Downloads - empirica

More documents

Recommendations

Info

e-Business in the chemical, rubber and plastics industry4.3.4 Summary: ICT, rivalry in the market and outsourcingCase studies in this report show clearly that ICT and e-business are becomingindispensable tools for market development and growth in the CRP industries, notably forlarge companies which operate in a global marketplace. On the other hand, the increasein competition in specific markets could be a major driver of ICT adoption, as companiesare seeking opportunities to cut their operating costs to stay competitive. Although thisassumption is a commonplace and reflects the findings of many case studies, it is difficultto prove by means of statistical analysis.ICT adoption as a reaction to market pressure – no easy proof: Theassumption that a (perceived) increase in market rivalry triggers ICT adoption (as ameasure to withstand the pressure) is difficult to verify by means of simpleregression analysis. Companies from the CRP industries that experience anincreasing intensity in market competition do not use more ICT than companiesfeeling that the degree of competition is stable. In the medium and long term,however, market pressure may well be a strong incentive for ICT adoption; suchlonger-term impacts could not be explored by means of analytical statistics here.Perceived ICT impact on competition: About 45% of companies (by share ofemployment) believe that ICT has an impact on competition in their sector. Most ofthem argue that competition has "somewhat increased" due to ICT.Positive links between ICT usage and market growth: Companies in the CRPindustry reporting a growth in market share are typically more intensive users ofICT than firms with a stable or decreasing market share. This indicates that ICT isan important tool to achieve growth, even if a direct causality should not beestablished.ICT adoption is positively correlated with outsourcing: Companies with a moreintensive use of ICT is more likely to have outsourced business activities in aperiod of 12 months prior to the interview. This indicates that ICT is a facilitator inthe coordination with external service providers.129
e-Business in the chemical, rubber and plastics industry5 Case StudiesThis chapter presents ten case studies of e-business activity in small, medium-sized andlarge companies from the CRP sector. The selection was made with the goal to achieve abalanced mix of cases in terms of countries, sub-sectors and company sizes, while at thesame time linking the topics of case studies with the issues analysed in Chapters 3 and 4of this report. Therefore, the selected cases are extremely heterogeneous in termscompanies presented, ranging from the world's largest chemical company (BASF) withclose to 100,000 employees worldwide down to a small manufacturer of lubricants with15 employees (Unicorn). Still, there are common points even for the largest and smallestcompanies: ICT and e-business, if used in the right way, are key to managing informationin today's economy. They help companies becoming more organised and controlled,whether it is about managing global operations or communicating with customers in theregion.Exhibit 5.0-1 provides an overview of the case studies, indicating the main ICTapplication areas studied and references to the sections in this report where therespective topic is dealt with. Cases (both in the overview and the subsequent sections ofthis chapter) are sorted alphabetically by the company name.Exhibit 5.0-1: Case studies in overview (sorted alphabetically)No.CompanynameCountrySector(NACE 2)SizeTopics addressed and main linkswith other sections in this report1 Acordis / OB10 UK 20.1 Large Business process outsourcing,e-InvoicingSection 3.42 BASF Germany 20 Large Holistic e-business strategy of aglobal playerSections 3.2, 3.53 Elemica (various) (various) (various) B2B connectivity, intermediaries,process efficiencySections 3.3, 3.4.2, 4.3.44 Medikémia Hungary 20.4 Medium ICT impact on employment andskills requirementsSections 3.3.3, 4.15 Michelin Germany 22.1 Large RFID, Human ResourcesmanagementSections 3.3, 4.26 Probos Portugal 22.2 Medium /large7 Toly ProductsLtd.ERP implementation and analyticaluse for market developmentSections 3.3, 3.5, 4.2Malta 22.2 Large CRM useSections 3.3, 3.58 Unicorn Ltd. UK 20.5 Small ICT for management information,impact on productivitySections 3.3, 4.19 Zachem Poland 20.1 Large ERP implementationSections 3.3, 4.310 ZandlevenCoatingsTheNetherlands20.3 Small Role of web-based online sales in asmall firmSections 3.5, 4.3130
Page 1 and 2:
ICT and e-Business Impact in theChe
Page 3 and 4:
e-Business in the chemical, rubber
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80: e-Business in the chemical, rubber
Page 129: e-Business in the chemical, rubber
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
show all

Downloads - empirica

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?