Title: E-business-spawned EMCs: an overlooked aspect of the impact of e-business proliferation on EMCs

Authors: Varinder M. Sharma

Addresses: Marketing Department, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705, USA

Abstract: The impact of e-business proliferation on export marketing intermediaries and, in particular, on Export Management Companies (EMCs), has been a subject of serious debate among international business scholars. However, the debate remained focused on the reintermediation or disintermediation aspects of EMCs and overlooked the aspect that e-business could also spawn new types of EMCs, labelled here as E-Business-Spawned EMCs (EBS-EMCs). This study develops a comprehensive framework on the impact of e-business proliferation on EMCs and brings into light the emergence of EBS-EMCs. The study also describes the types of EBS-EMCs and the factors favouring their emergence.

Keywords: electronic business; e-business; disintermediation; re-intermediation; export management companies; EMCs; e-business-adopting EMC; EBA-EMC; e-business-spawned EMC; EBS-EMC; international new ventures; electronic marketing; e-marketing; electronic retailing; e-retailing; e-tailing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2009.021810

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2009 Vol.2 No.3, pp.268 - 283

Published online: 04 Dec 2008 *

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