The Impact of E-marketplaces in Managing Supplier Relationships: Aramco Case study

Abstract

The Internet revolution changed how businesses are running their work by reshaping the traditional buyer-seller relationship and allowing companies to focus more on their core processes. Currently, using e-marketplaces has become a famous business trend due to the high efficiency and integration in B2B e-commerce. E-marketplaces (virtual marketplaces) are beginning to substitute traditional markets with notable support to the companies' supply chain. Being highly successful in B2C sectors encouraged B2B sectors to experience new solutions for some issues. Over the past years, the use of e-procurement and e-marketplace has spread and reached many industries because of the high efficiency, promptness, and ease of use. Recently, oil and gas e-marketplaces and other comparable heavy industries are progressively coming into the picture. Although Several e-marketplaces claim to be beneficial for all their participants, some researchers argued that e-marketplaces are rarely benefiting the suppliers. The main goal (aim) of this qualitative study is to prove the effectiveness of using e-marketplaces in the oil and gas industry and their influence on the supplier’s relationship by analyzing the existing literature. A systematic literature review has been conducted to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the literature review process. Through data analysis and themes generation, it has been proved that e-marketplace has a positive impact on both trading activities and supplier relationships which answer the research question of this study.