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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between integrative technologies and the corporation's ability to remain or gain a competitive advantage in today's fast‐paced global economy.

The authors' professional experience, extensive literature review, and personal communications on the subject provided the foundation for this research.

The global business environment requires corporations to use a variety of information and communications technologies in order to coordinate and control all activities in its global operations. In order to be competitive, firms are implementing new technologies such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), ERP II, and radio frequency identification to reduce the cost of doing business by improving operational efficiencies, establish better relationship with their business partners, as well as effectiveness by quickly responding to changes in the marketplace. Challenges and benefits of implementing these technologies by both manufacturing and service organizations are explored and examined in this paper.

Low‐cost and differentiation strategies require corporations to integrate information and communications technologies to streamline processes both within the firm and between business associates. A considerable amount of time and capital is required for acquisition and implementation of the new technology but the return on the investment is significant in the long run. Top management participation, change in management, and employee training are critical success factors in successful utilization of technology.

The paper provides useful information with regards to the importance of technology in sustaining or gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

It seems that manufacturers are increasingly accepting that the focus in today’s market is innovation; products that clearly differentiate themselves from others while also being affordable, reliable, and early to market. Moreover, there is a realisation that past initiatives aimed solely at product performance, cost, quality, or time to market are no longer sufficient to gain competitive advantage. Only through total management of the product lifecycle, and truly collaborative work processes involving widely distributed teams of people throughout an extended enterprise, can products be developed to meet customer needs innovately without driving up costs, sacrificing quality or delaying product delivery.

Product data management (PDM) is an essential tool that assists engineers and others manage both engineering data and the product development process. This study aims to evaluate the advantages and justify the implementation a PDM system at the broadband wireless group (BWG) of a major telecommunications firm located in Pittsburgh, PA. Examines results of previous PDM implementations and obtains primary data via a department staff survey regarding time spent searching for product or part information, product development cycle time, and information exchange or sharing. Illustrates that PDM implementations have led to significant improvement in all facets of product design, documentation, introduction, manufacturing, and support. These improvements will result in an increase in design reuse and a decrease in product development costs and the number of engineering changes.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

According to consulting and research firm CIMdata, Inc., the stronger than expected market growth for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is attributed to continued recognition of the value of PLM in improving companies' business performance. While some of the world's largest enterprises are improving top‐line revenue growth and bottom‐line performance through PLM, impressive gains are likewise being experienced by smaller and mid‐size firms using PLM to boost productivity and improve competitiveness. PLM adoption is also being helped by the growth of supplier‐developed “packaged solutions”, and product suites being fine‐tuned to better meet mid‐market requirements, along with suppliers who have differentiated themselves by focusing on small and midsized businesses, and companies that are adding extended capabilities and value to PLM implementations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative contribution of tangible resource (TR) and intangible resource (IR), and capabilities on firm performance based on the measures of market share, sales turnover and profitability.

A cross-sectional survey research design was used in the study. The modified version of Galbreath and Galvin’s (2008) resource-performance questionnaire which included a total number of 45 questions was applied on 243 Turkish firms operating in different industries. The data collected were analysed by hierarchical regression analysis.

The findings revealed that IRs and capabilities contributed more greatly to firm performance compared to TRs. However, in contrast to the proposition of resource-based theory that views capabilities as the most important skills that underpin the development and deployment of both TR and IR, capabilities offered rather limited additional explanatory power to the prediction of firm performance only with respect to profitability against the combined effects of TR and IR.

The vast majority of the empirical resource-based view (RBV) research concentrates on developed countries and very little is known about results outside of this domain. This study employs Turkish business databases to assess the relative importance of TR and IR and capabilities on performance differences among firms in Turkey which was the 17th largest economy in the world trade in 2016. Second, in the RBV literature, limited research tests the contribution of capabilities to firm success after simultaneously accounting for the effects of other resources (namely, TR and IR) available to the firm. Finally, this research offers practical contributions to executives and managers who have to make adequate decisions for firm survival and growth in the competitive business arena.

Internet‐centred business models have proved to be an effective means of conducting business‐to‐business (B2B) commerce in many industry sectors. As an interactive and instantaneous medium, the Internet provides firms with a new platform – commonly referred to as electronic marketplaces or electronic hubs (“e‐marketplaces” or “e‐hubs”). This study examines the advantages of business networks and relationships, and elucidates how these have become increasingly imperative within the new e‐business paradigm of the global marketplace. The study draws on the Covisint e‐marketplace – the e‐hub of the automotive industry – to illustrate some of the innovative business features that can be supported by e‐marketplace business models and notes the complexities of e‐relationships that require round the clock support.