Conclusion

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Australia’s automotive industry is moving closer to developing one of the largest global forms of trading (i.e., via covisint.com). General Motors, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Renault and Toyota have set up Covisint – a single giant trade exchange platform. Others who have joined Covisint included; Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover (via Ford), Fiat, Suzuki, Isuzu and Subaru (via General Motors), Nissan (via Renault), and Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Kai (via Daimler Chrysler). The Internet portal allows suppliers to bid for contracts, and the system streamlines the whole supply chain process, including procurement, planning, scheduling, manufacturing, and logistics for both sides of the transactions. In order for business partners to sustain long-term relationships, trust becomes important. Firms that trust their business partners are capable of making effective decisions. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review (2003) titled“Do not trust your intuition,” it was found that although 45% of corporate executives rely on their intuitions to make business decisions , they agreed that the complexities and proliferation of e-commerce technologies have in turn made effective decision making the number one problem for management today.

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