Competing Through EDI at Brun Passot: Achievements in France and Ambitions for the Single European Market1.

Author List: Jelassi, Tawfik; Figon, Olivier;
MIS Quarterly, 1994, Volume 18, Issue 4, Page 337-352.
To differentiate its customer service, Brun Passot, a small French company specializing in the distribution of office supplies, developed a set of telepurchasing applications. In 1982, it launched Bureautel, a videotex-based service that allows customers to electronically place their orders. In 1986, at the request of its large customers, it developed a PC-based service, then in 1989 an advanced electronic data interchange (EDI) application linking customers to its supply information system. These services allow data on product availability, price lists, orders, acknowledgement receipts, delivery notices, invoices, and related bank payments to be electronically transmitted. Using ISDN, they also make it possible to look up the photos of the 12,000 products that Brun Passot markets. This article illustrates how a small-sized company has used IT to improve the quality of its customer service, shorten lead time and reduce management costs, as well as create new business opportunities in France. It also raises some issues related to the adoption and diffusion of EDI and presents Brun Passot's ambitions to use this technology as an essential enabler to expand its geographical coverage. The 1993 fall of mobility barriers within the European Community, leading to the formation of the single European market, presented for Brun Passot a unique business opportunity to further leverage its IT infrastructure and gain new markets.
Keywords: electronic data interchange; IT- enabled competitive advantage; single European market; Strategic information systems
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#246 0.179 strategic benefits economic benefit potential systems technology long-term applications competitive company suggest additional companies industry operating costs difficult substantial total
#242 0.147 market competition competitive network markets firms products competing competitor differentiation advantage competitors presence dominant structure share using incumbent make important
#211 0.108 service services delivery quality providers technology information customer business provider asp e-service role variability science propose logic companies especially customers
#259 0.084 identity norms identification symbolic community help sense european social important verification set identities form obtained properties deterioration mixed match emphasis
#101 0.076 edi electronic data interchange b2b exchange exchanges interorganizational partners adoption transaction trading supplier factors business suppliers impact network commerce efficiency
#23 0.067 channel distribution demand channels sales products long travel tail new multichannel available product implications strategy allows internet revenue technologies times
#6 0.061 data used develop multiple approaches collection based research classes aspect single literature profiles means crowd collected trend accuracy databases accurate
#279 0.059 field work changes new years time change major period year end use past early century half traditional areas established strong