The vast majority of Canadian businesses would like to take advantage of Web-based supply chain technologies, according to a recent survey from Athabasca University. It found that over three-quarters of respondents (78 per cent) agree that their organizations would like to use Internet-related technologies more in their relationships with customers and suppliers. Twenty-nine per cent of respondents said their organizations would suffer financially because they lacked the resources to apply the technologies that were necessary for them to compete in the Internet-enabled supply chain.
Most also agreed that supply chain management will play an important role in the performance of their company, and that overall, SCM will become a bigger factor in strategic IT planning. Only 32 per cent thought they lacked the skills to help their companies operate in a collaborative world.
Just over half of respondents said they were likely to be influenced in their selection of customers and suppliers by their implementation of supply chain technologies.
Athabasca polled managers who participated in a past IT study, members of the student body of Athabasca University’s MBA program, and PMAC (Purchasing Managers Association of Canada) members.