Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)

ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

THE IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE IN SUPPLY

CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT DELL INC.
Alexander Harsono
Information System Department, STMIK Pontianak, Indonesia
Jl. Merdeka Barat No. 372 Pontianak 78111, Indonesia
[email protected] ; [email protected]

Abstract—The impact of e-commerce in supply chain into e-commerce affects Dell’s SCM and where e-
management (SCM) has gained significant interest in commerce has impact on Dell’s supply chains.
researchers and academics in recent years since e-commerce
and SCM are critical success factors. A case study on Dell Inc. II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
was chosen because Dell Inc. has survived the recent
economic slowdown since March 2000. This phenomenon was Commerce is a basic economic activity involving
the result of Dell’s success story demonstrated a real case of trading or the buying and selling of goods. The earliest
effective integration and implementation of SCM and e- example of e-commerce is electronic funds transfer
commerce. Data was obtained via Web browsing and e-mail. where allows financial institutions to transfer funds
This paper first discussed various activities that involved in between one another in a secure and efficient manner.
supply chain management process; information, products, and Beginning in 2003, electronic commerce (e-commerce)
financial flows. It then illustrated the ways that e-commerce to began to show signs of new life. As the economy grew,
be integrated into supply chain management to gain e-commerce also grew, but at a more rapid pace. Thus,
competitive advantages in dynamic business environment.
e-commerce gradually became a larger part of the total
Findings showed e-commerce has the capacity to have an
impact on the physical, information and financial flows of economy.
supply chains. This paper is origin and empirical study that E-commerce is about the sale and purchase of goods
would be a contribution to business practitioners and or services by electronic means, particularly over the
academia. internet [1]. In broad terms one can distinguish two types
of commerce: traditional commerce and e-commerce as
Keywords— e-commerce; supply chain; SCM illustrated in Table 1. For example, if you want to buy a
book, you will go to a physical bookstore and buy the
I. INTRODUCTION physical book from a salesman. In a pure e-commerce
Michael Dell is widely viewed as a pioneer in the system, transactions take place via electronic means.
personal computer (PC) business. He transformed Dell
from struggling PC maker to market leader by TABLE 1. TRADITIONAL COMMERCE VS. E-COMMERCE
introducing supply chain innovations such as direct-to- Activity Traditional E-commerce
Commerce
consumer sales and build-to-order manufacturing to the
computer industry. In truth, Michael Dell is a visionary in Product information Magazines, flyers Web sites, Online
supply chain management. PCs simply were the medium catalogs
he used to introduce his idea for a competitive supply Business Regular mail and E-mail
communications phone
chain: Sell direct through e-commerce or Web site, build Check product Phone, fax, and Email-Web-sites-
to order, and ship direct. availability letter Extranet
This is an example of how Dell Inc. can review and Order generation Printed forms E-mail, web sites
revise its business model. Dell gained early-mover Product Phone, fax E-mail, web sites &
acknowledgements EDI
advantage in the mid-1990s when it became one of the Invoice generation Printed forms Web sites
first companies to offer PCs for sale online. Its sales of
PCs and peripherals grew from the mid-1990s with
online sales of $ 1 million per day to 2000 sales of $ 50 A. E-commerce
million per day. Based on this success it has looked at The application of the Internet to business can best
new business models it can use in combination with its be understood by dividing it into two separate, yet
powerful brand to provide new services to its existing connected concepts and set of practices. The first is
customer base and also to generate revenue through termed e-business and is defined as a collection of
new customers. business models and practices enabled by Internet
In a separate initiative, Dell launched a B2B technologies focused on the networking of customers,
marketplace (formally www.dellmarketingplace.com) suppliers, and productive capabilities with the goal of
aimed at discounted office goods and services continually improving supply chain performance. The
procurements including PCs, peripherals, software, second concept is termed e-commerce and is defined as
stationary, and travel. This strategic option did not prove the ability of businesses to buy and sell goods and
sustainable. This research will explore and delve deeply services over the Internet. Over the past decade these

