Enterprise Information Portals in support of business process, design teams and collaborative commerce performance

Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs) have beenwidely adopted as platforms for the integration of knowledge management and information technology (IT). This study has been conducted from the knowledge management perspective in order to examine the influence of EIPs on collaborative commerce in the automobile industry. This study explores the integration of internal and external business processes and the coordination of collaborative design teams. An initial qualitative investigation explores the practical applications of an EIP in an automobile company. A research model is then formulated and tested using a questionnaire survey of the R&D department of a motor company in Taiwan. The results of the data analysis reveal that presence of EIPs can help a company realize the benefits of c-commerce. EIPs also can improve collaborative commerce performance by promoting the degree of integration of the enterprise process and by strengthening the process innovation and communication of collaborative design teams. The results suggest thatmanagers should reinforce important factors, including knowledgemanagement tools, process integration, and the quality of design teams, in order to achieve success in collaborative commerce. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.