Information Sharing as a Collaboration Mechanism in Supply Chains

Abstract

Sharing information is regarded as one of the most effective ways of improving supply chain (SC) performance. However, the implementation of SC information sharing in practice is challenging. Effective information sharing across organizations with different objectives and perspectives means sharing the right information, at the right level of detail, using the right language, at the right time, in the right context, with the right people. A failure related to any one of these factors can lead to an information sharing breakdown.

This paper introduces information sharing as an essential activity in all SC collaborative work. Since the scope of information sharing varies widely in the literature, the focus of this paper will be on how the absence of information sharing (i.e. asymmetric information) may affect the SC and how SC information sharing can be defined in terms of what, to whom and how information is shared, with an emphasis on the benefits and challenges of SC information sharing.

Keywords: supply chains- asymmetric information- information sharing.