According to Gunasekaran and Ngai (2004), global market is completely connected and dynamic in nature. Therefore, companies are trying to improve their agility level with the objective of being flexible and responsive in order to meet the changing market requirements. In this effort, many companies have decentralized their value-adding activities by outsourcing and developing virtual enterprise (VE). All of these facts highlight the importance of information technology (IT) in integrating suppliers/partnering firms in virtual enterprise and supply chain. Supply chain management (SCM) is an approach that has evolved out of the integration of these considerations. Simchi-Levi et al. (2000) defined SCM as a set of approaches utilized to effectively integrate suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and retailers, so that goods are produced and distributed at the right quantities, to the right locations, and at the right time, in order to minimize total cost while satisfying service level requirements.
