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ii

Third Edition
Strategies for e-Business

Creating value through electronic
and mobile commerce
ConCepts and Cases
tawfik Jelassi
albrecht enders
Francisco J. Martínez-López
iii

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Contents
Brief contents
List of exhibits xx
Foreword xxiii
preface xxvii
authors’ acknowledgements xxxiii
the authors xxxv
publisher’s acknowledgements xxxvii
Part 1
Introduction 1
1 Key terminology and evolution of e-business 3
Part 2
The e-business strategy framework 31
2 overview of the e-business strategy framework 33
3 external analysis: the impact of the Internet on the macro-environment
and on the industry structure of e-business companies 40
4 Internal analysis: e-business competencies as sources of strengths
and weaknesses 79
5 strategy options in e-business markets 104
6 sustaining a competitive advantage over time 127
7 exploiting opportunities of new market spaces in e-business 152
8 Creating and capturing value through e-business strategies: the
value-process framework 174
9 Choosing the appropriate strategy for the internal organisation
of e-business activities 195
10 Choosing the appropriate strategy for interaction with suppliers 218
11 Choosing the appropriate e-business strategy for interacting with users 232
12 Moving from wired e-commerce to mobile e-commerce
and u-commerce 265
Part 3
A roadmap for e-business strategy implementation 297
13 a roadmap for e-business strategy implementation 299

Brief contents
Part 4
Case studies 315
14 Building e-business competence through concepts and cases 317
a guide to the main focus of the case studies 337

synopses of case studies 338
Case studies 357
Index 717
vi

Contents
List of exhibits xx
Foreword xxiii
Preface xxvii
Authors’ acknowledgements xxxiii
The authors xxxv
Publisher’s acknowledgements xxxvii
Part 1 Introduction
Chapter 1 Key terminology and evolution of e-business 3
Chapter at a glance 3
Learning outcomes 3
Introduction 4
1.1 Key terminology 4
1.1.1 e-Business 4
1.1.2 electronic commerce 4
1.1.3 Mobile e-commerce 4
FT article It’s too early for e-business to drop its ‘e’ 5
1.1.4 the concept of strategy 6

1.1.5 the concept of value creation and capturing 9
1.2 The evolution of e-business 9
1.2.1 the grassroots of e-business 14
FT article edI update 14
1.2.2 the rise of the Internet 16

FT article Boo.com founder fears net bubble 17
1.2.3 the crash 18
FT article Webvan’s billion-dollar mistake 21
1.2.4 the synergy phase 22
FT article From netscape to the next Big thing: how a dotcom decade
changed our lives 22
Blog box Google acquires Internet (May 2017) 27
vii

Contents
summary 28
Review questions 28
discussion questions 28
Recommended key reading 29
Useful third-party weblinks 29
notes and references 30
Part 2 The e-business strategy framework
Chapter 2 Overview of the e-business strategy framework 33
Learning outcomes 33
Introduction 33
2.1 Key challenges in e-business strategy formulation 34
2.2 A systematic approach to e-business strategy formulation 35
summary 38
Review questions 38
note and reference 39
Chapter 3 External analysis: the impact of the Internet on the macro-

environment and on the industry structure of e-business companies 40
Related case studies 41
Introduction 41
3.1 Examining trends in the macro-environment 42
3.1.1 the political and legal environment 42
FT article online gambling: the sector has been able to cash in on a regulatory
regime set up in alderney 43
FT article publishers sued over e-book price ‘collusion’ 45
3.1.2 the economic environment 46

3.1.3 the social environment 46
FT article UK online economy valued at £82bn 47
3.1.4 the natural environment 47
FT article a social network links our personal and office lives 48
Blog box How Facebook got its green back 49
3.1.5 the technological environment 50
viii

Contents
FT article trying on the future 51
3.2 Examining industry structure with the five forces framework 51
FT article Michael porter, management thinker – academic who shares his values 53
3.2.1 Industry rivalry 54

3.2.2 Barriers to entry 55
FT article Cloud computing cuts start-up costs 57
3.2.3 substitute products 59

3.2.4 Bargaining powers of buyers and suppliers 59
FT article Facebook shows it gets the message with Instagram deal 60
FT article Google buys UK price comparison website for £37.7m 61
3.3 Complementing the five forces framework with the co-opetition framework 62
FT article nokia and Microsoft talk up benefits of co-dependence 64
Critical perspective 3.1 Benefits and drawbacks of industry analysis tools 66
3.4 Defining industries, segmenting markets and targeting markets in e-business 67

3.4.1 defining an industry 67
3.4.2 segmenting markets in an industry 67
e-business Concept 3.1 the e-business market segmentation matrix 68
FT article: Vodafone and Facebook team up on smartphone 72
3.4.3 targeting specific markets in an industry 73
FT article Google searches to become personalised 75
summary 76
Review questions 76
Chapter 4 Internal analysis: e-business competencies as sources

of strengths and weaknesses 79
Introduction 80
4.1 Understanding core competencies in e-business 80
4.1.1 Competencies and core competencies: a brief overview 80
4.1.2 sources of value and core competencies in e-business 82
ix

Contents
FT article It linked to financial performance 84
4.2 Analysing the Internet-impacted value chain 86

4.3 Leveraging the virtual value chain 89
Critical perspective 4.1 Compatibility between the resource-based view and the
market-based view of strategy 91
4.4 Selecting activities for online interaction with customers – the ICDT framework 92
4.4.1 Information activities 92
FT article advertisers rush to master fresh set of skills 93
4.4.2 Communication activities 95
Blog box Moving back to personalised interaction – e-diets.com 95
4.4.3 transaction activities 96

4.4.4 distribution activities 96
4.5 Moving beyond the value chain to value networks 96
FT article outsourcing supply chain operations 97
summary 100
Review questions 100
Chapter 5 Strategy options in e-business markets 104

