An extended enterprise without a collaborative mindset among the partners.
Published in Chapter:
Extended Enterprise Integration vs. Market B2B Integration
Frank G. Goethals (SAP-leerstoel Extended Enterprise Infrastructures and F.E.T.E.W.—K.U. Leuven, Belgium), Wilfried Lemanhieu (F.E.T.E.W.—K.U. Leuven, Belgium), and Monique Snoeck (SAP-leerstoel Extended Enterprise Infrastructures and F.E.T.E.W.—K.U. Leuven, Belgium)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-885-7.ch076
Abstract
The human communication processes that are involved in analyzing and designing a business and in designing, implementing, and maintaining information systems are affected by the fact that the information technology (IT) department of one company nowadays has to create software to fulfill requirements of people not only in their own company but in other companies too. In this context, the term “extended enterprise” is often used. The concept “extended enterprise” is, however, not unequivocally defined. This article first discusses the concept of the extended enterprise and opposes this form of economic organization to the two other basic forms of economic organization, namely, the firm and the market. Next, we derive from organization theory (see, e.g., Hatch, 1997; Morgan, 1996) two basic types of business-to-business integration (B2Bi), namely, extended enterprise integration and market B2Bi. We show that the extended enterprise constitutes a specific context within which information systems are being developed, integrated, and maintained, and that this context allows for/needs specific ways of integration. We discuss the role of standards and coordination for both types of B2Bi.