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This paper charts the progress of Motorola's global cash management strategy encompassing Motorola's internal factories worldwide, Motorola's customers and suppliers, and partner banks in the US, Europe and Asia. It explains how their financial supply chain strategy has evolved over a period of over thirty five years from a relatively simple internally focused system into a fully integrated global system that enables the flow of currency and associated foreign exchange processes to mirror the Just-In-Time (JIT) flow of products throughout the supply chain. The performance of the finance systems is analyzed using detailed statistical techniques including six-sigma. The strategy is characterized by incremental changes punctuated by significant shifts in the strategy, organizational design and information systems. It is demonstrated that the financial processes that connect Motorola with its suppliers enable the supply chain to behave more like a single, cohesive unit rather than a collection of autonomous organizational units.

A review of the various models of New Product Development (NPD) process shows that although different approaches have been proposed, they are in fact all variants on a linear theme: some may include feedback loops, but they all essentially advocate that certain steps precede, or are preceded by, others. An inevitable consequence on the Internet/World Wide Web (WWW or Web) is that such models are no longer applicable. Based on the lessons learned from the development of a new financial service offered via the Internet, we show how such assumptions of linearity need no longer be a constraint. In addition, innovativeness is not related to firm size. But the fact that the Web allows for the real-time development of new financial services based on on-going feedback from potential and current customers raises a new set of managerial issue that have to be tackled. The objective of this paper is to use the context of the recent launch of an innovative financial services product via the Web to explore the managerial changes that are starting to affect the banking industry.

The set of interorganizational information systems used for global cash management in business markets is analyzed. A longitudinal case study of Motorola is presented. Their strategy has evolved from an internal cost saving focus to a cooperative one, yielding significant strategic benefits by the inclusion of trading partners. The financial aspects of Motorola's business relationships with trading partners and its principal bank have been transformed through a process of organizational learning and adaptation coupled with the close integration of information systems (ISs) throughout the cash supply chain. Cooperative behavior between Motorola and its suppliers, with the help of Citibank, has enabled a coordinated response to bring cash flows in line with product flows. The results are compared with existing IS marketing theories on business relationships, market structure, and globalization. >