As the majority of business-to-business companies move online, many expect to be faced with a number of challenges such as integrity and security as well as disputes with suppliers that could impact e-commerce operations, according to a recent study.
The survey found that more than 70% of respondents had already moved part of their supply chain online. And, close to 70% expect their B-to-B e-commerce supply chain to be completed within the next two years.
The survey, conducted for the American Arbitration Association, also discovered that when respondents were asked about their company’s B2B e-commerce initiatives, 95% reported that they expect their involvement to increase –with more than a third saying the increase will be significant.
Other finding include:
* 78% said they were familiar with online exchanges with six out of ten agreeing that their industry is moving in the e-commerce direction.
* 58% reported that they are currently involved in online exchanges and almost half of those respondents created or helped create an exchange.
* More than 90% cited integrity and security as top challenges. Respondents also pointed to technology (86%) and cost (79%) as likely obstacles, and one out of four listed supply chain disputes.
* Two out of three respondents expressed concern about a B-to-B e-commerce dispute with a major supplier and nearly half said that such a dispute would impact their business.
Respondents also reported that e-commerce supply chains would create new or different kinds of B-to-B disputes with 64% reporting that their companies do not yet have a plan in place to deal with such conflicts. Seventy percent agreed that additional guidelines are necessary for managing e-commerce disputes and 25% said that nothing is in place at their companies to ensure that supply chains run without disputes, or that are not aware of any such plans.
The survey queried 100 senior executives at Fortune 1000 companies.
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