Introduction 105
5.1 Understanding the fundamentals of competitive advantage in
e-business 105
5.2 Examining the landscape of strategy options for e-business 107
5.2.1 Cost leadership strategies 108
5.2.2 differentiation strategies 111
5.2.3 outpacing strategies (and the risk of getting ‘stuck in the middle’) 113
5.3 Developing strategy alternatives 115
5.3.1 the strategic gameboard framework 115
5.3.2 e-Business models: a brief overview 117
Blog box Facebook made $9.51 in ad revenue per user last year in the Us and Canada 119
5.4 Creating a fit between the chosen strategy and the value chain 120
5.4.1 Consistency between activities 120

Contents
Blog box easyJet – setting up an organisation for a low-cost strategy 121
FT article airlines ditch simple model for complexity 122
5.4.2 Reinforcement of activities 123

5.4.3 optimisation of efforts 123
summary 124
Chapter 6 Sustaining a competitive advantage over time 127

Introduction 128
6.1 Building up barriers to imitation 128
6.2 Dealing with the threats of disruptive innovations in e-business 130
6.2.1 Understanding the fundamental process of disruptive innovations 130
Blog box strategy for startups: the innovator’s dilemma 132
6.2.2 discovering the underlying reasons for incumbents’ failure 135
FT article Why disruption can be good for business 136
6.2.3 Raising the right questions to recognise the threats of disruptive innovations 138
6.2.4 Finding ways to deal with disruptive innovations 139
FT article Light reading 140
6.2.5 selecting the appropriate mental frame for efficient reactions 143
FT article snapshot of a humbled giant 144
summary 149
Chapter 7 Exploiting opportunities of new market spaces in e-business 152

Introduction 153
xi

Contents
7.1 Gaining insights into new market spaces through the value curve 153
7.2 Looking outside one’s own box 154
FT article the way we shop now 156
7.3 Pinpointing possibilities for new value creation 158

7.4 Finding the right time to enter a market 159
7.4.1 early-mover advantages 160
FT article the first-mover advantage myth 161
Blog box Google just got a whole lot smarter, launches its knowledge graph 163
FT article Inside Match.com 165
7.4.2 early-mover disadvantages 170

summary 171
Chapter 8 Creating and capturing value through e-business strategies:

the value-process framework 174

Introduction 175
8.1 The value-process framework for e-business strategies 175
8.1.1 Creating value 176
8.1.2 Capturing value 177
8.2 Integrating strategic management analyses through the VPF 181
8.2.1 the value chain analysis and the VpF 181
8.2.2 the five forces analysis and the VpF 182
8.3 Sony BMG (Germany): an actual application of the VPF 183
8.3.1 the business context 184
8.3.2 Value creation 184
8.3.3 Value capturing 188
8.3.4 Findings 190
summary 192
xii

Contents
Chapter 9 Choosing the appropriate strategy for the internal organisation

of e-business activities 195

Introduction 196
9.1 Reasons determining ‘make-or-buy’ decisions in e-business 196
9.1.1 Reasons favouring ‘make’ decisions 198
FT article everyone’s a critic now – or are they? 201
9.1.2 Reasons favouring ‘buy’ decisions 201

9.2 Choosing the organisational structure for e-business activities 202
9.2.1 separate e-business organisation 203
9.2.2 Integrated e-business organisation 204
FT article Last bookstores standing may turn digital page 205
9.3 Value chain deconstruction over the Internet 206
Critical perspective 9.1 the limitations of deconstruction and unbundling 207
9.4 Unbundling the corporation over the Internet 208
FT article Model that works even in turbulent times 208
9.5 Managing conflicts between online and offline distribution channels 211
9.5.1 Understanding conflicts in distribution channels 212
9.5.2 the channel conflict matrix 213
FT article expedia stops american airlines ticket sales 214
summary 215
Chapter 10 Choosing the appropriate strategy for interaction with suppliers 218

Introduction 219
10.1 Advantages and drawbacks of online purchasing 219
FT article supply chain leaders identified 221
10.2 Classification of B2B e-marketplaces based on the purchasing process

and the purchased products 222
FT article amazon noses into industrial supply chain 224
xiii

Contents
10.3 Classification of B2B e-marketplaces based on their degree of openness 225

10.4 Integrating e-procurement systems 226
FT article supply chain is a strategic discipline 228
summary 229
Chapter 11 Choosing the appropriate e-business strategy for

interacting with users 232

Introduction 233
11.1 The Internet and social commerce 233
11.1.1 the advent of Web 2.0 233
11.1.2 Implications of Web 2.0 for Internet business models 235
11.1.3 Understanding user behaviour on the social web 240
FT article Facebook shows off new marketing tools 241
11.2 The trade-off between richness and reach 243
Critical perspective 11.1 the limitations to blowing up the trade-off between

richness and reach 245
11.3 Increasing the richness of interactions with customers 245
11.3.1 Customer relationship management (CRM) in a digital context 246
FT article social CRM mirrors rise in customer power 249
11.3.2 the concept of mass-customisation 251

11.4 Increasing the reach of interactions with customers 252
FT article Lights, camera, blender! How to create a hit 253
11.4.1 Viral growth 254

11.4.2 the ‘tipping point’ concept 255
11.4.3 the ‘long tail’ of Internet-based social networks 256
FT article Lulu aims to wag the Internet ‘long tail’ 259
Critical perspective 11.2 Is there unlimited choice and does it create unlimited demand? 261
summary 261
xiv

Contents

Chapter 12 Moving from wired e-commerce to mobile e-commerce

and u-commerce 265

Introduction 266
12.1 Mobility and unwired e-commerce 266
12.1.1 Understanding the value network of mobile e-commerce 267
12.1.2 segmenting mobile e-commerce consumers and business services 270
FT article the retailers’ increasing use of smartphones to reach consumers –

codes open new front in retail wars 273
12.1.3 Comparison of mobile e-commerce with wired e-commerce 274
12.2 Strategy and mobility 277
12.2.1 Leveraging wireless technologies to create a competitive advantage 277
12.2.2 Impact of wireless technologies on a company’s value chain 278
FT article Mobile: nirvana is tantalisingly close 280
12.2.3 Influence of wireless technologies on the industry’s five forces 281

