B2B and B2C Supply Chains

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce relies on long-term, more integrative product and selling strategies and points to Toyota as an example. The paper compares this to business-to-consumer (B2C) companies that concentrate on more short-term and highly transactional approaches to attracting, selling and serving customers. The paper mentions Amazon.com and other online retailers as examples of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies.

Outline:
Executive Summary
Comparing Supply Chains for B2B versus B2C Websites

From the Paper:

"By definition, B2B supply chains orchestrate the sourcing, procurement, logistics, product scheduling, inventory management, and fulfillment of products for use by other businesses. The key challenges inherent in these supply chains are managing inventories as optimally as possible (Kim, Umanath, Kim, 2006). In addition, as B2B supply chains have the requirement of both greater process-level and system-level integration, driven by the wide diversity of B2B business models that serve as the foundation of their websites, e-commerce initiatives and supply chains Cullen, Webster, 2007). As a result of all these factors, B2B supply chains must be able to support greater collaboration between suppliers, greater more knowledge of how the supply chain can synchronize itself to the needs of the end user, and support for a greater complexity and size of transactions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Andrea J. Cullen, Margaret Webster. (2007). A model of B2B e-commerce, based on connectivity and purpose. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 27(2), 205-225. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1284085101).
• Kyung Kyu Kim, Narayan S Umanath, Bum Hun Kim. (2006). An Assessment of Electronic Information Transfer in B2B Supply-Channel Relationships. Journal of Management Information Systems, 22(3), 293-320. Retrieved April 27, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 995759471).
• Anna Nagurney, Jon Loo, June Dong, Ding Zhang. (2002). Supply Chain Networks and Electronic Commerce: A Theoretical Perspective. Netnomics : Economic Research and Electronic Networking, 4(2), 187. Retrieved April 27, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 330933811).
• Damien Power (2005). Implementation and use of B2B-enabling technologies: five manufacturing cases. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 16(5/6), 554-572. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 906975201).
• Sriram Thirumalai, Kingshuk K Sinha. (2005). Customer satisfaction with order fulfillment in retail supply chains: implications of product type in electronic B2C transactions. Journal of Operations Management, 23(3,4), 291-303. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 819115691).

More papers on B2B and B2C Supply Chains:

• Comparison Essay # 52502 : "Supply Chain Management in B2B and B2C Environments"
• Research Paper # 49653 : "e-Business and the Supply Chain"
• Comparison Essay # 103153 : "B2B and B2C"

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