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

terms have been used as if they were interchangeable. organization’s customers. E-marketing is used directly to
In reality, e-business is a more powerful concept that support sell-side e-commerce. Buy-side e-commerce
seeks to utilize the Internet to build integrative, refers to business-to-business transactions to procure
collaborative relationships among supply chain members resources needed by an organization from its suppliers.
[2], while e-commerce is a subset of e-business E-procurement is used directly to support buy-site e-
concerned with the performance of commerce commerce. This is typically the responsibility of those in
transactions electronically. So it is clear that e- the operational and procurement functions of an
commerce as a front-office provides real-time organization. Remember, though, that each e-commerce
transaction information to the supply chains. transaction can be considered from two perspectives:
E-commerce refers to both financial and informational sell-side from the perspective of the selling organization
electronically mediated transactions between an and buy-side from the perspective of the buying
organization and any third party it deals with [3]. It organization. So in organizational supply chains, it needs
follows that non-financial transactions such as inbound to understand the drivers and barriers to buy-side e-
customer e-mail enquiries and outbound e-mail commerce in order to accommodate the needs of
broadcasts to prospects and customers are also aspects organizational buyers. For example, Dell Inc., promote
of e-commerce that need management. its sell-side e-commerce service by hosting seminars for
E-commerce is an important concept that describes buyers within the purchasing department of its
the process of buying, selling, or exchanging products, customers that explain the cost savings available
services, and information, via computer networks, through e-commerce.
including the Internet. E-commerce from different
B. Supply Chain and Supply Chain Management
perspectives [4]:

 Communication perspective: e-commerce is the SCM is a tactical and strategic management

delivery of goods, services, information, or payments philosophy that seeks to network the collective
over computer networks or by any other electronic productive resources of intersecting supply chain
means systems through the application of integrative business
technologies in the search for innovative solutions and
 Business process perspective: e-commerce is the synchronization of channel capabilities dedicated to the
application of digital technology toward the automation creation of unique, individualized source of customer
of business transactions and workflow value. SCM has become today’s most important
management concept because it enables enterprises to
 Service perspective: e-commerce is a tool that exploit the explosion of technology tools that are
addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and transforming the realities of the twenty-first century
management to cut service costs while improving the marketplace [5]. The reason why SCM came about is
quality of goods and increasing the speed of service because industrial relationships have become
delivery increasingly complex over the last decades [6].
According to Wisner et al. [7], to understand SCM,
 Online perspective: e-commerce provides the one must begin with discussion of a supply chain. In a
capability of buying and selling products and broad sense a supply chain consists of two or more
information on the Internet and other online services legally separated organizations, being linked by material,
information and financial flows [8]. Supply chains
 Collaborations perspective: e-commerce is the connect suppliers to a manufacturing company,
framework for inter- and intra-organizational departments inside a company to one another, and a
collaboration company to its customers. SCM is the planning and
management of all activities involved in sourcing and
 Community perspective: e-commerce provides a procurement, conversion and all logistics management
gathering place for community members, to learn, activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and
transact, and collaborate collaboration with channel partners, which can be
suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers
In practice, companies would conduct different types and customers [9] as depicted in Fig. 1. According to
of e-commerce in accordance with their companies’ The Institute for Supply Management, SCM is the design
characteristics, activities and products. Among them are and management of seamless, value-added processes
Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce, Business to across organizational boundaries to meet the real needs
Consumer (B2C) e-commerce, and Business to of the end customer [10].
Government (B2G) e-commerce as applied by Dell Inc. C. The Impact of E-commerce on SCM
When evaluating the impact of e-commerce in supply
The impact of e-commerce on the supply chain will
chain management, it is instructive to identify the role of
be felt in how work is done, including how areas of the
buy-side and sell-side e-commerce transactions as
depicted in Fig. 1. Sell-side e-commerce refers to supply chain interact, and in how supply chains operate
transactions involved with selling products to an between company and geographic boundaries. E-

