Bundling, Differentiation, Alliances and Mergers: Convergence Strategies in U.S. Communication Markets

Convergence is a multi-facetted phenomenon affecting the technological basis of information and communication industries, the boundaries of existing and new markets, and the organization of service providers. Convergence in substitutes will tend to increase the intensity of competition but convergence in complements may have the opposite effect. Given the economics of advanced communication industries, convergence necessitates strategies to overcome the risk of commodification at the level of networks, applications, and services. The paper examines bundling, differentiation, alliances, and merger strategies adopted by North American service providers in response to convergence. Service providers'opportunities and risks in the emerging environment differ considerably, with cable and telephone service providers presently in stronger positions than wireless service providers, broadcasters, and satellite service providers. New entrants such as Vonage, Skype, Google, and Yahoo have high disruptive potential but remain disadvantaged without their own access networks.convergence; bundling; differentiation; alliances; mergers

Global vs. regional approaches to the internationalisation process of Nigerian banks: some preliminary evidences

Research investigating internationalisation process of service firms from developing countries is limited. This paper draws on extant work on internationalisation of the firm, services’ internationalisation and proposes conceptual framework that investigates the internationalisation process of three leading Nigerian banks namely; Zenith Bank Nigeria (ZBN)Plc, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Plc and Intercontinental Bank Plc. This work attempts to evaluate the internationalisation process of these financial service firms to the UK market. It seeks to understand the driving forces behind these banks’ motives for internationalisation to UK; the various influences that might have affected their decisions, the several internationalisation routes and strategies they might have followed in doing so; and the next strategies they might adopt in furthering their internationalisation process. This work contributes to some understanding of the reasons why service firms from developing countries internationalising to advanced locations like the UK. The analyses and findings of this study offer unique insights into the internationalisation processes of the three case banks, and examines how their different pathways was determined by a balancing act of leveraging accumulated global and regional strengths to achieved sustained international growth

The failure of global distribution systems new entrants (GNEs) to offer a true alternative to traditional

Distribution has been a key ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) area for airlines since decades ago and is a sector dominated by four (now three) Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) whose primacy has been threatened over the last three years by a set of new players, the so called GDS New Entrants (GNEs). GNEs emerged with the advent of Internet and open source technology as ‘disintermediation’ facilitators and generated vast interest from airlines because of their proposition to reduce the cost of distribution. This paper explores the impact of ICTs on airlines with a focus on GDSs, provides an overview of the changing market dynamics, analyses the environment that led to the appearance of the GNEs and pinpoints the issues behind their until now failure to provide a true alternative to the GDSs. The analysis complements existing academic research in that it clarifies the critical issues in the air travel distribution field and provides an overview of current industry developments

Progress in airline distribution systems: The threat of new entrants to incumbent players

For decades, distribution has been a key ICT (Information and Communication Technology) area for airlines and this sector has been dominated by four (now three)Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) whose primacy has been threatened over the last four years by a set of new players, the so called GDS New Entrants (GNEs). GNEs emerged with the advent of the Internet and open source technology as ‘disintermediation ‘facilitators and generated vast interest from airlines because they promised to reduce the cost of distribution. This paper explores the impact of ICTs on airlines with a focus on GDSs. It provides an overview of the changing market dynamics, analyses the environment that led to the appearance of GNEs and pinpoints the issues behind their until now failure to provide a true alternative to the GDSs. This analysis complements existing academic research in that it clarifies critical issues in the air travel distribution field and provides an overview of current industry development

Motives and Barriers to Cloud ERP Selection for SMEs: A Survey of Value Added Resellers (VAR) Perspectives

Small to Mid-size Enterprises (SMEs) typically are slow/late to adopt new technologies due to a conservative bias, cost factors and possible lack of knowledge. Implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a major, costly undertaking for a company of any size, especially SMEs, but there is the potential for huge paybacks touted by advantages afforded by the cloud. Cloud based ERP technology for SMEs is relatively new and poses a potential large risk-reward payoff. Given that these SMEs are currently functioning with their existing systems, why would they want to risk switching to Bleeding Edge Cloud ERP technology? Prior ERP research has focused primarily on an ERP’s implementation success and the relevant critical success factors (CSFs) important throughout the various stages of an ERP’s lifecycle. The focus of these studies has been on post-selection variables and the success or failure of the ERP’s adoption or implementation. Inherent in these studies are firms who already selected ERP technology which provides no insight into any potential barriers that prevent selection. ERP research in the area of SME cloud/SaaS ERP systems is nascent. This paper adds methodological, empirical and theoretical contributions to this existing stream of research about the motives and barriers in the selection of cloud ERP systems for SME’s. In particular, this research paper proposes to help bridge these gaps by operationalizing and testing Saeed, Juell-Skielse, and Uppström (2012)’s Unified Framework (UF) of the motives and barriers to the selection of cloud ERP systems. This current study uses Value Added Resellers (VARs) as subjects. They are arguably the most knowledgeable and in the best position to assess both the motives and more importantly barriers since there are in direct contact with the cloud ERP prospective purchasers

