The impact of Electronic Data Interchange and E-invoicing on buyer-seller relationships in business-to-business markets

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objective of this thesis is to determine the influence of technology (Electronic Data Interchange and Electronic Invoicing) adoption and implementation on buyer-seller relationships in the business-to-business market. In addition, this study aims to identify if the impact on the buyer-seller relationship differs depending on whether the company implementing electronic invoicing is an EDI-user or whether a non-EDI company is adopting digitalization from scratch. As a theoretical framework, this study applies the taxonomy designed by Cannon and Perreault. The framework has been tested and found appropriate in an earlier research examining the impact of electronic invoicing on buyer-seller relationships in the business-to-business market. The empirical part of this thesis focuses on identification of changes in the business-to-business relationships along the corresponding framework dimensions. RESEARCH METHODS The methodology applied in this thesis is qualitative. The research comprises the study of three case companies that operate in different fields, such as textile production and marketing, machinery and power plant building, and airlines. SOURCE MATERIAL The sources used for this thesis comprise relevant articles and publications available on the Internet, journals and magazines. The material for the empirical part of the research was gathered through in-depth interviews of key personnel, and additional questionnaire e-mailed to the case companies. RESULTS Based on the results of this study, we can say that the implementation of electronic invoicing affects the various aspects of the business-to-business relationship with different strength. The research supported no assumption that there would be a difference in the impact of the implementation of electronic invoicing between an EDI user and a non-user. Furthermore, we found that electronic invoicing implementation in each case was driven forth by a supportive function, such as finance and/or accounting department. The process has been initiated and implemented by a supportive function regardless of the existence of EDI in the core business (business units)