12.2.4 Main challenges for mobile e-commerce companies 283
FT article the online challenges facing retailers – stores tap into shoppers as
mobiles ring the changes 285
12.3 Ubiquity and u-commerce: strategy for the ultimate evolution
of commerce 286
12.3.1 What is u-commerce? 287
12.3.2 Main features of u-commerce 287
12.3.3 From wired e-commerce to u-commerce: the definite evolution 288
12.3.4 types of u-commerce and new forms of marketing 289
FT article Welcome to a new reality 291
summary 293
xv

Contents
Part 3 A roadmap for e-business strategy implementation
Chapter 13 A roadmap for e-business strategy implementation 299

Introduction 300
13.1 What is the mission of our company? 300
13.2 What are the objectives for our e-business strategy? 303
13.3 What value do we want to offer through our e-business strategy? 303
13.3.1 What type of competitive advantage do we aim for? 303
13.3.2 How much breadth do we want to have in our product and
service offerings? 304
13.4 What are the customer segments to target and what is our value proposition for
each segment? 305
13.5 What kind of ethical issues, privacy concerns and security risks do we
need to consider? 305
13.5.1 dealing with ethical issues and privacy concerns 305
13.5.2 addressing security risks 306
FT article LinkedIn vows to tighten security after password breach 307
13.6 Should we implement our e-business strategy alone or with external partners? 309
13.7 What organisational structure should our e-business activities have? 309
13.8 What is our cost and revenue model? 309
13.8.1 What is the cost structure of our e-business activities? 310
13.8.2 What is the revenue structure of our e-business activities? 310
13.9 How should we align our physical-world strategy with our e-strategy? 311
summary 312
Part 4 Case studies
Chapter 14 Building e-business competence through concepts and cases 317

Introduction 318
14.1 Defining creativity and analytical ability 318
4.1.1 Creativity 318
xvi

Contents
FT article Breaking the barriers to creativity 320
14.1.2 analytical ability 322

14.2 Becoming a ‘catalyst for change’ 322
14.3 Learning about e-business through case studies 324
14.3.1 Case studies as a context for the analysis of e-business issues 324
14.3.2 Case studies as a context for the application of e-business concepts 324
14.3.3 Case studies as a stimulus for creative e-business strategies 325
14.4 Learning about e-business through concepts and frameworks 326
Strategy in action 14.1 Business thinking: on finding the right balance between
analysis and intuition 327
14.4.1 extending the breadth of the analysis 330
14.4.2 extending the depth of the analysis 331
Strategy in action 14.2 ‘Why?’ – the importance of questions in strategy formulation 332
summary 334
A guide to the main focus of the case studies 337

Synopses of case studies 338
B2C e-commerce 338
1 From a(pples) to Z(oom lenses): extending the boundaries of
multichannel retailing at tesco.com 338
2 From e-banking to e-business at nordea (scandinavia): the world’s
biggest clicks-and-mortar bank 339
3 ducati (Italy) vs. Harley-davidson (Usa): innovating business
processes and managing value networks 340
4 american Well: the doctor will e-see you now 340
B2B e-commerce 341
5 IBX (northern europe): expanding B2B e-purchasing from
indirect to direct goods and services 341
6 satec (spain): business transformation through It value reinvention
and organisational redesign 342
7 otis elevator: accelerating business transformation with It 343
8 topCoder (a): developing software through crowdsourcing 344
9 appirio: new venture on a cloud 344
10 ItC e-Choupal: corporate social responsibility in rural India 345
G2B2C e-government 346
11 e-Government in estonia: establishing the world’s leading information society 346
12 ICt in tunisia: a strategic lever for building a knowledge-based economy 347
13 Fostering innovation in the public sector: VivekKundra@Usgovernment 348
xvii

Contents
B2E e-communities 348

14Knowledge management at Booz & Company: towards a culture of
knowledge sharing and collaboration 348
C2C e-communities 349
15 spreadshirt: mass-customization on the Internet 349
16 When digital david meets physical Goliath: the case of Brockhaus vs. Wikipedia 350
17 nettwerk: digital marketing in the music industry 351
18 Licia Chery and MyMajorCompany: crowd funding to stardom 352
Mobile commerce 353
19 sMs for Life (a): a public–private collaboration to prevent stock-outs
of life-saving malaria drugs in africa 353
20 ntt doCoMo ( Japan): moving from a mobile phone operator to a
lifestyle service provider 353
21 M-pesa (Kenya): mobile financial services for the financially excluded in society 354
22 tunisiana: leading a mobile telecom operator in post-arab spring tunisia 355
23 12snap: reinventing mobile marketing 356
Case studies
1 From A(pples) to Z(oom lenses): extending the boundaries of multichannel
retailing at Tesco.com 357
2 From e-banking to e-business at Nordea (Scandinavia): the world’s biggest
clicks-and-mortar bank 373
3 Ducati (Italy) vs. Harley-Davidson (USA): innovating business processes and
managing value networks 389
4 American Well – the doctor will e-see you now 403
5 IBX (Northern Europe): expanding B2B e-purchasing from indirect to direct
goods and services 424
6 Satec (Spain): business transformation through IT value reinvention and
organisational redesign 441
7 Otis Elevator: accelerating business transformation with IT 454
8 TopCoder (A): developing software through crowdsourcing 469
9 Appirio: new venture on a cloud 486
10 ITC e-Choupal: corporate social responsibility in rural India 495
11 e-Government in Estonia: establishing the world’s leading information society 513
12 ICT in Tunisia: a strategic lever for building a knowledge-based economy 530
13 Fostering innovation in the public sector: VivekKundra@USgovernment 543
14 Knowledge management at Booz & Company: towards a culture of knowledge
sharing and collaboration 561
15 Spreadshirt: mass-customization on the Internet 577
16 When digital David meets physical Goliath: the case of Brockhaus vs. Wikipedia 597
17 Nettwerk: digital marketing in the music industry 608
18 Licia Chery and MyMajorCompany: crowd funding to stardom 621
19 Novartis SMS for Life (A): a public–private collaboration to prevent stock-outs of life-
saving malaria drugs in Africa 639
xviii

Contents
20 NTT DoCoMo (Japan): moving from a mobile phone operator to a lifestyle

service provider 653
21 M-PESA (Kenya): mobile financial services for the financially excluded in society 670
22 Tunisiana: a leading mobile telecom operator in post-Arab Spring Tunisia 690
23 12snap: reinventing mobile marketing 706
Index 717
xix

