As discussed, the advent of collaboration. extended enterprise visioning, and the increased availability of integrated service providers combined to drive radically new supply chain solutions. The notion of shared and synergistic benefits served to solidify the importance of relationships between firms collaborating in a supply chain. The extended enterprise logic stimulated visions of increased efficiency. relevancy, effectiveness and sustainability as a result of sharing information. planning, and operational specialization between supply chain participants. The deregulation of transportation served as a catalyst for the rapid expansion of integrated service providers. This development served to redefine and expand the scope of specialized services available to facilitate supply chain operations. In combination, these drivers helped create integrated supply chain management. They served to identify and solidify the strategic benefits of integrated management. They combined to reinforce the value of core-competence specialization and cast the challenges and opportunity of creating virtual supply chains