Risk analysis of E-commerce application to construction supply chain management in China

The application of supply chain management method changes the traditional logistics management mode, and it provides the new way to integrate the materials supply for corporation development, reduces the managemental cost, enhances the operational efficiency, and strengthens communication between the participants for corporation producing procedure. And, the E-commerce technology makes it possible to effectively apply the supply chain management in practice, and it provides the further support for development and application of supply chain management. However, it is inevitable to encounter various of uncertain factors in applying the E-commerce technology in supply chain management, and then the risk will occur. In this paper, the characteristics of construction industry and construction supply chain are analyzed firstly, and then the general application mode of E-commerce to construction supply chain is presented. Next the main five characteristics of construction e-commerce are addressed. From the viewpoint of construction supply chain and adopting the methodology of literature review and interview with domain experts, this paper illustrates the main risk factors in the application of Ecommerce to construction supply chain management in China. Finally the relative suggestions, how to develop the Chinese construction ecommerce and avoid the risks, are given.