E-Commerce and V-Business

9

Interorganizationalsystems to supportstrategic collaborationbetween firms

Feng Li and Howard Williams

Introduction

Over the past two decades collaboration has been in fashion in the business community across the world. In many cases, interorganizational systems (IOS) have been said to play an important enabling role. By facilitating the cost-effective diffusion of information between firms, such systems can reduce the co-ordination costs associated with the marketplace and permit increased collaboration between firms (Borman and Williams, 1996; Butler et al., 1997). Further, the continuous rapid development and diffusion of computers and telecommunications infrastructure and services have further increased business and academic interests ...