Increasing Competitiveness of a Firm and Supply Chain with Web 2.0 Initiatives

To utilize ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to increase competitiveness of a firm under the current stringent demands of global market is a basic approach. This paper investigates how the latest ICT platforms, Web 2.0, can help the firm achieving this purpose. Eight functionalities of Web 2.0 are identified from reviews of its actual applications in enterprises. Then contribution of each Web 2.0 function to the key competitiveness factors is checked. The factors include higher speed, higher quality, higher cost-saving, higher innovative capabilities, higher customer satisfaction and trust. Trust is the key success factor (KSF) to virtual teams of supply chain collaboration (SCC), and knowledge sharing in knowledge management (KM) system. SCC and KM are KSFs in competitions. Finally, which Web 2.0 platform should be applied to which segment of the whole supply chain is discussed.