Factors that foster information sharing in the supply chain integration

ABSTRACT Information sharing among supply chain members is a basic requirement for effective supply chain management. It has been proven that timely information shared throughout a supply chain can produce significant supply chain performance improvements to all members of the supply chain. This paper identifies and gives detailed explanations into the factors that affect information sharing among parties in the supply chain and how it can improve integration. This paper adopted extensive literature studies to identify the factors and explain how they influence information sharing among supply chain parties. The study revealed that trust, incentive contract, cost, facilities and business focus have significant factors that influence information sharing among the parties in the supply chain. Keywords: Information sharing, supply chain management, supply chain integration.