Impact of electronic data interchange in the Australian automotive industry

Information technology continues to play an increasingly significant role in the development of firms competing in the vast array of markets from those classified as global markets, such as the automotive industry, to the smaller nationally-based markets such as retailing. An objective of electronic commerce is to assist organisations to remain competitive and gain entry to markets which were previously unattainable. This study focuses on the organisational impact of one form of electronic commerce (electronic data interchange) on the component sector of the Australian automotive industry and examines the extent to which trading partner relationships have been affected. The research investigates the extent to which the integration of electronic data interchange (EDI) with an organisation’s internal application system may facilitate specific net benefits. The automotive industry became the first Australian industry to cooperatively adopt EDI. Research to date has not adequately examined the organisational impact of the nature and extent of net benefits gained from EDI adoption. To achieve the objective of assessing EDI net benefits, a conceptual model was developed. The model proposed that the level of EDI net benefits expected is influenced by the size of the organisation and the concentration of trade achieved within the industry via intervening links through (a) the level of senior management commitment and (b) the extent of system integration. Nine empirically testable research propositions are derived from the model, each testing the relationship between model constructs. Data was collected from 114 component suppliers to Ford Australia in 1992 and 1994 using a repeated cross-sectional longitudinal design. Structural equation modelling using partial least squares was adopted in the analysis of the data. A pure longitudinal model together with 12 case studies of selected component manufacturers supplemented the research design. The results of the research showed that the proposed conceptual model is a good description of the data. In particular, net benefits obtained from EDI adoption are directly determined by the size of the organisation, and the extent to which firms integrate EDI into their internal application systems. The level of net benefits is only indirectly influenced by the level of senior management commitment to the EDI project through (a) management commitment’s direct effect on integration, and (b) the direct effect the volume of trade a supplier achieves with the automotive industry on senior management commitment and system integration. The major benefits organisations experienced from EDI were enhanced productivity, clerical staff savings, improved data accuracy, enhanced customer service and reduced administration costs. The research showed that few suppliers gained inventory savings from EDI, a frequently claimed benefit from EDI adoption. Evidence of small improvements in product quality emerged from the results. In summary, this research attempts to make two primary contributions to knowledge, first in providing a method by which net benefits from electronic commerce can be measured within an industry adopting electronic trading, and second, by providing organisations with the knowledge of the specific net benefits organisations could expect from EDI adoption, together with the four major factors affecting these benefits. The research concludes with possible directions for future research, in particular an assessment of the impact of incorporating financial EDI into electronic trading.

Current problems of the U.S. automobile industry and policies to address them.

Mode of access: Internet.

Wool industry : a decade of turbulence : an examination of some of the factors contributing to the crisis within Australia's wool industry, and the resulting economic, social and demographic effects on a small isolated rural community

A central issue of this thesis has been an examination of the effects that the current wool crisis has had on the Balmoral district, an area almost solely devoted to the production of wool and wool sheep. Examines the methods being utilised to try to alleviate some of these effects.

Oversight hearing on the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act and the status of the U.S. Automobile industry : hearing before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session, April 22, 1982.

Item 1013-A, 1013-B (microfiche)

500 planes a day, a program for the utilization of the automobile industry for mass production of defense planes,

Mode of access: Internet.

[Miscellaneous bulletins on the canning and preserving industry and trade]

Mimeographed.

The story of English industry and trade.

Mode of access: Internet.

[Miscellaneous publications on the rubber industry and trade]

Mode of access: Internet.

Commonplace book of Hector Orr, 1789-1804

Hector Orr began recording entries in this commonplace book during his first year as a student at Harvard and continued writing in the volume sporadically until 1804. The entries written while he was a student, from 1789 to 1792, include themes written on the following topics: Time, Discontent, Patriotism, Virtue, Conscience, Patience, Avarice, Compassion, Mortality, Self-knowledge, Benevolence, Morning, Anger, Profanity, Bribery, Autumn and Winter, Hermitage, Conscience and Anticipation. He also wrote detailed entries about the forensic disputations in which he and his classmates participated, explaining both the affirmative and negative positions. One of these disputations involved discussion of the Stamp Act, which was then quite recent history. Orr's entries about the disputations list the names of students involved and specify their position in the argument.

Social cognitive theory and the adoption of e-book devices

The book publishing industry has been revolutionised by the technological innovations created by the Internet. Electronic book (e-book) devices such as Kindle by Amazon, Nook by Barnes and Noble and the iPad by Apple are relatively new technological innovations that will change the way individuals purchase and read books. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that will lead to a person adopting an e-book device. In this paper, a social cognitive theoretical framework is utilised to understand an individual’s intention to adopt an e-book device like the Kindle, Nook or iPad. A conceptual model is proposed, which focuses on the antecedents to a person’s adoption behaviour and is empirically tested through a survey of Australian youths. A portion of the conceptual model is supported. This suggests that marketing has an effect on a person’s intention to adopt an e-book device, which is mediated by their entrepreneurial orientation. The conceptual model proposed and tested has implications for the e-book industry as it demonstrates the internal and external environmental factors that influence adoption behaviour. The paper highlights for the book industry the important areas of e-commerce and m-commerce and how technological innovations are influenced by environmental factors. More recently, m-commerce has increased in usage as people can buy an electronic book via their e-book device anywhere in the world. E-book devices are a mobile device that people adopt in different ways depending on environmental factors

Brennan torpedo, monorail and helicopter : a study of innovative activity in the process of forming three related military weapons

In the context of nineteenth-century British defence planning Actor-network theory is used to examine technological and social activity in the development and operation of a secret, successful military weapon, the Brennan torpedo. Also in two subsequent inventions the continuity and development of a core innovative concept, gyroscopy, is traced.

Automobile marketing practices : hearings, Eighty-fourth Congress, second session pursuant to S. Res. 13 continued by S. Res. 163... January 19,20,23, and February 21,22,23,29, March 1,6,7,8,9,10, 1956.

pt. 1. January 19, 20, 23, February 21-23, 29, March 1, 6-10, 1956. 1225 p.--pt. 2. June 4-6, 12, 21, 1956. pp. 1227-1533.