Exhibits
p.1 the cases cover several industries and focus on different themes xxxi
1.1 electronic business includes electronic commerce and mobile electronic commerce 5
1.2 the focus of the cases is on corporate-level and business unit strategy 8
1.3 technological revolutions move through different stages as their diffusion increases 10
1.4 Major technological revolutions during the past two centuries show similar
patterns of evolution 12
1.5 since the mid-1990s, e-business companies have passed through four distinct
periods, as is reflected in the evolution of the nasdaQ 13
2.1 the goal of e-business strategy is to achieve (long-term) success by building up
one or more sources of competitive advantage 35
2.2 the e-business strategy framework consists of three main steps 36
2.3 e-Business strategy formulation entails an internal and an external analysis to
identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats 37
3.1 e-Business companies are impacted by their industry and macro-environment 43
3.2 Five forces influence the attractiveness of an industry 52
3.3 the Internet has a profound impact on the five forces that influence industry
attractiveness 63
3.4 the value network outlines the main players in the co-opetition framework 63
3.5 the e-business market segmentation matrix classifies different types of interaction
between consumers, businesses and governmental agencies 69
3.6 segmentation variables are the basis for strategic customer analysis 71
3.7 target-market selection depends on the number of markets served and the
number of different products and services offered 74
4.1 distinctive e-business competencies result from the combination of unique
resources and capabilities 81
4.2 the core competence approach cuts across different functional areas within a firm 82
4.3 sources of value creation in e-business 83
4.4 an extensive e-business capability model 85
4.5 a company’s value chain consists of distinct value-adding activities 87
4.6 the Internet impacts on all activities in the value chain 89
4.7 the virtual value chain illustrates how information captured in the physical value
chain can be used to develop new markets 90
4.8 the ICdt model describes the four main usage dimensions of the Internet in the
virtual market space 92
4.9 the value network includes numerous partners with differing functions 98
5.1 the strategic triangle addresses the main drivers of competitive advantage 106
5.2 Impact of threshold features and critical success factors on consumer benefit 107
5.3 there are two generic approaches to achieve a competitive advantage 108
5.4 economies of scale lead to a decrease in per-unit costs as output increases, whereas
dis-economies of scale lead to an increase in per-unit costs 109
5.5 tangible and intangible sources of differentiation 112
5.6 perceived performance and relative price position determine a firm’s strategy 114
xx

Exhibits
5.7 the strategic gameboard helps to formulate consistent business strategies 116
5.8 Components of an e-business model 117
6.1 a company can build up numerous barriers against imitation 129
6.2 s-curves of e-commerce innovation: from i-, m- to u-commerce 132
6.3 disruptive innovations enter the market from below and improve over time until
they meet the demands of mainstream customers 134
6.4 to overcome organisational rigidities, incumbents who are faced with disruptive
innovations need to adopt two contradicting cognitive frames 148
7.1 the value curve provides insights into new market spaces 154
7.2 the six paths framework suggests different starting points for creating value
innovations in e-business 155
8.1 Value is created if the perceived use value exceeds costs 176
8.2 the price indicates how the value created is distributed between the producer
and the consumer 177
8.3 producers completely capture the value created in a (quasi-)monopolistic
environment 178
8.4 the competitive discount is equal to the consumer surplus provided by the strongest
competitor 179
8.5 the VpF – to achieve profitability, companies must be able to create and capture value 180
8.6 the VpF integrates different strategy analyses 181
8.7 Value is created by the individual business activities of the value chain 182
8.8 porter’s five forces influence the cost lever and competitive discount 183
8.9 porter’s strategy models can be used to analyse the levers of the VpF 184
8.10 a value chain analysis of the MVno project reveals numerous value and cost drivers 185
8.11 Multiple value drivers create perceived use value mainly in three dimensions 186
8.12 perceived use value and costs for the sony BMG MVno would both have been high 187
8.13 the German wireless telecommunications industry is of relatively low attractiveness 189
8.14 the five forces analysis indicates a high competitive discount 190
8.15 perceived use value has to be extremely high to achieve profitability 191
9.1 during the 1990s, the pC industry became increasingly fragmented 197
9.2 the clicks-and-mortar spectrum spans from integration to separation of a
company’s e-business activities 203
9.3 the traditional corporation can be unbundled into three distinct businesses 210
9.4 different businesses within a corporation have different imperatives regarding
economics, culture and competition 211
9.5 alternative views to the conflict–performance link in distribution channels 212
9.6 the channel conflict matrix analyses how different types of channel conflicts
should be resolved 213
10.1 the B2B e-commerce matrix classifies different types of B2B e-marketplaces 223
10.2 e-procurement solutions cover different parts of the supply chain 227
11.1 evolution of the business–customer mind-set with the advent of Web 2.0 234
11.2 evolution of the Web and related applications 236
11.3 Web 2.0: a four-factors model 237
11.4 activities for embracing Web 2.0 in existing Internet businesses 238
11.5 social networking sites help users to pursue their motives of discovery, homogeneity
and sharing by providing various communication tools 242
11.6 the advanced capabilities of the Internet help to dissolve the trade-off between
richness and reach 244
11.7 Customer relationship management consists of four elements 246
xxi

Exhibits
11.8 embedding social CRM into companies 248

11.9 the mass-customisation value chain puts the user in charge of many steps
traditionally performed by the company 251
11.10 the ‘long tail’ represents a large addition to the product range of traditional
retailers 257
11.11 the ‘long tail’ of social networking can give users access to previously
inaccessible market niches 258
12.1 the mobile e-commerce value network outlines the key players 267
12.2 m-Commerce consumer services and applications 271
12.3 m-Commerce business services and applications 272
12.4 Mobile e-commerce applications for consumers and businesses 275
12.5 Wired e-commerce vs. mobile e-commerce (m-commerce) 276
12.6 Impact of wireless technologies on the value chain 279
12.7 Impact of wireless technologies on the industry’s five forces 282
12.8 Wired e-commerce vs. mobile commerce 284
12.9 the evolution of markets: from traditional to ubiquitous markets 287
12.10 the evolution of It-based commerce 289
12.11 U-space: types of commerce and marketing forms associated 290
13.1 the roadmap for e-business strategy implementation addresses nine interrelated
issues 301
13.2 a mission statement serves multiple purposes 302
14.1 Fostering creativity and analytical ability helps a manager to become
a catalyst for change 323
14.2 new ideas can be found by analysing state-of-the-art companies within
one’s own industry and also across industries 325
14.3 effective strategy formulation requires the ability to cover a broad analysis horizon
and to perform selective, in-depth analyses of crucial issues 330
xxii

