Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P18 docx

RosettaNet RosettaNet http://www.rosettanet.org is a VHOIIXQGHG QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ DURXQG D consortium of major IT, electronic components, and semiconductor manufacturing companies ai

Hermes B2B messaging server provides

enterprises a standardized, reliable and secure

infrastructure to exchange business data over

the Internet It supports secure messaging

func-tions through security technologies such as XML

signature, secure socket layer (SSL), and secure

multipurpose internet mail extensions (S/MIME)

Aiming at supporting different requirements from

enterprises of all sizes, it implements reliable

messaging, message packaging, message

order-ing, error handlorder-ing, security, synchronous reply,

message status service, and supports transport

protocols, such as HTTP and SMTP Hermes

DOVRVXSSRUWVWKHFRQFHSWRI³TXDOLW\RIVHUYLFH´

by respecting in-force agreements, which are

expressed as CPA

ebMail is a GUI system It makes use of open

standards (ebXML), underlying GUI, in order to

communicate with business partners Business

messages are composed and read in GUI form, so

that enterprises do not need back-end integration

The project is platform-neutral; it is developed by

using Java, and the GUI part is using Java Swing

For ebXML Messaging Service, ebMail makes

use of Hermes project

RosettaNet

RosettaNet (http://www.rosettanet.org) is a

VHOIIXQGHG QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ DURXQG D

consortium of major IT, electronic components,

and semiconductor manufacturing companies

aiming at aligning business processes between

partners in a given supply chain: Partners agree

on partner interface processes (PIPs) to use,

and are then ready to start a business scenario

RosettaNet implementation framework (RNIF)

SURYLGHVH[FKDQJHSURWRFROVIRUTXLFNDQGHI¿FLHQW

LPSOHPHQWDWLRQRI3,3V51,)GH¿QHVWKHRYHUDOO

RosettaNet business message format for business

documents exchange, with elements to support

authentication, authorization, encryption, and

non-repudiation; details of the bindings for the

WUDQVIHUSURWRFROVHJ+773DQGWKHVSHFL¿FD-tion for a reliable exchange of messages between business partners

RosettaNet aims at aligning business processes

of supply chain partners, a goal which is achieved E\ WKH FUHDWLRQ RI 3,3V (DFK 3,3 GH¿QHV KRZ WZRVSHFL¿FSURFHVVHVUXQQLQJLQWZRGLIIHUHQW partner organizations) will be standardized and interfaced across the entire supply chain PIPs LQFOXGH DOO EXVLQHVV ORJLF PHVVDJH ÀRZ DQG message contents to enable alignment of the two processes The purpose of each PIP is to provide common business/data models and documents enabling system developers to implement Roset-taNet eBusiness interfaces Each PIP includes: partner role descriptions (individuals/organiza-tions); business data involved (and corresponding XML documents); and business process activi-ties, a validation tool and implementation guide (http://www.rosettanet.org)

RosettaNet’s standardization efforts refer to:

• PIPs:GH¿QLQJEXVLQHVVSURFHVVHVEHWZHHQ trading partners

• PIP directory: providing faster access to

PIPs’ information

• Dictionaries: which provide a common set of properties for PIPs (e.g., RosettaNet Business Dictionary: designates the

prop-erties used in basic business activities, and Technical Dictionary provides proprieties IRUGH¿QLQJSURGXFWV

• RNIF: SURYLGLQJVSHFL¿FDWLRQVIRUSDFNDJ-ing, routSURYLGLQJVSHFL¿FDWLRQVIRUSDFNDJ-ing, and transport of all PIP mes-sages and business signals

• Product and partner code: which expedites

the alignment of business processes between trading partners

RosettaNet does not provide a model for sup-ply chain arrangements as a whole, but a model for linking supply chain members’ information ÀRZVLQDXQLIRUPPDQQHUZLWKLQVSHFL¿FEXVL-ness processes The RosettaNet model describes several business activities that can be mapped to

