Predicting the survival or failure of click-and-mortar corporations

With the boom in e-business, several corporations have emerged in the late nineties that have primarily conducted their business through the Internet and the Web. They have come to be known as the dotcoms or click-and-mortar corporations. The success of these companies has been short lived and many of these companies have failed rapidly in a short span of 4-5 years. This research is an investigation of the burst of the dotcom bubble from a financial perspective. Data from the financial statements of several survived and failed dotcom companies is used to compute financial ratios, which are analyzed using two data mining techniques - discriminant analysis (DA) and neural networks (NN) to find out whether they can predict the financial fate of companies. Neural networks perform better than discriminant analysis in predicting survival or failure of click-and-mortar corporations. The key financial ratios that play a major role in the process of prediction are identified. © 2005 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Why did electronic B2B marketplaces fail?

Dynamometer tests have been carried out to evaluate the performance, emissions and wear characteristics of an indirect injection diesel engine when fuelled by 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 per cent blends of ordinary coconut oil (COCO) with ordinary diesel fuel (OD). The test was conducted for 100 h using each of the test fuels to monitor the eVect of COCO blends on the wear and lubricating oil performance. OD fuel was also used for comparison purposes. The operating performance of the engine and the emission characteristics of exhaust gases were compared. The eVect of blended fuel on the engine’s wear and lubrication characteristics in terms of wear metal (Fe), water concentration, oxidation, viscosity, total base number and additive depletion was analysed. The performance and emissions characteristics results showed that 10–30 per cent coconut oil blends produced slightly higher performance in terms of brake power than OD. All the COCO blends produced lower exhaust emissions including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulate matter. The wear and lubrication oil characteristics results showed that COCO blends up to 30 per cent produced similar results to OD. This programme will give useful information for further research and development in the future if COCO is used as an alternative to OD

Investigating the Impact of Firm Strategy – Click-and-Brick, Brick-and-Mortar, and Pure-Click – on Financial Performance

Attracted by the numerous benefits of E-commerce, many traditional brick-and-mortar firms have embraced the Internet to supplement their business operations and have adopted the “click-and-brick” approach. Despite these changes, insufficient empirical research has been conducted on the impact of different firm types on financial performance. Based on the resource-based view, this study presents empirical research examining the possible ramifications and an overall impact. This study does this by comparing financial performance of click-and-brick firms with the performance of traditional, as well as pure-click firms that rely solely on the Internet.E-commerce, pure-click, click-and-brick, brick-and-mortar, financial performance, resourced-based view

INTERNET RETAIL IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

This study investigates Internet retailers in a developing country. It aims to investigate the characteristic of business profiles and operations, and to describe performance measurement implemented and its use. Internet-based research was adopted by combining a questionnaire email survey with web content analysis to study Indonesian Internet retailers. The results show that the majority of Indonesian Internet retailers are immature, small size, and without store-presence. The business operation practices, such as ordering, payment, and communication, indicate some differences from those in developed economies. Though Indonesian Internet retailers are still immature, they have measured various aspects of business performance. Those measured more performance indicators are likely to use the information more intensively to support decision making. This study has limitations such as the small number of responses, which might prevent the generalization of the results. The findings could be used by local Internet retailers to improve the business operations and performance measurement, as well as global Internet retailers entering Indonesian market to adopt some local operation practices

Why do Digital Platforms succeed or fail? - A Literature Review on Success and Failure Factors

In the course of digitalization, digital platforms are unleashing their full disruptive potential and are already dominating the first industries (e.g., hotel industry). As a result of this success, more and more companies want to build their own platforms and participate in the success. However, building and operating a digital platform involves multiple challenges and most of such ambitions fail. Since most digital platforms fail, strategic leadership of digital platforms must consider both success factors and reasons for platform failure. For this purpose, we conducted a systematic literature analysis and identified 24 success as well as failure factors in 9 dimensions. From a scientific perspective, the article provides a structured analysis of success and failure factors of digital platforms, which previously did not exist in literature. Practitioners can use the resulting knowledge base to successfully manage platform activities and avoid pitfalls