Foreword
The emergence of e-business

by F. Warren McFarlan
Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts
We are over a quarter of the way into the second half of the Information Age revolution. Very
little of what is now accepted management practice and application opportunity today was
even conceived of some 15 years ago. The first half of the Information Age took place between
1955 and 1995. 1955 was the year when IBM built, in short order, its 701, 702 and 703 com-
puters, while Univac launched its Univac I. Large, rather unreliable and with a vastly limited
processing capacity in terms of today’s machines, those machines and their clumsy (by today’s
standards) languages nonetheless provoked a revolution in back-office transaction process-
ing, leading to sharp improvements in cost, quality and services. Insurance, banking, airline
reservations were where some of the most exciting IT applications took place in those early
days, with the structures of those industries being profoundly impacted over a long period of
time (over 15 years, for example, one insurance firm’s premium notice department gradually
withered from 150 people to one). Additionally, a heavy focus, of course, was on financial
processes relating to accounting, payroll, etc., with overall IT responsibility being most often
housed in the financial function. All of this was done mostly in the context of home-grown
systems, where the prevailing model was to build and run. Large IT departments, filled with
highly specialised technical skills, emerged to develop and operate these systems. They made
intense efforts to learn how to plan their activities, better manage projects and assess and
manage risk. This work evolved in a more or less linear way over two decades, creating the
great legacy systems, many of which still run today. How to cope managerially with this world
was captured by the first generation of IT literature, which was heavily executional in its focus.
In the late 1970s, a sharp shift in the technology cost performance allowed the emer-
gence of the PC, with desktop computing soon becoming a standard part of corporate life.
The technology rapidly spread across the desktops of the firm, causing great angst to the
operators of large data centres, whose processes were severely challenged. Nevertheless, all
through the 1980s much of the prevailing focus of a firm’s IT activities still remained in the
build and run category. Near the end of the decade, however, the first big outsourcing of IT
resource deals emerged. This fact, combined with the explosion of the applications software
industry (SAP, Oracle, etc.), caused the monopoly role of the in-house IT department to
build and deliver systems to begin to disappear. It was increasingly replaced by the source
and manage model. This resulted in a genuine revolution. Early adapters, Eastman-Kodak
and General Dynamics, found fundamentally different, and more effective, corporate oper-
ating models.
Increasingly, over the next two decades, managers came to focus on how IT could de-
liver a competitive advantage and they worried less about the mechanics of how to build
and operate systems, but turned that over to the burgeoning software and service industry
xxiii

Foreword
(represented by companies such as IBM, Accenture, CSC and EDS, plus a host of smaller
ones.) Conventional wisdom about how to manage IT and its impact was severely chal-
lenged, creating a new literature. For the first time, IT as a competitive weapon began to be
extensively talked about.
The thunder clouds of even more dramatic changes, however, were to emerge. Tom
Friedman, in his remarkable book The World is Flat (Farrar, Straus& Giroux, 2005), identified
three dominant events that have shaped this new world. From the 1990s until today, the first
was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which, combined with the emergence of China, effec-
tively delivered more than 3 billion people into the world markets (this topic is not dealt with
in this text), creating new sources of supply and demand for all forms of products and services,
and turning the IT world inside out.
The second event was the stream of activities that were triggered by the Netscape IPO in
October 1995. This is widely seen as the beginning of the Internet I Era, the emergence of
e-business, and the concurrent propulsion of the world towards open systems and widely
accessible data. The third event was the massive overinvestment by telecommunications
companies in fibre networks, which collectively created the wide, almost zero-cost highways
for today’s digital economy. Tom notes that these trends led to the words insourcing, out-
sourcing and offshoring, supply chaining and informing, which fundamentally transformed
the operation and performance of global enterprises. This text wisely ignores the issues of
where work is done globally (a separate book by itself), and chooses instead to focus on the
other aspects of this revolution – namely, on how the core processes and products of a firm
are shaped by these new opportunities in a world of essentially free telecommunication and
Internet-enabled interconnections. In doing this, they bring enormous insight to the task.
The text is a tour de force:
1 First, the text is grounded in a deep sense of history. It richly catches the forces that led
to the emergence of the e-business world and to its tremendous growth, which ultimately
led to the Bubble. They effectively document the Bubble’s collapse, the underlying reason
for it, and identify the exciting opportunities beyond. As one reads about the brief exist-
ence of Webvan, for example, nostalgic memories surge of an exciting, yet fundamentally
flawed vision. The text captures brilliantly both the opportunities and the drivers towards
excess of the early days. It provides useful warnings for today.
2 Secondly, the text has deep and informed command of the relevant literatures as they
relate to company and industry competitive strategy and dynamics (Porter et al.). The
discussion of the opportunities and risks of new technologies are firmly rooted in value
chain and other contemporary forms of strategic analysis. It is worth noting that there is
not a strategic framework the authors use that existed before 1982. They avail themselves
of the latest insights in this area. In short, the text combines the latest of strategic think-
ing with the opportunities posed by the new technologies.
3 The text is built on informed understanding of detailed management practice. A particu-
lar strength is the assembly of a rich collection of articles from the Financial Times, which
illustrate the key moves made by different players during this period and, in so doing, give
useful insight on the breadth of applications. Those articles ensure that the book is as well
rooted in management practice as theory, and make the text as relevant to the manager as
to the MBA student.
4 The text demonstrates a broad command of the general IT literature (summarised in the
Appendix, now on the Companion Website, along with an appropriate set of technical
xxiv