RosettaNet XML-framework These activities

are collected inside PIPs

Web Services and BPEL4WS

Web services (http://www.w3.org/2002/ws) aim

at achieving universal interoperability among

applications by using Web standards They use

ORRVHO\FRXSOHGLQWHJUDWLRQPRGHOWRDOORZÀH[LEOH

integration of heterogeneous systems in a variety

of domains, including B2B, B2C, and enterprise

LQWHJUDWLRQ DQG LQWHURSHUDELOLW\ 6SHFL¿FDWLRQV

derived from Web services include: SOAP,

WSDL, and UDDI SOAP (http://www.w3.org/

TR/soapGH¿QHVDQ;0/PHVVDJLQJSURWRFROIRU

basic service interoperability WSDL (http://www

w3.org/TR/wsdl) introduces a common grammar

for describing services, and UDDI (http://www

uddi.org) provides the infrastructure required

to publish and discover services in a systematic

ZD\$OOWKHVHVSHFL¿FDWLRQVDOORZDSSOLFDWLRQVWR

¿QGHDFKRWKHUDQGLQWHUDFWIROORZLQJDORRVHO\

coupled platform-independent model However,

system integration requires much more than

the ability to conduct simple interactions by

us-ing standard protocols Accordus-ing to Andrews,

Curbea, Dholakia, Goland, Klein, Leymann, Liu,

Roller, Smith, and Thatte (2003), the full potential

of Web services as an integrated platform will be

achieved only when applications and business

processes will be able to integrate their complex

interactions by making use of a standard process

integration model

Business Process Execution Language for

Web Services (BPEL4WS, http://xml.coverpages

org/bpel4ws.html) provides an XML-based

pro-FHVVGH¿QLWLRQODQJXDJHWKDWHQDEOHVWKHIRUPDO

description of business processes and interaction

protocols (Andrews, et al., 2003) BPEL4WS

GH¿QHVDQLQWHURSHUDEOHLQWHJUDWLRQPRGHOWKDW

facilitates the expansion of automated process

integration in both intra-enterprise and B2B

integration

BPEL4WS is meant to model the behavior

of executable business processes (which are modeling the actual behavior of a participant

in a business interaction), and abstract business processes (which are process descriptions for business protocols) In this way, BPEL4W extends Web services’ interaction model and enables it to support business transactions

BPEL4WS depends on the following XML-EDVHGVSHFL¿FDWLRQV:6'/;0/6FKHPD 1.0, XPath 1.0, and WS-Addressing Among these, :6'/KDVWKHPRVWLQÀXHQFHRQ%3(/:633 interaction between services, described in WSDL,

is at the core of BPEL4WS process model, and both the process and its partners are modeled as WSDL VHUYLFHV7KHGH¿QLWLRQRIEXVLQHVVSURFHVVHVDOVR follows the WSDL model of separation between the abstract message contents used by the business process and deployment information

CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH

Current market conditions and information and communication technology (ICT) developments determined enterprises to adopt new ways of un-dertaking business As a consequence, new forms

of collaboration emerged, such as collaborative networked organizations (CNO) In this context, the need to support enterprise integration and interoperability is increasing Several conceptual frameworks, integration standards, technologies, and supporting infrastructures are being devel-oped Despite the relevant developments in the area of enterprise integration and interoperability, DQGWKHQXPHURXVVFLHQWL¿FUHVXOWVLQWKHEXVLQHVV networking area, it is generally accepted that more work needs to be done, mainly concerning CNO creation or setting-up, support, and implementa-tions (Camarinha-Matos & Afsarmanesh, 2003) Most of the technologies and infrastructures supporting CNO currently available are at their beginnings, and require considerable

a lack of an effective approach to interoperability

(mainly concerning software inter-operation and

information exchange integration), and a lack of

VWDQGDUGGH¿QLWLRQVDQGPHFKDQLVPV

6LQFH LW LV YHU\ GLI¿FXOW QRW WR VD\

LPSRV-VLEOHWR¿QGDVWDQGDUGZKLFKLVYDOLGRUHDVLO\

FRQ¿JXUDEOHVXSSRUWLQJDZLGHUDQJHRIVHUYLFHV

and operations concerning enterprise integration

and interoperability, a convenient approach is

WR GHYHORS VWDQGDUGV IRU VSHFL¿F LQGXVWU\

VHF-tors (e.g., papiNet for paper and forest industry),

considering also the fact that a single process and

document standard for communicating business

transactions is critical to companies buying and

selling products from the same industry

Roset-taNet and papiNET are examples of successful

standards developments supporting

integra-WLRQDQGLQWHURSHUDELOLW\IRUDVSHFL¿FLQGXVWU\

sector: high-tech industry and paper industry,

respectively

Although several standards (e.g., ebXML)

provide support for different requirements

regard-ing enterprise integration and interoperability, in

a networked environment, it would be nạve to

consider that it is possible to convert everybody to

a single platform (e.g., ebXML) Each technology

or standard has its advantages and disadvantages

No true technology or standard can work as an

isolated island; different technologies are

com-ELQHGRUDGDSWHGWRVSHFL¿FQHHGV,WLVWKHUHIRUH

challenging to observe the rapid evolution of

dif-ferent technologies, standards, frameworks, and

the development of emerging projects aiming at

combining these standards and technologies (e.g.,

the development of research projects combining

both ebXML and RosettaNet frameworks)

