Drivers and barriers to adopting EDI: A sector analysis of UK industry

This paper presents the results of research comparing the effects of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) on seven U.K. industry sectors. The sectors investigated were retail, manufacturing, distribution, utilities, pharmaceutical, government and services. The analysis focuses in particular on similarities and differences in the implementation process and examines the difficulties experienced and benefits achieved by the various industry sectors. Further, the level of EDI integration with internal business processes is investigated. A framework is described which is based on a survey, a case study of successful EDI implementation and interviews with both service providers and users. It provides a potential tool for practitioners covering important aspects of EDI implementation and integration.