Publications
Publications
- February 2001 (Revised March 2003)
- HBS Case Collection
i2 TradeMatrix
Abstract
i2 has recently acquired Aspect Development and is incorporating Aspect's offerings into its TradeMatrix product for business-to-business e-commerce. TradeMatrix embeds i2's existing products for optimizing supply chain performance by applying advanced planning and scheduling (APS) algorithms. TradeMatrix also includes capabilities for collaborative product design and sourcing. Aspect was a leader in this field, having developed an extensive database of suppliers and techniques for searching it effectively. i2 has, over the course of its history, migrated far from its roots as a vendor of APS solutions and has clearly outpaced its early competition to become a leading B2B vendor. i2 paid a high price for Aspect, and clearly feels that Aspect possesses critically important capabilities and, by extension, the requirements for successful B2B software. i2 and Aspect hope that their combined strengths will make TradeMatrix the platform of choice for communities of collaborating businesses. To do this, however, they must successfully merge their two companies and cultures.
Keywords
Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Mergers and Acquisitions; Information Technology Industry
Citation
McAfee, Andrew P. "i2 TradeMatrix." Harvard Business School Case 601-008, February 2001. (Revised March 2003.)