The questions that guided this work were

DQVZHUHG0DMRUEHQH¿WVIRUHQWHUSULVHLQWHJUD-WLRQZHUHLGHQWL¿HG7KHPRVWUHOHYDQWVWDQGDUGV

frameworks, technologies, and supporting

in-frastructures aiming at enterprise integration

and interoperability were analyzed, and relevant

research projects in the area of enterprise

net-ZRUNLQJZHUHEULHÀ\SUHVHQWHG)XUWKHUUHVHDUFK ZLOOEHSXUVXHGWRGH¿QHFULWHULDWREHXVHGWR compare the available standards and frameworks However, in the context of CNO, as mentioned by Bussler (2003), the grander challenge will be: how

to achieve self-forming collaborative networked organizations (SFCNO)—that is CNO where the detection of service provider, as well as their contracting, is automated

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author, Claudia-Melania Chituc, would like

to acknowledge Fundação para a Ciencia e a Tec-nologia for PhD grant SFRH/BD/19751/2004

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This work was previously published in Knowledge and Technology Management in Virtual Organizations: Issues, Trends, Opportunities and Solutions, edited by G Putnik; M Cunha, pp 334-353, copyright 2007 by IGI Publishing (an imprint of IGI Global).

Chapter 1.8

A Knowledge Management

Approach to Improving

E-Business Collaboration

Sharon Cox

Birmingham City University, UK

John Perkins

Newman University College, UK

INTRODUCTION

Information and communication technology

(ICT) helps to remove barriers and improve

mechanisms that support e-business

E-busi-ness involves collaborative systems that enable

trading partners to work together as members of

communities of practice This article argues that

the ICT components of e-business are necessary

to support communication but in themselves are

RIWHQLQVXI¿FLHQWDVHQDEOHUVRIFROODERUDWLRQ$

knowledge management orientation is taken to

viewing the dyad between human ability,

organi-sational need, and the extent to which electronic

information systems can mediate between them

Concepts from the social practice literature are

LGHQWL¿HGWKDWPD\FRQWULEXWHWRDGGUHVVLQJWKH

gap between generic technology and situated

business applications, which may inform human

resource strategy

BACKGROUND

The communication of information is a key factor DIIHFWLQJWKHHI¿FLHQF\RIEXVLQHVVWUDQVDFWLRQV ICT provides mechanisms to support the accurate and timely communication of information across organisations in the supply chain E-business LQYROYHVWKHXVHRILQWHU¿UPFRPSXWHUQHWZRUNV

to exchange information that supports business applications or processes (Li & Williams, 1999)

It extends beyond e-commerce, the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet,

to incorporate the entire supply chain (Martin,

2UJDQLVDWLRQVFDQEHQH¿WIURPFRRSHUDWLQJ ZLWKLQWKHVXSSO\FKDLQ%HQH¿WVRIFRRSHUDWLRQ may include improvements in customer service (Tan, 2001), understanding future product de-mand (Sahay, 2003), transaction costs, and time

to market (Graham & Hardaker, 2000)

Supply chain management requires

collabo-ration between trading partners (Sahay, 2003)

which can take many forms requiring different

degrees of cooperation and commitment (Cox,

Krasniewicz, Perkins, & Cox, 2006) John-Steiner,

Weber, and Minnis (1998) emphasise the need

IRUPXOWLSOHGH¿QLWLRQVDQGPRGHOVRIFROODERUD-tive practice The term ‘collaboration’ can offer