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

commerce affects all major areas of supply chain work in  Service and support: service and support is another
companies from design, through buying to fulfilment and area where e-commerce has made some impact but
service support. The major areas of work inside there is still potential for greater change. E-commerce
companies can be illustrated using a simple process has the capacity to transform the effectiveness of field
map of a supply chain, as shown in Fig. 1. The process service forces and to change the way that returns and
map shows the high-level flows and interactions repairs are managed. Like fulfilment, this is an area
between suppliers’ suppliers and customers’ customers. where the value proposition will drive radical change,
It can also be used to show where e-commerce will have but it will take time
its greatest impact:
 E-working; e-working is an area that will have a more
 Indirect procurement and direct procurement: e- immediate impact on the supply chain. Most
commerce has a direct impact on both indirect and companies have already given thousands of their
direct procurement of goods and services. E- workers access to intranets and the Internet. They
procurement has its greatest effect on change have given them e-working tools such as employee
management and compliance. Direct procurement portals, knowledge management systems and
represents a bigger prize for most companies than computer-based training. Through e-mail they have
indirect spend simply because of the size of direct revolutionized the way in which people work across
spends. Here, the combination of e-commerce boundaries of time and space. E-working capabilities
procurement solutions with existing ERP and MRP have a significant impact on the working of supply
systems has the capacity to provide large efficiency chains and on the ability of employees to manage
savings complex events and issues in the supply chain.

 Product and service design: e-commerce has the E-commerce technology provides information visibility
capacity to improve the quality of product design, through out the supply chain. The integration of
reduce design time-scales and fundamentally improve production planning, scheduling, and inventory control
the interaction between designers, engineers, with procurement process makes the loop complete as
suppliers and manufacturing. illustrated in Fig. 1. Because of information visibility,
suppliers could possess the information of customer
 Manufacturing: e-commerce solutions will also have an demands, in the mean time, customers can receive
impact on manufacturing as companies are required to faster feedback of transaction status from their suppliers.
be more flexible and responsive in what they make Such strong impact causes companies to incorporate the
and in the levels of mass customization that information visibility into their competitive advantage.
manufacturing systems can deliver. E-commerce can E-commerce is already having a significant impact on
help manufacturing become more flexible and SCM. The impact will increase over time as companies
responsive, and ensure demand and supply planning adopt e-commerce solutions more broadly and
are more effective increasingly collaborate between companies and across
countries. The broadening of e-commerce will be a
 Demand and supply planning: most people find it gradual process, phased in over time; it will involve a lot
difficult to cope with planning when it involves more of hard work. The benefits of supply chain improvements
than a few variables. This is an area where computers, will be considerable, however, representing 5 to 15 per
statistics and e-commerce will always be more cent of overall supply chain costs [11]. Leading supply
capable – if they are used in the right way. Demand chain operators are likely to achieve collaboration with
and supply planning systems are increasingly using e- their key value chain partners far more speedily and
commerce alongside their traditional software effectively than their slower competitors. The benefits of
applications to improve the effectiveness of planning cost savings and performance improvements will accrue
solutions. E-commerce is also expected to allow much to the companies that are the best at harnessing e-
greater interaction between the planning systems in commerce solutions.
areas such as collaborative forecasting and
replenishment (CPFR) and e-marketplaces

 Fulfilment and e-fulfilment: fulfilment remains an area

of great promise for e-commerce solutions, but one
that has largely underperformed its potential. E-
commerce has the capacity through information, such
as tracking and tracing, to revolutionize the way that
goods and services are delivered. It has the capacity
to virtualize inventory and to change fundamentally the
relationship between end customers, retailers,
wholesalers and manufacturers

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

company’s infrastructure standards and employee needs.

