Title: The internet competitive landscape: insights from organisational ecology

Authors: Chitu Okoli

Addresses: John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, GM 209-23, 1455, blvd. de Maisonneuve West, Montreal, QC H3G 1M9, Canada

Abstract: This study analyses the competitive landscape of the internet from the perspective of organisational ecology theory, an approach that fits well the evolutionary nature of the growth and development of the internet, and the nature of the business competition it engenders. It explores how the |electronic commerce firm|, as an individual organisation, should best be conceptualised, and then examines the three levels of organisational ecology analysis in detail: the demography of internet organisations, population ecology and community ecology. This study relates various aspects of the internet competitive landscape to organisational ecology theory, borrowing from the resource-based view of the firm.

Keywords: organisational ecology; internet; electronic commerce; resource-based view; RBV; competition; business environment; e-commerce; demography; population ecology; community ecology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2007.014599

International Journal of Business Environment, 2007 Vol.1 No.4, pp.411 - 427

Published online: 17 Jul 2007 *

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