Future Research

This study has its limitations which create opportunities for future research. There are still a few gaps in this research that follow from the findings in Chapter 5. Firstly, an in-depth exploration using a larger sample composed of various industry sectors would be very helpful in order to study other key factors that drive the needs for supply chain integration in a company. Secondly, more methodological work is needed to robustly capture the impacts that e-business brings on supply chain integration of a company. Finally, as an ongoing research, there is a need to study the relationship between e-business benefits and company competitive advantage, provided that empirical research regarding this matter is still limited and less evident.

6.3. Limitations of the Study

Due to time and resource constraints, the focus of this study was directed to particular companies on the upper or lower end of the stream rather than on the entire supply network. Some relevant viewpoints might have been missed along the research process, resulting in its lack of depth. Additionally, there was difficulty in approaching companies who were willing to accept an in-depth interview, share detailed insights and contribute as the case company of this study. Therefore, the information of case companies included in this study was received through only one key informant who was open to discussion. This may present some problems because an individual’s insights into the role of e-business in supply chain integration may be limited.

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Appendix

Interview Transcripts

This section contains details of a recorded interview with a sales manager from Company P, an information service provider company in Taiwan. During transcription, the name of the interviewee any third parties will be kept anonymous to protect the confidentiality of the interviewee.

Interviewee name: K Job title: Sales Manager

Interview date: May 6, 2017 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Place: National Chiao Tung University Institute of Business & Management Interviewer: I

I：請問學長是否可以簡單介紹一下貴公的產品和服務？

K：我們的公司的話，是在做物流的相關資訊系統。那最早我們的公司其實是在 做那個… 就是，我們是空運的 Forwarder 系統跟報關系統起家的。然後，

後來就是差不多在 2007 年的時候開始，我們就是陸陸續續也是因為空運已 經做得蠻穩健的，所以說在 2007 年的時候，就是有做比較大型的海碩集團，

他們叫 OEC，那他們公司是比較做海運的，所以我們也有開始做海運這一塊。

然後也發展到現在差不多 10 年了，所以說相對性海運來講的話，也會比較 穩健一點。最近剛好這一兩年，市場上比較大型的 Forwarder 公司，他就 是比較會找我們這樣子。出了 Forwarder 以外，因為基本上來講，如果單 一產品的話，其實整個 Forwarder 的市場在台灣的話其實這幾年就是慢慢 地消減下來，變成大概只有 2,000 多家而已。所以說呢，那型態也跟以往 不 一 樣 。 以 往 是 比 較 分 工 的 方 式 ， 我 是 專 做 Forwarder ， 那 我 就 做 Forwarder。那現在很多公司基本上，譬如說，他可能有時候可能也會包含 他自己可能去租倉庫，甚至是自己有車隊，就是慢慢地他們會去做一條龍 式的服務，這是這幾年的轉變。那所以說，也因為 User 端他的改變，所以 說我們公司變成說，我們也會去因應他的改變。那他們也是希望說他們有 單一窗口，假設如果他做一條龍，那我門只做他的 Forwarder，那我們其他

沒辦法幫他做的時候，那變成說他還要去找別的廠商，就會變成是系統整

booking 完之後，系統會自動通知我這個貨主已經跟你 booking 了這些服務，

I：那他們導入過程有沒有遇到什麼問題？

K：主管的支持很重要，再來是他的中階人員也要很支持這件事情，反而是說最

I：這樣的話，是不是對訂單和配送的準確度有差？

K：準確度當然有差，另外是說，如果以物流業來講的話，他們在做倉庫跟卡車 的交接點，以往他們是一張一張去對貨品，那現在他們只要用 Barcode 掃 瞄器，所以就可以省很多時間，配送時間也可以維持在可接受的水準，讓 消費者感到滿意，他們大概是這樣。