Supply chain & information flows
Dell Computers has survived the recent economic
slowdown since March 2000. This phenomenon was the
result of “Dell’s super-efficient supply chain” that is
affected by effective e-commerce. Dell’s vice president
who was overseeing Dell’s SCM. Dell’s success story
demonstrated a real case of effective integration and
implementation of SCM and its e-commerce delineated
in Fig. 2 and 3.
By year-end 2002, Dell was number one in market
share for desktop PCs and was also the number one
online computer retailer. However, by mid-2006 Dell had
lost its market share position to Hewlett-Packard (which
had merged with Compaq Computer a few years earlier).
The company’s highly efficient supply-chain model and
Fig. 1. How and where e-commerce affects supply chain [12] direct sales retail approach were still intact, but by then
its competitors were also able to compete online as well
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
as through their traditional distribution channels.
A case study approach was conducted to describe a
real practice of how Dell boosts e-commerce to enhance
its supply chain management. Data and information
pertaining to Dell’s e-commerce and SCM on annual
reports, whitepapers, journals, and analyst’s insights
were obtained through Web browsing and e-mail. The
current data and information were then studied to get the
whole picture of how Dell’s e-commerce and SCM take
place and what is happening in business today of Dell in
order to complete a better understanding of e-commerce
and SCM in relation with how e-commerce boosts and
enhances supply chain management. A literature review
on e-commerce and supply chain management concept, Fig. 2. Dell’s supply chain model
the integration of e-commerce into the supply chain, and
the role of e-commerce in the supply chain management How does Dell’s official Web site of SCM look like?
were chosen because together they are making a large Dell has successfully created an interesting friendly-users
impact on one another. e-commerce marketing in its Web site for its customers to
AN ILLUSTRATIVE CASE STUDY [12]: create an order online as can be seen in Fig. 3.
Dell Inc. was one of the first to establish a customer-
driven PC configuration capability. Dell had a make-to-
order assembly model that received orders from its own
direct-to-customer retail channels—using call centers,
fax, and phone orders—but no retail stores. Dell’s Web
site leveraged the software applications and experiences
of its own customer service representations to create an
effective “self-service” Web application that let online
customers create their own custom PC orders.
Customers can experiment with different computer
configurations using a “choice board” capability that
shows them price differences for components and
Fig. 3. Dell’s Web site
calculates the total price before finalizing their order. e-commerce marketing
Customers submit their PC order via the Web site- e-
commerce, and the order data are translated into a
design, the components are ordered, and then the right Dell achieved a great innovation in SCM by adopting a
resources are electronically scheduled to fulfill the order direct-sales model; that is, a demand-driven supply
“Direct from Dell” as delineated in official Web site of chain in which the traditional build-to-stock approach is
Dell Fig. 2 and 3. For retail sales to business customers replaced with a build-to-order model delineated in Fig. 2
(which is a larger customer segment than end-consumer and 4.
sales), Dell’s sales staff works with an organization’s
procurement managers to select a small number of PC
configurations at a pre-negotiated price to fit the

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

actually in transit between suppliers and Dell, effectively

replacing inventory with information. Dell has succeeded
in driving down inventory to the lowest level in the
industry. In mid-2006, it was turning its inventory over
every five days, compared to an average of forty-one
days at key competitor Hewlett-Packard. This is a major
source of competitive advantage in the computer
industry, where component costs account for 75% of
revenues and typically fall by 1% per week due to rapid
obsolescence as delineated in Fig. 6.
Despite its high profitability, between mid-2005 and
mid-2006, Dell’s stock lost half its market value, sliding
from $42 a share to $22. There were several reasons for
this. First, after years of trying, three of Dell’s
Fig. 4. Dell’s Web-based SCM competitors, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo, had
reduced their cost structure and become more
With the new model, Dell was able to reduce competitive with Dell, enabling them to match Dell on
inventories, cut costs, and reduce production cycles. Dell prices and still make profits.
has expanded its JIT practices from the company to the Through its Web site, Dell did its direct selling
entire supply chain as suppliers have been integrated through mailings and telephone contacts, but since the
into Dell’s operations. Dell’s product lines as depicted in mid-1990s, much of its sales have been made through
Fig. 5. its e-commerce or website. Dell’s sophisticated website
allows customers to mix and match product features
such as microprocessors, memory, monitors, internal
hard drives, CD and DVD drives, keyboard and mouse
format, and so on, to customize their own computer
systems. The ability to customize orders kept retail
customers coming back to Dell and helped to drive sales
to a record $55.9 billion in 2004. Dell uses the Internet,
particularly e-commerce to feed real-time information
about order flow to its suppliers in the supply chains, so
they have up-to-the-minute information about demand
Fig. 5. Dell’s product lines trends for the components they produce, along with
volume expectations for the upcoming four to twelve
Finally, a good research to be answered is that “Why weeks. Dell’s suppliers use this information to adjust
do some companies succeed while others fail? Why has their own production schedules, manufacturing just
Dell Computer been able to do so well in the fiercely enough components for Dell’s needs and shipping them
competitive personal computer industry, while its by the most appropriate mode so that they arrive just in
competitors like Acer, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo time for production. This tight coordination is pushed
have struggled to make money?” back even further down the supply chain because Dell
shares this information with its suppliers’ biggest
IV. RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION suppliers.
A. The Impact of E-Commerce in SCM A strong impact of e-commerce in supply chains has
made Dell survive from its losses of over US$ 100
The commercialization of the Internet in the early
million through a best-practice leader at seamlessly
1990s and the introduction of the World Wide Web in
integrating e-marketing and SCM to enhance all
1993 provided Dell with an opportunity to expand rapidly.
processes across and an extended supply chain and e-
Dell implemented aggressive online order-taking and
opened subsidiaries in Europe and Asia. Dell also Commerce. Dell sells its product lines to individual and
household such home and offices; Business, Enterprise,
started to offer additional products on its Web site (e-
Government, Healthcare, Partners of small and medium-
commerce) which affected its supply chains. This
sized Enterprises (SMEs) with up to 200 employees;
enabled Dell to batter Compaq, and in 2000 Dell became
Large Corporations which consist of over 200
number one in worldwide PC shipments. At that time,
employees; Institutions/education, Government, health-
Internet sales topped $50 million per day (about $18
billion per year). Dell sells about $62 billion a year in care organizations, and partners (see Fig. 6).
For Dell’s B2C e-commerce: Sales to the first group
computer-related products online, from network switches
are classified as B2C e-commerce. Consumers shop at
to printers, employing over 88,000 people.
dell.com using an electronic catalog. The sales are
Dell’s goal is to coordinate its e-commerce with its
completed using mechanisms of e-commerce platform.
supply chain to such an extent that it drives all
Business-to-customer (B2C) sales are facilitated by
inventories out of the supply chain, apart from those
standard shopping aids (e.g., catalogs, shopping carts,