positive connotations meaning ‘to work together,

especially in a joint intellectual effort’ (www

yourdictionary.com) This view of collaboration is

socially situated, implying that the partners in the

collaborative relationship share agreed goals and

that the balance of power, control, and potential

EHQH¿WVDUHHTXDOLQWKHUHODWLRQVKLS+RZHYHU

the term can also have negative connotations as

in ‘to cooperate treasonably, as with an enemy

occupation force in one’s country.’ The term

‘coop-HUDWH¶FDQEHGH¿QHGDVµWRZRUNWRJHWKHUWRZDUG

a common purpose’ or ‘to form an association for

FRPPRQXVXDOO\HFRQRPLFEHQH¿W¶7KLVUHODWHV

to the ‘working together’ aspect of collaboration

+RZHYHUDIXUWKHUGH¿QLWLRQRIFRRSHUDWLRQLVµWR

acquiesce willingly; be compliant.’ This

demon-strates the key difference between cooperation and

collaboration; cooperation can imply deference

and subservience in the relationship

Technology provides the means to

commu-nicate data and information and integrate

pro-cesses within the value chain Value is added to

collaborative relationships in e-business through

the information exchanged which allows

knowl-HGJH WR EH VKDUHG IRU MRLQW EHQH¿W FKDQJLQJ

processes and developing new products (O’Toole,

.QRZOHGJHFDQEHGH¿QHGDVDFRPELQD-tion of contextual informa.QRZOHGJHFDQEHGH¿QHGDVDFRPELQD-tion that is produced

WKURXJKV\QWKHVLVRILQIRUPDWLRQDQGUHÀHFWLRQ

from experience (Davenport, DeLong, & Beers,

1998) Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) model of

knowledge conversion modes established explicit

and tacit dimensions of knowledge into current

knowledge management thinking (Grover &

Dav-enport, 2001) Explicit knowledge is often found

in the form of information; it is the component of

knowledge that can be expressed with textual or symbolic representation Tacit knowledge is more VXEMHFWLYH DQG GLI¿FXOW WR H[SUHVV DQG FRGLI\ Communication and cooperation using collab-orative systems lead to reciprocal dependency

of knowledge sharing which is highly dependant upon the establishment of trust between trading partners

The study of practice within communities of practitioners is necessary to determine the cultural rules that underpin routine practice and establish knowledge requirements An approach emerging from the domains of social sciences and organisa-tion studies is that of social practice theory This focuses on the study of organisational culture through the medium of the work practices that FRPSULVHDQGUHVXOWIURPLW(QJHVWUĘP (QJHVWUĘP¶VPRGHORIVRFLDOO\GLVWULEXWHGDFWLYLW\ systems explores the dynamics between the users

of collaborative systems, objects of activity (such

as trading processes), and the community within which this trading takes place; it then analyses how these elements are mediated by implicit or explicit rules, roles, and technology

E-BUSINESS COLLABORATION

ICT changes the way work is conducted includ-ing how people work together and the degree to which they need to (Pearlson & Saunders, 2004) Internet technologies are the major enabler of improvements in supply chain management (Kirchmer, 2004) enabling customers and sup-pliers to work together towards a common aim to WKHEHQH¿WRIERWKSDUWLHVIRUH[DPSOHUHGXFLQJ transaction costs

:DUG*ULI¿WKVDQG:KLWPRUHLGHQ-tify four levels of using technology to support interorganisational cooperation and strengthen intercompany relationships At the lowest level

of connectivity, batches of transaction data are transmitted between partners This requires commitment to send accurate and timely data in

agreed formats, trusting that they will be used

ap-propriately At the next level, direct access to data

held in each other’s computer systems is given

This requires additional technical integration but

also requires a shared understanding of the data

(to ensure they are interpreted appropriately) and

trust that the data will not be misused At levels

three and four, further integration enables

part-ners to automatically initiate business processes

in response to electronic transactions and update

data in both parties’ computer systems These

levels require increasing degrees of trust and

commitment to the collaboration, changing the

relationship between trading partners

Information technology can be used to change

procedures (O’Toole, 2003) but a change of culture

is needed in both partner organisations in order to

develop the degree of trust required for

collabora-tion to be successful E-relacollabora-tionships are a layer of

value-added interaction between trading partners

Value is determined by the level of commitment

and engagement of the partners in the relationship

(O’Toole, 2003) Value can be added in

informa-tion exchanged; closer relainforma-tionships result in more

communication with richer content, though this

requires a form of community to be in place to

allow the development of shared understanding

and mutual trust (O’Toole, 2003)

