EProcurement Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EProcurement - Article Example The efficiencies in the processes involved diminish organizational performance. To put this in context, one can consider how a product is sold to a customer. The transaction would appear to be simple, with a store selling the product on the shelf. But the process behind this is actually complex involving vast supply chain especially when the organization involved operates globally. It would mean that several players and variables are involved with products changing hands several times, crossing geographic and even political boundaries. Finally, there are the inefficiencies, which aggravate the system further, complicating them even more. They jack up costs affecting all stakeholders in the process. Suppliers, consumers and retailers each incur losses. One could also turn to the case of interoperability to support this further. It pertains to the capability by which different IT systems of firms and individuals communicate and operate. This has been a problematic issue because IT systems have different technical standards, in addition to the differences in policies in the international system with respect to access and release of information. This issue is critical because it affects the deployment and overall processes of e-commerce infrastructure. For example, a company may encounter difficulties in its e-invoicing system if its technical standards have different semantic characteristics with those of its customers or those other firms it transacts with. The semantic layer of an organizations e-procurement system concerns the analysis of data and their meaning and interpretation (Paunovic et al., 2012). Differences in IT systems would mean varying modes of reading and interpreting data, which could impact the way correct informa tion is communicated and interpreted from both ends. There is, hence, for a global standard that can address the inefficiencies of