Exploring sources of competitive advantage in e-business applications: A cross-industries case study in mainland China

A review of existing literature revealed that little theoretical framework exists to capture e-business-enabled value creation through an integrated approach that includes the environmental view and resource-based view (RBV). Furthermore, little empirical research has been conducted to test these theoretical frameworks, in particular in the Chinese business context. The aim of this research is to extend the theoretical and practical understanding of e-business-enabled sources of competitive advantage (SCA) in China. The value chain (VC) concept, virtual value chain (VVC) framework and RBV were identified from the literature as the key constructs to underpin the theoretical basis. The research design used a qualitative research methodology consisting of indepth case studies of nine leading Chinese companies in three industries - housing development, manufacturing, and B2C. The principle finding is the formulation of a theoretical framework for investigating ebusiness value creations which integrates the key constructs of the VVC, online information capabilities (OIC), value system and RVB. This research also proposes a typology of five generic types of key e-business applications which states clearly the relationships between key e-business applications and SCA. Finally, this research demonstrates that e-business value creation features differently between two groups: Internet pragmatist and Internet pioneers. The research offers a number of contributions to the field of e-business value creation. Firstly, it introduces the concepts of OIC and value system to the VVC. It also provides empirical test of the analytical framework. In addition, this research provides an indepth understanding of the relationships between types of e-business applications and key SCA. Finally, this research identifies and explains the key differences and similarities between the three industries, within each industry, and between the two key groups

From the Hands of an Early Adopter's Avatar to Virtual Junkyards: Analysis of Virtual Goods' Lifetime Survival

One of the major questions in the study of economics, logistics, and business forecasting is the measurement and prediction of value creation, distribution, and lifetime in the form of goods. In "real" economies, a perfect model for the circulation of goods is impossible. However, virtual realities and economies pose a new frontier for the broad study of economics, since every good and transaction can be accurately tracked. Therefore, models that predict goods' circulation can be tested and confirmed before their introduction to "real life" and other scenarios. The present study is focused on the characteristics of early-stage adopters for virtual goods, and how they predict the lifespan of the goods. We employ machine learning and decision trees as the basis of our prediction models. Results provide evidence that the prediction of the lifespan of virtual objects is possible based just on data from early holders of those objects. Overall, communication and social activity are the main drivers for the effective propagation of virtual goods, and they are the most expected characteristics of early adopters.Comment: 28 page

Innovation in organizations from a complex adaptive systems perspective

A case for a balanced strategic approach to innovation is argued in the literature. March (1991) identified both short term exploitation and longer term exploration as essential but potentially conflicting organizational activities. Many organizations are good at incremental innovation but less successful at radical innovation which may partly explain a recent stress on the latter. Learning is key to successful innovation. In stable conditions, it tends to be a narrowing and converging process of testing. In chaotic conditions it is a process of expansion, divergence and discovery (Cheng and Van de Ven, 1996). The latter facilitates radical innovation, the former incremental innovation. Is a balance between them needed? Innovation ability is a key property of complex adaptive systems operating on ‘the edge of chaos’. This assists them survive over both long and short term futures. We consider how notions of organizations as complex adaptive systems can offer new insights into our understanding of learning and innovation

Is information and communication technology (ICT) the right strategy for growth in Mexico?

Although empirical evidence available suggests that information and communication technologies (ICT) have positively contributed to important sectors of the Mexican economy, it is still unknown to which extent ICT have truly contributed to productivity among these sectors. The increasing implementation and imports of ICT technologies, the growing demand for ICT-skilled human capital and training, the rising level of wages and the large demand and adoption of these technologies seem to indicate a positive correlation between ICT implementation and economic growth in Mexico. To answer whether ICT may be a key strategy for economic growth in the Mexican economy is the main purpose of this work. --Information technology,total factor productivity,growth,knowledge,human capital,technology diffusion