Role of IT as an Enabler of Supply Chain Management

Indian firms have realised that adopting supply chain as a strategic competitive advantage tool has early payoffs. Information technology has played an important role among the firms that have been successful. They realised the importance of state-of-the-art information technology in linking supply with demand to achieve competitive advantage. Why do firms still fail to capitalise on the use of information technology? What inhibits this seamless flow of information across the supply chain? What are the lessons that can be drawn from those firms that have been able to use Information Technology successfully to add value and create sustainable value chain? This paper attempts to answer the above questions. It is an attempt to understand the role of Information Technology in supply chain management. We have reviewed the literature in order to understand how IT can effectively help supply chain become a strategic tool. With the help of exploratory research tools we have tried to find out how IT can be effectively utilised as a supply chain enabler. Our research findings are that aligning IT application to overall business strategy, managing processes rather than functions, developing cross functional teams, strategic alliance with suppliers and distributors, etc., create the right kind of organisational architecture, which help IT become a strategic competitive advantage tool.