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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
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Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

credit card payments. Dell matches supply and demand of e-commerce and SCM. IT-enabled SCM enables to
because its customers order computer configurations communicate and collaborate (e-collaborate) with its
over the phone or online (Internet). These computer many business partners with whom it needs. Dell uses
configurations are built up from components that are shippers, such as UPS and FedEx, to deliver its
available. Dell’s strategy is to provide customized, low computers to individuals. It also uses third-party logistics
cost, and quality computers that are delivered on time. companies to collect, maintain, and deliver components
Dell successfully implemented this strategy through its from its suppliers, and it has many other partners. Dell is
efficient manufacturing operations, better supply chain using Web Services, an e-commerce technology, to
management and direct sales model. Dell’s product lines facilitate communication and reduce inventories. Web
and its markets as shown in fig. 6. Services facilitate B2B integration. Integration efforts
For Dell’s B2B e-commerce: Sales to the other four began in 2000 with other technologies when Dell
groups are classified as B2B e-commerce. Most of Dell’s encouraged its customers to buy online. The B2B
sales are to businesses that cover SMEs, Large integration offer combines Dell PowerEdge servers
enterprise Institution/educational, Government, and based on Intel architecture and Web Methods B2B
health-care organizations. B2B customers obtain integration software to link customers’ existing enterprise
additional help from Dell where Dell provides each of its resource planning (ERP) or procurement systems
nearly 100,000 business customers with Premier Dell directly with Dell and other trading partners. In addition,
service as shown in Fig. 3. Dell can provide e-procurement applications and
British Airways as an example considers Dell to be a consulting services. Dell also educates customers in its
strategic supplier. Dell provides notebooks and desktops technologies and offers suggestions on how to use
to 25,000 British Airways users. Dell offers two e- them. This is particularly true for emerging technologies
procurement services to British Airways purchasing such as wireless. Dell has a superb communication
agents. The more basic service, Premier Dell, allows system with its over 15,000 service providers around the
British Airways and other businesses to browse, buy, globe.
and track orders on a Dell Web site customized for the Dell demonstrates successful Intra-business e-
user’s requirements. The site enables authorized users commerce. The well-managed SCM fully supports Dell
to select preconfigured PCs for their business unit or for mass-customization. To support its build-to-order
department. A more advanced version, Premier B2B, capabilities, significantly improve its demand-planning
supports e-procurement systems. and factory execution accuracy, reduce order-to-delivery
time, and enhance customer service, Dell partnered with
Accenture to create a new, high-performance supply
chain planning solution. Now in place in Dell’s plants
around the world, the program, which paid for itself five
times over during the first 12 months of operation,
enables Dell to adapt more quickly to rapidly changing
technologies and the business environment, maintaining
its position as a high-performance business. Dell also
has automated its factory scheduling, demand-planning
capabilities, and inventory management using
information technology and e-supply chain models.
V. CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVE
Fig. 6. Customers who use Dell’s products and sales revenues
As Web technologies evolve, e-commerce has
This provides automatic requisition and order
become a powerful and compelling enabler of supply
fulfillment once an authorized user has chosen to buy a
chain integration that across a wide range of industries.
PC from Dell. British Airways has placed the e-
The aspects of speed and connectivity of Internet
procurement tools on its E-Working intranet. This allows
technology have changed the nature of conducting
authorized staff to purchase PCs through a portal that
business. Because e-commerce affects SCM,
connects directly into Dell’s systems.
information visibility is achieved through connectivity
In addition to supporting its business customers with
among trading partners, therefore, supply chain can be
e-procurement tools, Dell also is using e-commerce in its
better managed. Integrating e-commerce into the
own e-procurement. Dell developed an e-procurement
existing supply chain is not only necessary for attaining
model that it shares with its business partners. One
companies’ competitive advantages, but also for
aspect of this model is the use of electronic tendering to
companies’ survival in the globally competitive
conduct bids. Dell uses electronic tendering when it buys
environment.
the components for its products.
Dell was offering Web-based storefronts that
B. Where E-commerce affects Dell’s SCM combined online catalogs and advertising techniques
Dell demonstrates effective e-commerce enabled with new technology tools such as Web site
SCM in conducting business. Dell adjusts to its changing personalization, self-service, interactive shopping carts,
environment by deploying a comprehensive integration bid boards, credit card payment, and online communities

