رفتار قهرمان شبکه نقشه برداری در مبادرت الکترونیکی B2B

This study examines the concept of a new venture, B2B e-market in the light of participants who are involved in its innovation and diffusion processes. Our assessment results in the development of two key working propositions. The first proposition attempts to explain the relationship of the participants in the network and their contribution to innovation and diffusion processes over time. The second proposition attempts to explain how network champions (NC) contribute by bringing suppliers and buyers together in an electronic marketplace over time. In particular, this research adds to the industrial marketing literature by applying a case research method that is particularly useful for operationalizing theory development in business-to-business environments.

The main focus of this paper is the mapping of the behavior of participants in the diffusion process associated with the creation of start-up firms in business-to-business e-markets. In so doing, the paper demonstrates how working propositions derived from literature can be refined using case data in order to develop theory. The growth in the adoption of B2B e-markets has been revolutionary in the last decade, in particular in industrial markets (Kaplan & Sawhney, 2000, Mahadevan, 2003 and Sharma, 2002). As the concept of such start-up firms is new and focuses on process related activities, a longitudinal mapping of activities has dominated this work. In general, limited research exists on the role of the participants in the diffusion process in networks (Gulati, Nohria, & Zaheer, 2000) and mapping how networks evolve over time is the first step in the progression towards its understanding (Madhavan, Koka, & Prescott, 1998). Rogers (1995) claim that, in process research, data gathering and analysis, seek to determine the time-ordered sequence of events. This is in contrast to variance research where data gathering and analysis consist of determining the co-variance among a set of variables, but not their time-ordering as a sequence. Further, Rogers (1995) claims that most diffusion research is a variance-type investigation that uses highly structured data gathering and quantitative analysis of static data. Consequently, a variance research method cannot probe backward in time in order to understand how the process evolves from its inception to its final launch or who in the network influences the process. Research in this area of B2B e-marketing is important simply because of projected growth. For example, both the Boston Consulting Group and the Forrester Group predict trillion dollar revenues for e-market businesses by 2004 (Kafka, 2000), a prediction supported by the academic literature (Evans & King, 1999). This report begins by providing a background to the research, following which it develops a conceptual framework identifying a number of working propositions from the literature. It then focuses on operationalizing these working propositions based on scholarly work by Huff, Narapareddy, and Fletcher (1990) and Nath and Newell (1998). The data set is unique as it follows the evolution of a network of organizations from the pre-birth stage to the launch stage.

New venture B2B e-markets are widely regarded as a revolutionary mechanism for more competitive and efficient operation of business marketing and procurement systems. Yet, many such e-markets are experiencing start-up problems and slower than expected growth. This article suggests a method that can be used to operationalize and refine, but not actually test, a theory which is the main thesis of this study. This was demonstrated by offering two working proposition from theory and using the research method described in the study. These were refined by using a case study method, which focused on the evolution of a network of firms joined together through a B2B e-market firm. This longitudinal study was unique as the data were collected from the pre-birth stage of the creation process to the launch of the network. In such circumstances, concerns of external validity were traded off against opportunities to gain an insight into a new phenomenon (Burgelman, 1983). The causal map example reflects the perception of the researchers of how relationships actually exist in the real-life and attempts to depict the boundaries between the players in networks. One may argue that the first refined proposition demonstrates the changing nature of the relationship over time. That is, network champions are changing their effectiveness with that of the demands of the firm within the network as it evolves in a dynamic marketplace. The map depicts that managers of new ventures may begin by focusing on engaging network champions at the pre-birth stage and then directing this resource towards raising capital rather than using their expertise in the day to day activities of the firm. While the use of such assets (and their impact) may vary with the type or category of B2B e-market, this paper, based on an independently owned and operated B2B e-Market, illustrates how theory can be developed for managers to use in creating start-up electronic ventures in other categories. From a theoretical perspective, this proposition extends Burgelman's (1983) study of a single firm to a networked organization. Arguably, the second proposition suggests that network champions are not instrumental in getting buyers and sellers together in the marketplace. Rather, network champions will be more effective in developing new markets after the initial launch. Managers may wish to encourage champions within the focal firm (Bizmarket) and allocate appropriate resources to encourage active buyers and sellers. Furthermore, managers may also need to be aware of locking-in a sufficient number of known sellers and buyers in order to gain a critical mass in stage t1. This could be effective in persuading new and prospective firms to buy into the B2B e-market firm in future stages. From a theoretical perspective, this proposition refines the concept of network champions.