LEVERAGE ONCE, EARN REPEATEDLY – CAPABILITIES FOR CREATING AND APPROPRIATING VALUE IN CLOUD PLATFORM ECOSYSTEMS

Information technology (IT) advancements enabled new delivery models (i.e. Cloud Computing), thereby facilitating the emergence of new business models in the IT industry, such as Cloud platform ecosystems. With their growing acceptance and diffusion in practice, we need a deeper understanding of their IT capabilities in order to implement their business model, thereby creating and appropriating value. We draw on empirical data from four case studies of Cloud platform ecosystems utilizing a framework on IT-enabled business models for data analysis. We found four key motivations for inter-firm collaboration that each generated business model requirements specified in the context of Cloud platform ecosystems. These drive the development of unique B2B IT capabilities enabling value crea-tion and appropriation mechanisms. We propose three dyadic (relation-specific) IT customization and two network IT standardization (network-oriented) capabilities based on our cross case analysis. Fur-thermore, we describe prevalent value creation and appropriation mechanisms and suggest two addi-tional mechanisms grounded in the data: downstream capabilities and platform resourcing. We pro-vide a possible reasoning on the underlying logic of IT capabilities, value creation and appropriation of Cloud platform ecosystems

Business Plan for Virtual User Portal

Virtual User Portal (VUP) is a Vancouver based start-up company, currently building an ‘experience’ marketplace designed to connect experience seekers with local experience providers. This business plan examines the viability of VUP’s business model. The industry analysis is conducted to determine the intensity of competition and profit potential. The market analysis defines the target market and VUP’s positioning in the marketplace. As a result, we built pro-forma financial statements that show two important predictions: VUP will become profitable after two years of operation and there is a need to raise additional 500,000 to support the growth

Channel structure and pricing strategy for volume software distribution business in Hong Kong.

by Leung Ka Ho.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-63).DISCLAIMER --- p.IACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.IIABSTRACT --- p.IIITABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.IVChapter CHAPTER I --- FOUNDATIONS --- p.1Company Background --- p.1The Software Industry and Automate --- p.2Automate's 、Business Model - The Virtual Corporation --- p.4Distribution Channel Development History in Hong Kong --- p.6Chapter CHAPTER II --- INDUSTRIAL ANALYSIS --- p.9Software Market in General --- p.9Internal Rivalry --- p.10Entry --- p.11Substitutes --- p.12Buyer Power --- p.13Supplier Power --- p.14Automate --- p.15Competition and new entrant --- p.16Threat of Substitutes --- p.16Buyer Power --- p.17Supplier Power --- p.18Channel - Distributors --- p.18Competition and new entrantThreat of Substitutes --- p.19Buyer Power --- p.20Supplier Power --- p.20Channel Dealers and Resellers --- p.21Competition and new entrant --- p.22Threat of Substitutes --- p.23Buyer Power --- p.23Suppl ier Power --- p.23Chapter CHAPTER III --- CHANNEL STRUCTURE --- p.25The Product Line - A Economic Perspective --- p.25Market Structure and Competition --- p.28Before 1988 --- p.291988 -1993 --- p.291993-1996 --- p.301996onwards --- p.34Chapter CHAPTER IV --- GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES --- p.37Growth Projections --- p.37New Market Challenges --- p.39Product Line Extension --- p.40Chapter CHAPTER V --- CHANNEL RESTRUCTURING --- p.42Economic Models --- p.42Determination of Service Level --- p.45Free Riding --- p.47Channel Structure --- p.48Retail Price Maintenance --- p.49Vertical Integration --- p.50Distributor's Role --- p.51The Problem Child --- p.52Cournot Competition Among Distributors --- p.52Pricing --- p.54Push Pricing Strategy --- p.56Pull Pricing Strategy --- p.57"""Push"" or "" Pull""" --- p.58CONCLUSION --- p.61REFERENCES --- p.62Books --- p.62Periodicals --- p.6

Foreign Direct Investment and the Internationalisation of South African Mining Companies into Africa

The paper investigates the factors influencing the internationalisation of mining firms into Africa and the strategies employed. We focus on the FDI of South African mining firms because of the dominance of this country in the extractive resources industry for over a century. A semi-structured interview survey process consisting of written questionnaires and one-on-one interviews that incorporated both structured as well as open-ended questions was used. The structured questionnaire attempted to identify the entry-mode characteristics of the mining firms as well as the importance of the factors influencing the internationalisation of mining firms. The open-ended questionnaire was designed to be probing in nature, in order to identify how mining companies manage the factors deemed present in an operational context. More than 80% of South African mining firms by market capitalisation provided responses to the survey. The research revealed that security of tenure, political stability and the availability of infrastructure were the three most important factors influencing the internationalisation of South African mining firms out of the nine factors tested in the survey. The most widespread strategies used to manage these factors were political lobbying, bargaining and negotiation.Theory of FDI and the MNE (Ownership-Location-Internalization), Mining, Africa, Factor Analysis, Incorporating Country Variables