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that permitted actual online shopping including bidding [3] Chaffey, D., Chadwick-Ellis, Fiona, Johnston, K., and Mayer, R.,
Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, 3th
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to supply in real time and then very quickly and precisely [9] The CSCMP Terms and Glossary at www.cscmp.org, on August
meet that demand while maintaining low inventory. 13, 2010: pp. 12-35
[10]The ISM Glossary of Key Supply Management Terms at
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components that are available. Dell’s strategy is to [11] Chopra, S. and Meindl, P. Supply Chain Management: Strategy,
provide customized, low cost, faster, and quality Planning, and Operation, 6th edition, Pearson, 2013: pp. 20-35
computers that are delivered on time. Dell also saves [12] Berger, A. J. and Gattorna, J. L. (2001), Supply Chain
Cybermastery, Aldershot: Gower Publishing, 2001: p. 78
time on processing orders that other companies normally [13]www.dell.com;www.dellmarketingplace.com);
incur in their sales and distribution system. In addition, www.dellauction.com
by directly dealing with the customer Dell gets a clearer
indication of market trends. This helps Dell to plan for ADDITIONAL READINGS
[14] Andreas, Meier and Stormer, Hendrik, e-Business and e-
future besides better managing its supply chain. Commerce: Managing the Digital Value Chain, 1st edition, Springer,
Web technology, especially e-commerce has the 2009
capacity to have an impact on the physical, information [15] Adolfo, Crespo, Márquez, Dynamic Modelling for Supply Chain
and financial flows of supply chains. At a simplistic level, Management Dealing with Front-end, Back-end and Integration
Issues, 1st edition, Springer, 2010
supply chains are typically made up of three major flows [16] Brown, V., Carol, DeHayes, W., Daniel, Hoffer, A., Jeffrey, Martin,
– physical flows, financial and information flows. Wainright E., and Perkins, C., William, Managing Information
Physical flows can be affected by using information to Technology, 7th edition, Pearson, 2012
avoid physical movements and to make product [17] Bidgoli, H., Electronic Commerce, Principles and Practices,
California State University, Bakersfield, U.S.A, 2010
information available through virtual ways. In essence, e- [18] Blanchard, David, Supply Chain Management: Best Practices, 2nd
commerce can give companies access to more markets edition, John Wiley & Sons. 2010
and customers without the physical need to move the [19] Christopher, Martin, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, 4th
levels of product and inventory that were required in the edition, Pearson, 2011: pp. 1-15
[20]------------, Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Creating
past. Information flows can be affected by the capacity of Value-Adding Networks, 3rd edition, Pearson, 2005
e-commerce solutions to provide 24/7 access to [21] Cousins, Paul, Lamming, Richard, Lawson, Benn, Squire, Brian,
information and to eliminate traditional paper-based Strategic Supply Management: Principles, Theories and Practice,
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 Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)
ISSN: 3159-0040
Vol. 1 Issue 3, October - 2014

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