP professionals, 52 of whom showed low demand for user-friendly interface design while the others showed high demand. The results suggest that system-specification and organizational integration significantly influence ERP performance in the low demanding user-friendly interface group, while system-specification and socio-organizational integration significantly influence ERP performance in the high demanding user-friendly group. The research model explains 50 and 46% respectively of ERP performance in each group.     

基于本体的B2B电子商务MAS模型及商品匹配算法

随着B2B电子商务特别是电子集市的发展,企业进行电子交易更加灵活、方便,但同时由于大量信息的异构性也带来了信息集成上的问题,而且这一问题已成为B2B电子商务发展的瓶颈。文章建立一种基于本体的多Agent模型,增加GMAg(Goods Matching Agent)用于商品的识别和自动匹配,综合考虑商品组件概念和属性组件概念的语义相似度,提出基于商品本体结构语义相似度匹配算法,解决了异构商务系统之间商品信息自动匹配问题。通过一个汽车领域的实例计算,说明其匹配精度和效率。     

On the performance of B2B e-markets: An analysis of organizational capabilities and market opportunities

This research is a study of factors leading to the success of business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces (EMs). A model based on both organizational capability and market opportunity theories was developed to explain the performance of B2B EMs. Organizational capabilities included service provision capability and its enabling capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation and human resource capability, whereas market opportunity was modeled as market size and e-commerce awareness of the industry. Data were collected from 128 B2B EMs in China and analyzed using Partial Least Squares. Results suggest that the research model explains the performance of B2B EMs well. More specifically, among the two service capabilities studied, service width contributes significantly to EM performance, while the effects of service depth are yet to be seen. Moreover, the enabling organizational capabilities and market opportunity factors affect EM performance both directly and indirectly through their enhancement of EM service provision capability.     

B2B集成技术的体系结构

介绍了B2B集成技术的体系结构和概念上的模型，用来支持统一概念集成模型中并发的A2A和B2B集成。概念集成模型通过设计时仓库完成，集成模型作为元数据存储在设计时仓库。B2B集成技术的执行时范例完成实际的应用和贸易伙伴商务交易遵循编译的方法，根据存储在设计时仓库中的集成模型，执行器完成实际的集成实例。     

The DySIIM model for managing IS integration in mergers and acquisitions

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are prominent means for corporate strategy. In many M&As information systems (IS), integration is critical for achieving the intended goals. By integrating previous research on M&A and IS integration, we develop a six‐dimensional theoretical framework for IS integration in corporate M&As. The framework is used to describe and explain IS integration management in four M&As. Based on the four cases, the theoretical framework and the existing literature, an initial model (Dynamic System of IS Integration in M&A, DySIIM) describing and explaining how IS integration relates to the M&A process is developed. Through the combination of the DySIIM's dimensions, the dynamics of different parts of the M&A process are captured. The model can be used in further research to build cumulative knowledge about how to manage IS integration in M&A. The model can also be used by companies in their M&A since through the combination of dimensions, it shows the IS integration issues, decisions and actions that a company has to address in the process.     

A Knowledge-Based Framework for Measuring Organizational Readiness for the Adoption of B2B Integration Systems

Organizational readiness has long been identified as a critical success factor for the adoption of inter-organizational systems. This article presents a knowledge-based methodology for constructing readiness assessment instruments for B2B integration solutions and examines its validation by conducting structural equation modeling analysis with input data from wholesale trading firms in Greece. Strong emphasis is given to the usability and appropriateness of the produced indicators and the relevant gap in literature is addressed. The B2Bi success factors that are presented and the final set of their underlying indicators can provide a starting point for conducting organizational readiness evaluations for the successful adoption of multi-enterprise integration solutions. Our methodology and findings can assist enterprises and public bodies to utilize, share, and enrich a knowledge base about B2Bi organizational readiness, throughout their evolution as part of the Knowledge Society.     

Adopting organizational virtualization in B2B firms: An empirical study in Singapore

We empirically tested a parsimonious model that incorporates cost-benefit analysis/transaction cost theory, institutional theory, and organizational capability-based theory to predict organizational adoption of IT-facilitated virtualization in an Asian context. Virtualization implies the use of IT and communication technology by organizations in managing their interactions and key business operations with stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers and employees. Our research extends existing literature by using organizational structure adoption theories. The study should provide insights into the salient adoption issues of Asian firms. A survey was conducted of B2B organizations in Singapore. Results indicated that an increase in the level of net perceived benefits, external influences, and organizational capabilities had a positive effect on organizational decision makers’ intention to use virtualization. In particular, external influences were found to be the most important antecedents of intention to adopt virtualization in B2B organizations in Singapore.     

Patterns for emerging application integration scenarios: A survey

The discipline of enterprise application integration (EAI) enables the decoupled communication between (business) applications, and thus became a cornerstone of today’s IT architectures. In 2004, the book by Hohpe and Woolf on Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIP) provided a fundamental collection of messaging patterns, denoting the building blocks of many EAI system implementations. Since then, multiple new trends and a broad range of new application scenarios have emerged, e. g., cloud and mobile computing, multimedia streams. These developments ultimately lead to conceptual changes and challenges such as larger data volumes (i. e., message sizes), a growing number of messages (i. e., velocity) and communication partners, and even more diverse message formats (i. e., variety). However, the research since 2004 focused on isolated EAI solutions, and thus a broader and integrated analysis of solutions and new patterns is missing. In this survey, we summarize new trends and application scenarios which serve as a frame to structure our survey of academic research on EIP, existing systems for EAI and also to classify integration patterns from these sources. We evaluate recently developed integration solutions and patterns in the context of real-world integration scenarios. Finally, we derive and summarize remaining challenges and open research questions.     

From business to software: a B2B survey

In recent years business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has been subject to major rethinking. A paradigm shift can be observed from document centric file-based interchange of business information to process-centric and, finally to service-based information exchange. On a business level, a lot of work has been done to capture business models and collaborative business processes of an enterprise; further initiatives address the identification of customer services and the formalization of business service level agreements (SLA). On a lower, i.e., technical level, the focus is on moving towards service-oriented architectures (SOA). These developments promise more flexibility, a market entry at lower costs and an easier IT-alignment to changing market conditions. This explains the overwhelming quantity of specifications and approaches targeting the area of B2B—these approaches are partly competing and overlapping. In this paper we provide a survey of the most promising approaches at both levels and classify them using the Open-edi reference model standardized by ISO. Whereas on the technical level, service-oriented architecture is becoming the predominant approach, on the business level the landscape is more heterogeneous. In this context, we propose—in line with the services science approach—to integrate business modeling with process modeling in order to make the transformation from business services to Web services more transparent.     

Post-merger IT integration strategies: An IT alignment perspective

When a company decides to merge with or to acquire another company, a major question is to what extent to integrate the information technologies and the organization. Interpreting merger objectives to proper IT integration strategies is a complex and time-consuming process, due to a lack of explicit understanding of the problems involved. The current literature in this field is meager and has not yet resulted in a theory. For this purpose, we developed a variant of the IT alignment model. In this model, we identify three ambition levels of mergers and IT integration from the literature. Additionally, we describe four integration methods that fit with these ambitions. The relations between these objectives and methods are moderated by contextual factors. Three hospital cases, with different merger and IT integration ambitions, describe the practice of this model. The case studies also add several new variables and relations to it. This result facilitates further research in post-merger IT integration by delivering an empirical research model.