Stakeholder Participation in Investigating the Impact of E-Commerce Upon the Value Chain

Abstract

This chapter discusses qualitative and quantitative approaches to informing and validating ABMs. Research is introduced which addresses the question of how new e-commerce technology is leading to restructuring of value chains. A case study was undertaken within a major international organisation, focusing on exploring those issues identified as interesting and important by a small stakeholder group working in the company and actively participating in the research. A central theme of this paper is the interaction and relationship with stakeholders during the project, with regards to the development of the ABM. The paper concludes that a multi-methodology approach is appropriate to simulation-based projects, and identifies stakeholder participation as being useful in several ways, in particular because it facilitiates model validation.