Les impacts de la technologie RFID et du reseau EPC sur la gestion de la chaine d'approvisionnement: Le cas de l'industrie du commerce de detail

Our study draws from the literature review on the RFID technology and the EPC network, the innovation management theory, the supply chain management and the inter-organizational systems to examine the following research questions: (i) What precisely does the RFID infrastructure include?; (ii) What is the link between the RFID technology and the EPC network? (iii) What role could play a university-based laboratory in the adoption process of the RFID technology and the EPC network?; (iv) What are the impacts of the RFID technology and the EPC network on intra-organizational and inter-organizational business processes and information flows, on the workforce, and on the existing business models; (v) What strategies should be implemented in order to, first, guide the development and the implementation of various adoption scenarios integrating the RFID technology and the EPC network, and, secondly, facilitate communication between the different stakeholders involved in the process of identifying the appropriate business models and technological infrastructure supporting the adoption of an optimal scenario integrating these technologies?;From a theoretical perspective, this study offers some important contributions to the literature on innovation and technology management. First, our research emphasizes on the need to explore the potential synergy and complementarity of the RFID and the EPC network in the process of achieving a competitive advantage. In this regard, this research project is a significant contribution to the diffusion of innovations. In fact, very few studies are being conducted on the bundle-based dissemination of innovations, as they solely focus on the adoption and dissemination of a single innovation without taking into account the integrated dissemination -or "co-diffusion"- of several innovations. Second, we suggest from the results that the scope of the IT diffusion framework originally proposed by Fichman should be extended in order to make it applicable to the design and evaluation of scenarios integrating the RFID technology and the EPC network at the individual, organizational and inter-organizational levels.;From a practical point of view, the results demonstrate the importance of a university-based laboratory in the assessment of the impacts of emerging technologies such as the RFID technology and the EPC network. Such a laboratory enables the supply chain members to test and assess different adoption strategies in a neutral environment and to evaluate the potential risks related to their adoption, and thus reducing failure risk during the implementation phase. Secondly, the results ascertain the importance of the Living Lab approach in the "co-creation" process of innovations and in the training of potential users of the RFID and of the EPC network, especially as regards their impacts in a business context. It is also clear that the Living Lab approach enables a closer and more fruitful collaboration between the technological, business and research stakeholders. This approach may represent a vital facilitator of the widespread diffusion of the RFID technology and the EPC network. (Abstract shortened by UMI.);In order to answer these questions, the field research that was being carried out relied on a hybrid approach integrating multiple case studies and the so-called Living Lab approach. More specifically, the field research was carried out in a three layer-beverage supply chain composed of five tightly inter-related firms, namely three suppliers, one focal firm and one retailer. The focal firm involved in this research is an important player in the Canadian beverage industry. It owns many distribution centers where an overall volume of 15 million cases of wine bottles transiting through each year. The field study enabled us to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Furthermore, the multiple case studies allowed us to (i) understand the current dynamic of the retained beverage supply chain, as well as (ii) to capture the current state of the core intra- and inter-organizational business processes involved in the management of warehousing activities using a business process analysis tool called ARIS Toolset. Later, in line with the Living Lab approach and based on an analysis of the business and technological requirements from key stakeholders, various scenarios of business process optimization integrating the RFID technology and the EPC network were elaborated, validated and tested in ERP-RFID Lab of ePoly Center.