## 3 Literature Review and Research Questions
### Drivers of IS Adoption  
There are various motivating factors for IS adoption by industry that several researchers have recognized and classified in different ways, which are by necessity subjective.  
Competitive advantage is considered as one of the key factor which motivates companies to implement the latest IT to support their supply chain (SC) and stay on the cutting edge [28; 29]. According to [PERSON] and [PERSON] cost and time reductions are considered as two other key elements that force Nigerian SMEs (small-medium enterprises) into ICT adoption [29]. IT development has provided managers with several systems in their constant efforts to control their business performance more effectively and at the same time to achieve cost reduction [23; 30]. As the competition among SCs seems more important than the competition among companies, the pressure the managers feel to meet customer demand, achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty is higher. Several ISs--especially CRM--emphasize on the importance of customer satisfaction and consider it as one of the non-financial benefits of new technologies [16; 27; 30]. Errors/mistakes can occur in every stage of the SC and cause great trouble. The fewer errors that exist, and the sooner they are discovered, the better for the enterprises. Late discovery might lead to financial loss for the company. For example, some products may need to be discarded. One of the major problems especially in SMEs is considered to be the human factor, not only because humans are susceptible to mistakes by nature, but also because they might not be trained into the specific IS used by the company [31]. Production planning is making manufacturing more efficient, providing flexibility because it can adapt to customers' demand [12] and it can lead to lower inventory levels of all types of materials and products, which eventually leads to inventory cost reduction [13]. In the research by [PERSON] et al. [31] that was conducted in Greece, one of the respondents mentioned that one of the benefits of the ERP system they were using was that it helped them to minimize their inventory because of the improvements in production planning and control. When a company aims at good inventory management it mostly means that it seeks low inventory levels and high availability of required materials. In their research regarding the positive impact of demand forecasting and inventory management, [PERSON] et al. [9] concluded that both these processes help the company to reduce overproduction, leading to lower costs and stock levels. WMS is the IS that is usually used for inventory control [7; 10]. Companies rely on their suppliers to operate smoothly and meet their customers' demands and--as a chain--suppliers must be able to meet their customers'--companies' demands too. For example, low lead time, which is the time that is needed since the customer places an order until the product is delivered, can affect the customers' production planning and scheduling. Thus, it is crucial for a company to select the appropriate supplier and avoid problems which might occur in their operations. Managers are able to assess a supplier's performance by checking several variables such as: lead time, order fill capacity, logistics cost, delivery reliability, advanced shipment notification, etc. [12].  
The focus of the current research is placed on seven reasons that would motivate upper management of manufacturing companies to invest in IS. Thus, the third research question is formed as follows:  
RQ3: Competitive advantage, customers' satisfaction, cost reduction of all forms, error reduction in several business operations, production planning, inventory management, and appropriate supplier selection have been recognized, among others, as important factors motivating IS adoption in industry. Which of those are the main drivers for (North) Greek manufacturing companies?  
It is noted that the drivers that are explicitly included in RQ3 are not the only ones that, according to literature, can motivate companies into adopting IS.