Perceptions of new zealand managers towards the risks of information sharing across their supply chains (tt)

Title of Dissertation:

PERCEPTIONS OF NEW ZEALAND
MANAGERS TOWARDS THE RISKS OF
INFORMATION SHARING ACROSS THEIR
SUPPLY CHAINS
A dissertation
submitted in the fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
of
Master of Electronic Commerce (MECom)
at
The University of Waikato
by
THI THANH HUONG TRAN

2014


MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my very great appreciation to Prof. Bob McQueen and Prof. Paul
Childerhouse, my research supervisors, for their professional advice, patient guidance, and
enthusiastic encouragement during this research project. My grateful thanks are also extended
to all the participants who assisted me during the data collection and analysis process. Finally,
I wish to thank my beloved parents and friends in Vietnam for all their support throughout my
study.

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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

ABSTRACT
This study provided insights into the perceptions of managers about different types of risks of
information sharing with their trading partners in New Zealand context, particularly in Waikato
area. Furthermore, possible solutions for mitigating these risks were investigated from points of
view of key directors. A multiple-case study approach was used to analyze empirical data from
semi-structured interviews and secondary sources regarding supply chain structure and data
integration. The main contribution of the research is to extend previous literature in
understanding various dimensions of information sharing, especially risks occurring in data
exchange process at internal and external levels from perspectives of key personnel. Moreover,
the study also illustrated the status of data integration among New Zealand companies and their
supply chain partners. Finally, creating and maintaining trust and long-term relationships with
the trading partners were referred as the most important solution to deal with threats of
information sharing. The research findings would help entrepreneurs understand and evaluate
different kinds of threats in data exchange. From analyzing these risks, they could make right
decisions relating to data transmission as well as develop suitable solutions to mitigate these
threats.

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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................i
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................................ iii

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... vii
1.

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1

2.

LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................... 4
2.1

Supply chain management ............................................................................................ 5

2.1.1

Understanding supply chain and supply chain management................................... 5

2.1.2

Collaborative strategy - the new theme of supply chain management ...................... 6

2.1.3

The main elements and benefits of strategic collaboration ................................... 7

2.2

Information technologies (IT) and information sharing in a supply chain ..................... 8

2.2.1

The importance and benefits of IT in supply chain management............................ 9

2.2.2

Internal information systems and data integration in the supply chain ................... 9

2.2.3

Overview of information sharing among supply chain members ......................... 10

2.2.4

The process of sharing information in supply chain collaboration ..................... 12

2.3

Risks in the context of supply chain management ....................................................... 14

2.4

The specific risks occurring in data exchange process across the supply chain ......... 16

2.4.1

IT security: The challenge in supply chain collaboration.................................... 16

2.4.2

Information leakage during data exchange process across the supply chain ...... 18

2.4.3

Lacks of trust and commitment for sharing information ..................................... 20

2.5

Risk management in the context of supply chain ....................................................... 21

2.6

Research questions ...................................................................................................... 23

2.6.1

Research gaps ....................................................................................................... 23
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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

2.6.2

Research questions ............................................................................................... 24

2.6.3

Theoretical frameworks ........................................................................................ 25

Summary................................................................................................................................ 30

3.

METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 31
3.1

Justifying the selected research methodology - How multiple-case study fits the

research questions .................................................................................................................. 31
3.2

Paradigm ..................................................................................................................... 32

3.3

Research sample definition ......................................................................................... 32

3.4

Data collection process ............................................................................................... 33

3.5

Background of selected cases ..................................................................................... 35

3.6

Data analysis ............................................................................................................... 37

3.7

Ethics issues ................................................................................................................ 38

3.8

Validity and reliability of the research........................................................................ 38

Summary................................................................................................................................ 39
4.

FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................... 40
4.1

Information sharing is important in business operations ............................................ 40

4.2

Firm size affects the use of the internal information systems and data integration....... 42

4.3

Managers are highly satisfied with internal information sharing ............................... 44

4.4

New Zealand companies are only at the first two stages of data integration across the

supply chain ........................................................................................................................... 46
4.5

Relationships with partners and types of industries/products influence the content of

information sharing across the supply chain ......................................................................... 49
4.6

Managers have a positive attitude about the quality of shared information ............... 51

4.7

Five major risks/challenges of information sharing across the supply chain ............. 52

4.8

Information leakage and IT-related threats exist in data exchange process among

New Zealand companies and their partners. .......................................................................... 55
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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

4.9

Creating and maintaining good relationships with partners are considered as a

common solution for mitigating risks of information sharing ............................................... 57
4.10 Trust is the most important factor in information sharing .......................................... 59
Summary................................................................................................................................ 60
5.

DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 62

5.1

Information sharing is important in business operations ............................................ 62

5.2

Firm size affects the use of the internal information systems and data integration....... 63

5.3

New Zealand companies are only at the first two stages of data integration across the

supply chain ........................................................................................................................... 65
5.4

Relationships with partners and types of industries/products influence the content of

information sharing across the supply chain ......................................................................... 66
5.5

Five major risks/challenges of information sharing across the supply chain ............. 68

5.6

Information leakage and IT-related threats exist in data exchange process among

New Zealand companies and their partners. .......................................................................... 70
5.7

Creating and maintaining good relationships with partners are considered as a

important solution for mitigating risks of information sharing ............................................. 71
5.8

Trust is the most important factor in information sharing .......................................... 72

5.9

The implications of the research findings ................................................................... 73

Summary................................................................................................................................ 74
6.

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 75
6.1

Key conclusions .......................................................................................................... 75

6.2

Limitations .................................................................................................................. 75

6.3

Future research ............................................................................................................ 76

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 77
APPENDICIES .......................................................................................................................... 83
APPENDIX A ....................................................................................................................... 83
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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

Interview protocol.............................................................................................................. 83
Interview questions ............................................................................................................ 84
APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................ 86
APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................ 87
APPENDIX D ....................................................................................................................... 92
PERSONAL REFLECTION ..................................................................................................... 99

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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Venn diagram of the study ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 2 The main elements of supply chain collaboration....... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 3 Supply chain information and material flows ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4 Risks sources in the supply chain................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 5 The model of information leakage .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 6 Different types of information incidents in interconnected systems .................. Error!
Bookmark not defined.
Figure 7 The risk management process ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 12 categories of IT-related risks ................................................................................... 17
Table 2 Types of shared information ......................................................................................... 25
Table 3 Criteria for assessing information quality in data exchange process throughout the
supply chain based on the research of Zhou & Benton (2007) ................................................. 26

Table 4 Technologies supporting information sharing in the supply chain based on the
research of Zhou & Benton (2007) ............................................................................................ 26
Table 5 Levels of information sharing and types of risks/challenges based on the research of
Kolluru & Meredith (2001) ....................................................................................................... 27
Table 6 Risk sources in data exchange process across the supply chain based on the research
of Jüttner et al. (2003) and Christopher & Peck (2004) ............................................................ 28
Table 7 Categories of IT-specific risks of data exchange based on the study of Whitman (2004)
................................................................................................................................................... 28

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MSYS 591 Management system Dissertation Thi Thanh Huong Tran

Table 8 Information leakage based on the research of Zhang et al. (2011) ................................ 29
Table 9 Risk management models in the context of supply chain management ....................... 29
Table 10 Overview of eleven case companies........................................................................... 36
Table 11 Managers’ attitude towards the quality of information sharing ................................. 51
Table 12 Average point of main criteria in shared information quality assessment ................. 52
Table 13 Summary of the major findings of the study .............................................................. 61
Table 14 Discussion about the importance and benefits of information sharing ..................... 63
Table 15 Discussion about the internal information systems and data integration ................... 64
Table 16 Discussion about the current methods for exchanging data externally ...................... 66
Table 17 Discussion about the content of information sharing ................................................. 68
Table 18 Discussion of risks/challenges of information sharing ............................................... 69
Table 19 Discussion about information leakage and IT security .............................................. 70
Table 20 Discussion of solutions for risks mitigation in information sharing .......................... 72
Table 21 Discussion about trust in information sharing ............................................................ 73

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