Authors:
Simão Pedro Ribeiro
1
;
Vitor Ricardo Santos
1
and
Carla Sofia Pereira
2
Affiliations:
1
Polytechnic of Porto and ESTG - School of Technology and Management, Portugal
;
2
INESC TEC - Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Information Sharing, Knowledge Management, Collaborative Networks, Footwear Industry, Footwear Cluster, Shoes Manufacturing, Business to Business, e-Commerce.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Artificial Intelligence
;
Best Practices & Communities of Practice
;
Communication, Collaboration and Information Sharing
;
Communities of Practice
;
Computer-Supported Education
;
Innovation Facilitation
;
Knowledge Management and Information Sharing
;
Knowledge-Based Systems
;
Learning/Teaching Methodologies and Assessment
;
Society, e-Business and e-Government
;
Symbolic Systems
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
Abstract:
Globalization and the rapid market changes increased the perception in the Portuguese footwear industry that success in the value chain is closely tied to information sharing, the creation and development of collaborative networks, and the management of the knowledge of the various partners. Business to Business (B2B) and e-Commerce (eC) are a key opportunity, and at the same time, a challenge for contemporary companies. We believe that the insights provided in this paper allow theory and practice to better understand the reasons for the success of the Portuguese footwear industry and of its key cluster of Felgueiras. Based on the research conducted, we argue that there is a lack of B2B-eC initiatives in the footwear industry and the existing ones are still incipient. Furthermore, the existence of only one platform that to some extent addresses B2B-eC, also indicates that there is a need for greater research and development of approaches/technology allowing companies to explore oppor
tunities to collaborate and negotiate among themselves.
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