Collaboration is built upon interpersonal

communication and it is trust that

differenti-ates partnerships from traditional relationships

(Handy, 1995) Communities are traditionally

developed through face-to-face interaction which

is often not possible within e-business The

recur-ring events that form common practice are often

inscribed in a technical infrastructure mediated

by sociocultural rules within a collaborative

system Such systems depend upon participants

knowing what constitutes appropriate practice in

a particular situation, knowing accepted ways to

carry out that practice and upon a high degree of

knowledge sharing

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge management involves implementa-tion of tools, processes, systems, structures, and cultures that promote creation, sharing, and use

of knowledge (DeLong & Fahey, 2000) The knowledge management philosophy focuses

on knowledge as ‘people-embodied activity’ (Mohamed, Stankosky, & Murray, 2006) Prob-lems with e-business systems occur when the development of the system is based on espoused requirements of practice projected from policy requirements The actual practice often results from practitioners ‘working around’ policy di-UHFWLYHV WR DFKLHYH ¿QLWH UHVXOWV LQ D VLWXDWLRQ where time and other operational resources are rationed; actual practice should form the basis for determining e-business processes However, the nature of the encultured and embodied knowledge that enables expertise is highly tacit and often not recognisable in an explicit form even by the practitioner who employs it

Lee (2005) emphasises the difference between process and practice Process relates to routines involving explicit knowledge; practice relates to heuristics and tacit ‘know-how.’ Formal explicit business processes document the actions and routine decisions of business activity; business practices becomes established where there is ambi-guity or omissions in the documented processes or exceptional circumstances occur (Wenger, 1998) This provides a continuum At one end, routine decisions which require little human intervention can be documented in business processes and DWWKHRWKHUHQGGHFLVLRQVUHTXLULQJVLJQL¿FDQW judgment are founded in business practice (Lee, 2005)

For e-business collaboration to succeed beyond the operational level of reducing transaction costs,

a knowledge management approach that more effectively enables collaborative activity needs

to be situated within the study of practice The individuals using the collaborative system adopt business practices that involve embodied,

embed-ded, and encultured knowledge that is located

not within individuals, but distributed amongst a

community of practitioners (Blackler, 1995)

TRUST AND COMMUNITY

E-business removes the temporal and geographical

boundaries of business transactions, however, it

also impacts the situational context within which

communities are developed and sustained Shared

understanding and mutual trust need to develop

EHWZHHQZRUNHUVDFURVVWKHLQWHU¿UPSDUWQHUVKLS

Perceptions of trust evolve through the experience

of recurring events to strengthen or weaken the

initial cultural boundaries between the workers

in each organisation

Individuals relate to a ‘we group’ as opposed

to ‘them,’ that is, those people who are excluded

IURPWKHµZHJURXS¶+RIVWHGHIXO¿OOLQJ

the basic human need to belong Dingley, Shah,

and Golder (2000) use the metaphor of a tribe to

H[DPLQH WKH FRPPXQLFDWLRQ GLI¿FXOWLHV

H[SH-rienced between groups of workers in different

departments within the same organisation as

they attempt to collaborate A tribe (Dingley et

al., 2000):

1 Possesses culture

2 Retains self-awareness

3 Maintains a sense of boundaries

4 Enforces a shared pattern of socialisation

to reinforce values

5 Consists of a complex social structure

6 Shares problems

7 Engages in rituals for coming together

8 Establishes traditions which sustain cohesive

relationships

 ,QÀXHQFHVSROLWLFVFORVHO\LQYROYHGZLWKWKH

rest of the social organisation

10 Settles disputes by the next higher order

They suggest that departments of workers

are ‘tribes’ separated by differences in behavior,

terminology, language, cognition, and values In-WHU¿UPFROODERUDWLRQFDQEHYLHZHGDVWZRµWULEHV¶ needing to work together and develop a shared culture to enable the collaboration Differences in thinking are a key factor of why solutions do not work or cannot be implemented in organisations (Hofstede, 1991); this is particularly true in the context of e-business collaboration Differences

in the use of language, goals, cognitive views, frames of reference, and organisational pressures DOOFRQWULEXWHWRFRPPXQLFDWLRQGLI¿FXOWLHVDQG lack of trust in collaboration

