Supply management and e-procurement creating value added in the supply chain.pdf

Industrial Marketing Management 32 (2003) 219– 226 Supply management and e-procurement: creating value added in the supply chain William D. Presutti Jr. John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue, 704 Rockwell Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA Abstract The increasing emphasis on supply chain management is creating a greater focus on the supply management link in the supply chain. This focus will become even more intense as firms continue to adopt e-procurement strategies to leverage the competitive advantages of the Internet. Supply managers need to understand the impact of technology and gain competency in making a business case for e-procurement. The implications are profound for the industrial marketer. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Supply chain management; E-procurement; Economic value added 1. Introduction The definition suggests that all of the links in the supply chain must be strong and well integrated. However, it is ‘‘Supply chain management’’ has exploded onto the argued here that the key link, the one that sets the founda- business scene as one of corporate management’s major tion for the others, is supply management 1 on the input end concerns over the past decade. The reasons are clear. Fully of the chain [2]. It is the link in the supply chain that serves 70% of a firm’s sales revenues are, on average, spent on as the boundary-spanning activity on the input end of the supp