Author(s)
  Horluck, Jens.

Source
  International Journal of Information Management Oct 1994, v14n5, p. 330-343

Abstract:
  Each exchange of data in electronic data interchange (EDI) has a purpose - to let the receiving organization act upon the message received. As in any communication it is a problem to assure that the sender's intentions are understood by the receiver and thus that the receiver's actions are conditioned by these intentions. As a necessary prerequisite, EDI standards have been created to accommodate the variety of programs within an industry and practically any variation of any message can be created. The problem arises when the parties want to automate the procedures connected with the exchanged messages. They must either extend their own applications in order to accommodate this variety or, as part of an exchange agreement, reduce the variations to those that can be dealt with and thereby standardize their way of doing business. Even for large organizations, the basic question is who decides how to standardize. It is concluded that the present state of EDI, with hubs as the deciding parties and spokes doing what they must do to stay in business, has been inevitable and will continue in the future. This is in contrast to the view of EDI as a universal infrastructure.