SOCIAL ACTIVITY THEORY

Human activity is mediated by the tools and con-cepts that are used; the situational rules, organi-sational processes, and shared practice interact ZLWKLQ WKH KXPDQ DFWLYLW\ V\VWHP (QJHVWUĘP 1987) Collaborative activity between two or more communities involves the reconciliation of human activity systems with different ecologies Processes of human meaning construction are mediated not only by technology but also by local culture, most explicitly represented by the recur-rent activities that represent practice carried out

by local communities of workers (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) The collaborative system changes the situational context, the artifacts, and actions of the people in both partner organisations and therefore impacts the communities of practice Oliver and Kandadi (2006) report the prominent role of formal and informal communities of prac-tice in the formation of knowledge communities They suggest that organisations need to provide an appropriate communication infrastructure, such

as knowledge portals, to provide virtual interac-tion and content management As knowledge is contextual (Snowdon, 2003), communities of practice that cross organisational boundaries need

to be developed to establish a collaborative context within which knowledge can be shared

TAXONOMIES OF COLLABORATIVE

PRACTICE IN E-BUSINESS

Collaboration changes trading relationships in

the supply chain Cox et al (2006) propose that

e-business collaboration can be examined from

three perspectives First, the strategic perspective

examines the rationale for collaboration, and

is-sues of with whom to collaborate, why, and how

(Barratt, 2004) Second, the integration

perspec-tive considers what is being integrated, the degree

of the collaboration, and the value emerging from

it Finally, the community perspective explores the

operational issues of collaborative practice

These levels of collaborative practice provide a

basic taxonomy with which to examine knowledge

management within e-business collaboration

Once the collaboration has been agreed at the

strategic level, the means for the collaboration

needs to be established At this integration level,

the contribution of business practice, as opposed

to business process, needs to be used as the basis

for developing the collaborative system,

embed-ding the encultured knowledge from the

com-munities of practice Collaboration then needs to

be considered at lower levels in the organisation

(Nahapiet, Gratton, & Rocha, 2005) At the

com-munity level, the individuals using the

collabora-tive system provide the key source of knowledge

WR H[SORLW RU UHVWULFW WKH SRWHQWLDO EHQH¿WV RI

the collaboration The key questions faced by

organisations concerning why, with whom, and

how to collaborate also need to be addressed at

the operational level This requires issues such as

human motivation to be considered (Nahapiet et

al., 2005) as colleagues ask, ‘With whom should

I collaborate with and why?’ Individuals cannot

be forced to share knowledge, it must be

volun-WHHUHG LQ RUGHU WR DYRLG FDPRXÀDJH EHKDYLRU

(where knowledge is shared but in an unusable

manner) or conformance behavior (where only

the minimum requirements are met) (Snowdon,

2003) Coercion leads to negative connotations

of collaboration

Fahey, Srivastava, Sharon, and Smith (2001) examine the role of knowledge management in e-business using the taxonomy of knowledge com-prising know-why, know-what, and know-how Know-what involves the assembly and application

of information, know-how is gained through the application of knowledge, and know-why is the result of combining ‘knowing-what’ and ‘know-ing-how’ through reasoning The why, what, and how broadly relate to the previous perspectives

of collaboration (i.e., strategic, integration, com-munity) This knowledge management framework provides a means to explore and develop the human role within e-business systems (Fahey HWDO7KHSRWHQWLDOVWUDWHJLFEHQH¿WVRI e-business can only be achieved through the ef-IHFWLYHFROODERUDWLRQRILQWHU¿UPFRPPXQLWLHVRI practice Neglecting the emergent knowledge from business practice reduces e-business collaboration

to a series of automated business processes and neglects the powerful and unique contribution of personnel in the organisation

FUTURE TRENDS

The challenges and opportunities posed by tech-nology are increasing at a fast pace ICT removes geographical and temporal boundaries providing a means for communication between organisations, processes, and people However sophisticated technology becomes one factor in communication remains the same, that is, the human element 5RXWLQHEXVLQHVVSURFHVVHVVXSSRUWLQJLQWHU¿UP transactions require minimal human intervention but the scope of such processes will be limited to the extent that practice, as opposed to espoused SURFHGXUH LV FRGL¿HG 3URFHVVHV ZLOO QHHG WR

be established for seeking to capture and codify business practice But it is the opportunities for innovation and organisational learning that remain

¿UPO\JURXQGHGLQWKHKXPDQDELOLW\IRULQVLJKW reason, and creativity As technology advances and continually ‘frees up’ staff (as processes become

CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH

Current market conditions and information and communication technology (ICT)... paper and forest industry),

considering also the fact that a single process and

document standard for communicating business

transactions is critical to companies buying and