Foreword
definitions for those new to this area). This link between strategy, theory, IT application
literatures and the world of practice makes this a very unusual and impactful text.
5 The text reaches from the past to the absolute current leading edge of practice and
application. For example, the chapter on Internet II is as good a piece as I have seen on
this rapidly emerging technology.
6 Behind the articles for those readers who are interested in more ‘depth of applications’
lie a series of intensively researched and comprehensive IT application case studies.
Some 23 detailed, leading-edge, field-based case studies from different industries and
countries are presented for those who need deeper insight in the issues of contemporary
management practice. Combined with the chapters, these cases make this a compelling
text for MBAs.
This, however, is much more than just a text for an MBA course, although it has all the
material for a first-rate course. It is also a text for the thoughtful practitioner who is trying to
position his/her organisation to take advantage of these fast-moving technologies. The text
gives a detailed structure and guidance for how to find profitable business opportunities. It
contains a panoply of practical, easy-to-understand examples of applications. It also spends
an appropriate amount of time on the problems of implementation.
In short, the text is rich, high impact and very well thought-out.
xxv

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Preface
people tend to over-estimate new technology in the short run and under-estimate it in the
long run. (Roy Amara, Institute for the Future)
Context and positioning of the text
When we talked to colleagues and friends in autumn 2003 about writing the first edition of
our e-business book, many of them asked whether we were arriving too late with the text.
They reminded us that the Internet bubble had burst three years ago and that most online
companies had since gone bankrupt. Since then, the thinking has changed. Both traditional
bricks-and-mortar corporations such as Tesco, Sony BMG or Mercedes-Benz and pure on-
line companies such as Amazon, Google or eBay have continued to develop and implement
e-business strategies, albeit initially with less public attention and media coverage than be-
fore. Due to the recent rapid growth of so-called Web 2.0 applications, online companies
such as Facebook and Twitter once again dominate the headlines of the business press.
Similar to other important technological revolutions, such as railways or steam engines,
the Internet has also undergone a typical cycle of boom and bust. Following a bust, techno-
logical revolutions rebound, and it is only then – during the ‘golden age’ – that they show
their true impact. At the time of writing this third edition of the text, it looks as if e-business
has entered this golden age.
During our research for this text, we found very few books published after the collapse of
the dotcom bubble that specifically address e-business strategy issues. We also noticed that
there were many excellent books on strategy and many books on e-business, yet there were
relatively few books that attempted to bring the two fields together in a comprehensive and
rigorous manner.
This text, as its title suggests, attempts to close this gap. It aims at providing readers with
a holistic and integrated view of the realms of strategy and e-business by focusing on stra-
tegic management concepts and linking them to actual case studies of companies engaged
in e-business activities. It also aims at going beyond the hype by closely analysing examples
of failure as well as success, in order to help readers assess the underlying drivers for a suc-
cessful e-business strategy.
Target readers
Strategies for e-Business is a text targeted at senior managers, business strategists, entre-
preneurs and consultants, as well as participants enrolled in MBA, Masters and executive
education programmes and students in the final year of their undergraduate education. It
should be of interest to general management programmes and seminars, as well as to those
xxvii

Preface
specialising in e-business, electronic commerce, technology management, marketing, entre-

preneurship, innovation management and business strategy.
Key features
The key differentiating features of this text include the following:

● A comprehensive e-business strategy framework. This framework serves as a comprehen-
sive basis for e-business strategy formulation. It is based on rigorous and time-proven
concepts from the field of strategic management, which were adapted to the specific con-
text of e-business.
● An e-business roadmap. Chapter 13 of the text contains an e-business roadmap that is
meant as a guide to help in the formulation and implementation process of an e-business
strategy. It provides an overview of the key issues involved in this process. At the same
time, extensive cross-references to the more detailed e-business strategy framework
allow the reader to obtain more in-depth information when needed.
● A detailed study approach for e-business strategy. Creativity and analytical ability are of
fundamental importance in the strategy formulation process. Chapter 14 of this text dis-
cusses how to improve these qualities through the use of concepts and case studies.
● In-depth case studies. The text contains 23 real-world case studies, which provide in-depth
accounts of how companies in several industries (ranging from finance and insurance to
manufacturing to telecommunications and media) and different countries (in Europe,
North America, Africa and Asia) have developed and implemented e-business, electronic
commerce or mobile e-commerce strategies. All the case studies result from first-hand
field-based research, which the case authors have personally conducted in cooperation
with executives and top-level managers of the companies involved.
● Geographic focus on developed and emerging markets. While most of the existing e-business
casebooks focus on companies that are based in the USA, this text focuses on companies
in developed markets operating in Europe and the USA as well as emerging markets in
Africa and Asia. In addition to the USA, developed countries covered by the case studies
contained in this text include Canada, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Italy, Norway, Spain,
Sweden and the UK. With regard to emerging markets, the case studies cover India,
Kenya, Tanzania and Tunisia. In addition to the technological aspects discussed in the
case studies, the wide variety of countries that are involved helps to provide insights into
the specific business environment and national culture that characterise the different
countries covered.
Structure and content
Content-wise, Part 1 presents the broader context of the text. It introduces the key terminol-
ogy and evolution of e-business and provides an historic overview of the distinct phases that
technological revolutions typically go through before reaching their full potential.
Part 2 suggests a strategy framework for the formulation of e-business strategies. Chap-
ter 3 discusses the external environment of e-business ventures. This includes an analysis
xxviii

