Traditional and Internet EDI Adoption Barriers

View Sample PDF

Author(s): Albert L. Harris (Appalachian State University, USA)and Charlie Chen (Appalachian State University, USA)
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 7
Source title: Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Government, and Mobile Commerce
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-799-7.ch173

Keywords: Business & Management / Business Science Reference / E-Commerce

Purchase

View Traditional and Internet EDI Adoption Barriers on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is a conduit to innovative ways of conducting e-business processes, as well as facilitating e-business applications and services. EDI is the electronic exchange of business documents using standardized document formats (Blackstone & Cox, 2004). Traditional EDI, based on proprietary value added networks (VANs), went through the early adoption stages in the 1990s (Clinkunbroomer, 1991; Premkumar, Ramamurthy, & Crum, 1997). Many factors caused the slow diffusion of the technology, including, but not limited to, high investment costs (Wilde, 1997), proprietary standards, poor integration capability with existing corporate systems, rigidity, poor scalability (Peters, 2000), poor performance in auditing trails, document certification needs, and the perceived need for hardcopies of the documents (Banerjee & Golhar, 1994). Despite these adoption obstacles, many large and small organizations have been leveraging the open architecture of the Internet to improve their agility and competitiveness. Unlike traditional EDI, Internet EDI adopts an open standard (extensive markup language or XML) and entails higher business agility by integrating the information systems of the business partners. Internet EDI is becoming an alternative to traditional EDI. Their natural differences pose an interesting, timely, relevant, and applicable research question: What would it take to accelerate the adoption of traditional and Internet EDI to support electronic business? This article proposes a theoretical framework based on Rogers’ (1983; 2004) innovation diffusion model and interorganizational theories. Major technological and managerial obstacles confronting widespread adoption of traditional EDI and Internet EDI are addressed. Future trends of these technologies are discussed as a conclusion.

The IRMA Community

Research IRM

Traditional and Internet EDI Adoption Barriers

Purchase

Abstract

Related Content

IRMA Sponsors