Survey: Internet Key To CollaborationSurvey: Internet Key To Collaboration

American executives get it: The Internet promotes collaboration with other companies. More than 70% of execs from Fortune 1,000 companies surveyed by Accenture see the Internet as one of the most important factors in fostering greater collaboration with key business partners because of the visibility it provides in the supply chain, the management consulting firm reports in a study issued Wednesday.

"We're seeing a willingness to consider outsourcing nontraditional activities such as procurement, supply-chain IT applications development and maintenance, and even supply-chain planning to enhance effectiveness in these critical activities," says Bill Copacino, global managing partner for Accenture's supply-chain management practice.

Among other findings of the survey of 150 executives, conducted in December:

• 80% say their companies cut costs, improved efficiencies, enhanced customer service and revenue, or improved competitiveness with supply-chain management initiatives.

• 50% considered outsourcing noncore functions--such as transportation and logistics--critical to improving supply-chain management, and therefore achieving improved performance in their companies' operations.

Analyzing the survey, Copacino sees a growing number of companies outsourcing additional supply-chain activities such as procurement to enhance performance. The recession, coupled with the pressing need to enhance competitiveness, has accelerated the trend toward outsourcing supply-chain functions, he says. But Copacino cautions that focusing solely on cutting costs can overshadow long-term strategic needs, which can be counterproductive when supply chains must become more global and customer focused.

Survey participants also said that the difficulty in scaling pilot programs across functions or divisions was one of the greatest challenges to achieving positive results from supply-chain improvement. The least-difficult challenge: garnering senior executive sponsorship of these initiatives, which Copacino says indicates that supply-chain management is seen as a major strategic thrust in achieving business objectives.