Enhancing Trust in Cloud-based Supply Chains

Cloud computing is emerging to be a popular technology to develop supply chain-wide Information & Communication Technology (ICT) systems. The present research conducts a field study regarding the impact of cloud computing services on supply chain management. The research first proposes an innovative, multi-layered architecture of the Trust Management System (TMS) under a complex supply chain environment. Secondly, the researchers perform a field study for Trust Management in action in a healthcare supply chain. The researchers apply the Action Research technique to evaluate the development of TMS of a cloud computing platform provider, where the researchers are directly involved in the case company's operations and supply chain interactions. The healthcare supply chain setting of the present research includes: the Cloud service providers, hospitals, medical supplies vendors, and shippers. Overall, the findings and innovations gained by this project add to the knowledge base of supply chain management that help supply chain organizations and professionals to prepare for the next-generation supply chain-wide IT adoption across organizational boundaries.