Article Abstract

	Title:	E-business in a B2B wholesaler's internal supply chain: effects on costs and activities
	Author:	Marko Seppanen, Petri Suomala
	Address:	Institute of Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 541, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland. ' Institute of Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 541, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland
	Journal:	International Journal of Electronic Business 2003 - Vol. 1, No.4  pp. 347 - 357
	Abstract:	The primary aim of the paper is to indicate the effects of e-business on the costs of supply chain activities. The empirical data have been collected through a case study in a B2B wholesaler company. In order to analyse the cost effects of e-business solutions in a logistic chain, it is imperative to conduct a cost analysis across several activities. The calculation of both the total activity costs and the unit costs of activities was carried out by activity-based costing. As is quite often supposed, the results obtained indicate that the unit cost of a web-based order entry was lower than the unit costs of other sales channels. The ratio was approximately 1:6, respectively. However, order processing entails only a small part of the order's total costs. An assessment of the total cost effects of e-business requires that the cost structure of the environment be well understood.
	Keywords:	e-business; cost management; supply chain management; management accounting; activity-based costing.
	DOI:	10.1504/IJEB.2003.004108
		Purchase this Paper         Comment on the Paper