Preface
of the macro-environment and the industry structure. Chapter 4 focuses on the internal
dimension of e-business strategy formulation. Chapter 5 is concerned with generic strat-
egy options, which determine the overall strategic direction of an e-business venture. The
issue of sustaining a competitive advantage over time and the dangers that threaten to erode
such an advantage are discussed in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 provides a systematic approach
for developing innovations that aim to make the competition irrelevant. Chapter 8 presents
the value-process framework, which integrates different perspectives of strategy into a
holistic model. Chapters 9 to 11 address three strategic issues that are of special relevance
for e-business companies. These include the internal organisation of an e-business venture
(Chapter 9), its relations with suppliers (Chapter 10) and its relations with customers/
users (Chapter 11). Chapter 12 presents conceptual frameworks that are specific to mobile
e-commerce applications.
Part 3 provides a roadmap for the formulation of an e-business strategy. Through the use
of cross-references, this roadmap (presented in Chapter 13) is closely linked to the e- busi-
ness strategy framework presented in Part 2.
Part 4 first provides an introduction to case study work by discussing how the concepts
and cases presented in the text can help managers and students interested in e-business
strategies to expand their skills along the dimensions of creativity and analytical ability
(Chapter 14). Following this, a brief synopsis section provides an overview of the key topics
in the cases, which is then followed by the full-length case studies.
Getting the most from Strategies in e-Business
In order to benefit most from this text, we recommend that you try to achieve the following
when working through the chapters:
● Thoroughly understand the theoretical concepts presented in the e-business strategy
framework.
● Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of each concept and determine the context
for its appropriate use.
● Apply the concepts when analysing the case studies and make action-orientated recom-
mendations backed up by logical reasoning and supporting arguments.
● Expand the usage of the concepts and the frameworks into other business situations that
you encounter in your daily work or study.
To make your learning experience more effective and enriching, the text contains the fol-
lowing features:
● Chapter at a glance at the beginning of each chapter provides a quick overview of the most
important topics discussed in the chapter.
● Related case studies are included at the beginning of each chapter to illustrate which
cases are most relevant for the topics discussed. For more information on this, Exhibit
P.1 on p. xxxi illustrates the relationships between the case studies and specific chap-
ters and sections of the text.
● Learning outcomes offer a brief description of what you should have achieved after read-
ing the chapter.
xxix

Preface
● Different types of boxes are contained in the text body of each chapter to provide added
information about the concepts that are discussed:
– FT articles are taken from the Financial Times to provide a journalistic perspective
(within the timeframe context) of the issue discussed in the section.
– Critical perspectives present a different, if not opposing, view to the position taken in
the main text of the chapter. For instance, the resource-based view is presented as a
critical perspective on Porter’s market-based view to strategy formulation. Weighing
the merits of each view is a valuable exercise for gaining a more in-depth understand-
ing of the concept that is presented.
– Blog boxes contain excerpts from blog writers, who provide their opinions on current
developments in the e-business world. These excerpts provide an additional and at
times different perspective to the concepts discussed in the chapters.
– Strategy in action boxes are examples that provide additional background to the con-
cepts discussed in the chapters.
● Summaries at the end of each chapter allow you to review the most important points that
were discussed in the chapter.
● Review questions help you assess your understanding of the material presented in the
chapter. In general, the answers to these questions are straightforward since they are
based on the material presented in the chapter.
● Discussion questions help you to transfer the concepts from the chapter into different busi-
ness contexts. They are also meant as a starting point for discussion with your colleagues
and peers.
● Recommended key reading provides a select list of additional books and articles that you
can read if you wish to find out more about a specific topic.
● Useful third-party weblinks provide additional information on some material contained
in the chapter.
xxx

Preface
Exhibit P.1 The cases cover several industries and focus on different themes
Chapter
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Relashionship with suppliers

Value process framework
Sustaining competitive
Internal organisation
New market spaces
Relashionship with
External analysis
users/ customers
Internal analysis
Strategy options
Implementation
e-Government
advantage
Case study
Case study name
type
1 Tesco ● ●●● ●● ● ●●● ●●
B2C 2 Nordea ●●● ●● ●●● ●
e-commerce 3 Ducati vs. Harley ●●● ●● ● ●● ●●●
4 American Well ●● ● ●●● ●● ● ●●
5 IBX ● ●● ●●● ●
6 SATEC ● ●●● ●●● ●● ● ●
B2B 7 Otis ●●● ●● ●● ● ●●
e-commerce 8 TopCoder ● ● ●●● ●● ●●●
9 Appirio ●● ● ●●● ●
10 e-choupal ●● ● ● ●● ●●● ●●
11 e-Estonia ● ●● ● ●●●
G2B2C
12 ICT in Tunisia ●● ● ● ● ●●● ●
e-government
13 Kundra@USgov ● ●● ● ●●● ●●
B2E
14 KM at Booz ●● ●●● ●● ●●
e-communities
15 Spreadshirt ●● ●●● ● ●● ●● ●●● ●
Brockhaus vs.
C2C 16 ●● ●● ●●● ●● ●● ●
Wikipedia
e-communities
17 Nettwerk ● ●●● ●● ● ●●●
18 Licia Chery ● ●● ●● ● ●●●
19 Novartis SMS for Life ●● ●● ● ● ●● ●●●
20 NTT DoCoMo ●● ●● ●● ●
m-commerce 21 M-PESA ● ●● ●●● ●●● ●● ●● ●●
22 Tunisiana ●● ● ●●● ●●● ●
23 12snap ● ● ●●● ●● ●● ●
●●● Primary focus of the case study ● ● Secondary focus of the case study ● Tertiary focus of the case study
xxxi

