Perceived Risks in Supply Chain Management E-Collaboration

Supply chain management is an accepted concept involving a process-oriented, integrated approach to procuring, producing, and delivering products and services to customers. The boom in applying Internet-based applications is driven by corporate desires to use wireless access, extranets, Internet-based EDI, e-marketplaces, web services and other remote networks for supply chain activities. This paper reports the findings of a study that aims to examine perceived risks of e-commerce in supply chain activities. The conceptual model developed from previous research identifies four types of risks, namely technological, organizational, implementation, and relational risks. The model is tested via in-depth multiple case studies in seven firms from a cross-section of different industries who applied e-technologies in their supply chain activities. The findings highlight factors that contribute to risks and the related undesirable consequences that the firms experienced.