The role of mobile technology in a buyer‐supplier relationship: a case study from the steel industry

Abstract

Purpose The impacts of information technology on business relationships have been of interest to managers for decades, and this stream of research has also steadily gained recognition among academics. However, the emergence of mobile technologies and the use of mobile solutions within business relationships is a less well studied area. Thus, the purpose of this research is to show how mobile solutions can be deployed within industrial buyer‐supplier relationships to enhance processes, coordination and overall value creation. Design/methodology/approach The empirical part of the research presents an in‐depth case study in the context of the steel industry. Findings It is shown that mobile technology usage has a central role in key business relationships to improve internal and inter‐organizational coordination. Mobile technology usage grid was conceptualized from the literature to categorize the possible impacts of mobile technology deployment on coordination. Practical implications As a practical result, this research shows that a wi‐fi infrastructure based system that uses handheld devices like PDAs can be used to shorten and cut costs of internal and interfacing processes between buyer and supplier. In practice, the steel hardness test report measurements and transmissions from one organization to another are made more effective. Research limitations/implications The limitation of the research is the use of only one case study and the resulting lack of generalizable results. Future studies could include case studies in other contexts, and later a quantitative study could be conducted to validate and broaden the findings. Originality/value The paper presents how mobile technology is used in a business relationship and what kind of impacts the usage has on the relationship. The paper contributes to the evolving bonding discussion in business relationships as well as indicates ways to use mobile technology effectively in a business relationship.

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