Internet supporting the procurement process: lessons from four case studies

Industrial relationships among companies within the supply chain and procurement processes are changing to cope with new threats and opportunities arising from Internet technologies. The adoption of Web‐based tools in the procurement process allows firms to either reduce transaction costs or improve internal procurement process efficiency, or even increase collaboration with suppliers. The aim of this research is to analyze and understand main factors driving the adoption of Internet‐based tools in customer‐supplier relationships. The evidence presented is based on four in‐depth case studies (two European and two American) carried out within a joint‐research project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Politecnico di Milano.