Description

Transformation and e-business applications in automotive multinational corporations: A mixed methods study

OZLEM BAK

Business School, University of Brighton, Brighton, England

Abstract

Organizations utilize e-business applications to integrate their operations and to create a streamlined information fl ow. However, the implementation process has its own challenges: in many cases, it requires organizations to transform their operations. This study builds upon previous work on organizational transformation and assesses the differences between individual e-business applications and their impact on automotive multinational corporations (MNCs). In this study the use of mixed-methods research design proved to be beneficial, as academic literature provided limited empirical evidence of organizational transformation driven by e-business applications. The use of mixed methods in this study allowed the researcher to explore the phenomenon of transformation in-depth, and from diverse angles in the context of business-to- business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C), extranet and intranet applications while ascertaining the validity and representativeness of its findings based on four other automotive MNCs.

Keywords: e-business application, organizational transformation, mixed methods, automotive industry