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Authors’ acknowledgements
Throughout the writing and publication process of this text, we have received valuable sup-
port and contributions from many people. Therefore, we would like to thank and express
our gratitude to the following individuals:
● Stephanie Ludwig, Research Associate at the ENPC School of International Management
(Paris), who has significantly contributed to the content of this text. Her strong dedica-
tion and quality management of the project were highly appreciated.
● Our colleague Professor Benoit Leleux at IMD, who kindly contributed some of his bril-
liant case study writing to this text.
● The authors who worked with us during the development of the case studies. These
include Kenneth Campbell (CEO of Tunisiana), Professor Charles Waldman (INSEAD,
France), Stefanie Leenen (BASS, Germany) and André Achtstätter, past MBA participant
at the ENPC School of International Management (Paris).
● Our colleagues and students at the Department of Management at the University of
Nuremberg (Germany), who conducted case study research with us. In particular, we
would like to thank our colleagues Prof. Harald Hungenberg and Andreas König, and
our students Sebastian Bartz, Henning Blarr, Hans Denker, Fernando Endarra, Thomas
Engelbertz, Sebastian Mauch, Matthias Promny and Maria Štšekotovitš. We also acknowl-
edge the help provided by Dhruv Bhatli, Research Associate, as well as Yingting Cheng
and Linda Crofton, Programme Coordinators, all at the ENPC School of International
Management.
● The authors who contributed the remaining case studies contained in the text. These in-
clude Professor F. Warren McFarlan, Professor John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld, as well
as Professor Karim Lakhani, David Garvin and Eric Lonstein (all from Harvard Business
School), Bala Iyer and Erik Noyes (both from Babson College), Saurabh Bhatnagar and Pro-
fessor Ali Farhoomand (both from University of Hong Kong), Professor Markus Kreutzer
and Marina Altuchov (both from University of St Gallen), Syeda Maseeha Qumer
and Debapratim Purkayastha (both from ICMR Centre for Management Research),
Professor Elie Ofek and Dr Ron Laufer (Indiana University Kelley School of Business),
Stephanie Weg (IMD Lausanne), as well as Catherine Daar and Victor Lugger (CommNa-
tion and MyMajorCompany).
● Professor F. Warren McFarlan (Emeritus Professor of Harvard Business School) for taking
time out of his busy schedule to write the foreword for the text.
● The students on several MBA and Executive MBA programmes in different countries,
as well as the managers in executive education programmes and seminars at business
schools, corporate universities and companies, who, through their analysis and discus-
sion of the case studies, contributed to the shaping of the text.
● The executives and managers of the companies featured in the case studies contained in
the text.
xxxiii

Authors’ acknowledgements
● The numerous reviewers who provided valuable insights through their detailed feedback
on the second edition of the text.
● Last, but not least, special thanks to our families, to whom we dedicate this text for their
unlimited support and much appreciated encouragement of this project. Furthermore:
– Tawfik Jelassi: I would like to dedicate this text to the digital generation in my home
country – Tunisia – who used information technology and Facebook to help topple
a 23-year-old dictatorship. The freedom, democracy and dignity which these youth
brought about inspired people’s revolutions in the Arab Spring countries and further
afield. I am very pleased that Albrecht Enders also joins me in this dedication.
– Francisco J. Martínez-López: I would like to deeply thank my co-authors Tawfik and
Albrecht for their kind invitation to join them in this new edition of the text; it has
been a really enriching experience. Also, a significant part of my work on this last edi-
tion was done during a stay as visiting scholar at the Zicklin School of Business, the
City University of New York (NY, USA). I am grateful to my colleague, Professor David
Luna, for his sincere and generous support during my stay there. Also, I really appre-
ciated the emotional support of my friends in NYC (Marta, Susan, Elizabeth, Chen,
Charles, Shirley, Gary and more) during my time writing this new edition of the text.
Finally, I thank the financial support received from ‘Programa José Castillejo’ (Ministry
of Education, Spain) and Research Project ECO2012-31712 (Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness, Spain).
Feedback
We are interested in hearing your comments about this text. We appreciate both critical and
supportive feedback, which can help us to improve future editions of this text. You can reach
us via email at: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].
In the spirit of the concepts and case studies presented in this text, we also encourage you
to provide feedback on the Amazon.com websites so that others can find out about your
opinion.
Tawfik Jelassi, Albrecht Enders and Francisco J. Martínez-López

July 2013
xxxiv

The authors
Tawfik Jelassi is Professor of e-Business & Information Tech-

nology and Dean of the School of International Manage-
ment at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris).
He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tunisiana,
the leading mobile telecom operator in Tunisia. Dr Jelassi
was Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Technol-
ogy Management Area at INSEAD (Fontainebleau) and
Faculty Guest at Harvard Business School (USA). He holds
a PhD degree from the Stern School of Business at New
York University (USA). His research focuses on e-business/
electronic commerce, the strategic use of IT and technolo-
gy-based innovation. His research has appeared in his books: Competing through Informa-
tion Technology: Strategy and Implementation (Prentice Hall, 1994), Strategic Information
Systems: A European Perspective (Wiley, 1994) and Strategies for e-Business: Creating Value
through Electronic and Mobile Commerce (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2005 and 2008).
Professor Jelassi has published over 90 research articles in leading conference proceedings
and academic journals, including MIS Quarterly, Journal of MIS, Decision Support Systems,
Information & Management, Decision Sciences, European Journal of Operational Research,
MIS Quarterly Executive and OMEGA. He has also written over 60 field-based case studies on
several industries in different countries, and been granted numerous research and teaching
research excellence awards in the USA and Europe. Professor Jelassi has taught extensively
on MBA, Executive MBA and management development programmes in over a dozen coun-
tries around the world. He has also served as adviser to several companies and governments.
Albrecht Enders is Professor of Strategy and Innovation at IMD. His major interest is the reac-
tion of companies to radical changes in their environment. He has worked for global corpora-
tions from different industries, including financial services,
consumer goods, industrial goods and the travel industry. In
addition to running highly customised company-specific pro-
grammes that focus on corporate transformation, he is also
the Program Director of Advanced Strategic Management,
one of IMD’s core general management programmes. Before
joining IMD, he was an Assistant Professor at the University
of Nuremberg and spent three years with The Boston Con-
sulting Group in the company’s Cologne office.
Professor Enders has published articles in academic jour-
nals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of
Management Review and Research Policy, and in practitioner-
orientated publications such as Harvard Business Manager,
xxxv

The authors
Management Information Systems Quarterly Executive and the Financial Times. His research
and case writing efforts have been recognised by awards from the BPS division of the Acad-
emy of Management in 2011 and 2012, EFMD in 1999, ECCH in 2001 and 2002 and SIM in
2005 and 2008.
Professor Enders holds a PhD in strategic management from the Leipzig Graduate School
of Management and a BA in economics from Dartmouth College.
Francisco J. Martínez-López holds an MSc in Marketing and

a European PhD in Business Administration, with Extraor-
dinary Doctoral Prize (University of Granada, Spain), and
is Professor of Business Administration at the University of
Granada and of Marketing at the Open University of Cata-
lonia (Barcelona) in Spain. He has been visiting scholar at
the Zicklin School of Business (NY, USA), Aston Business
School (Birmingham, UK), the University of Chicago Booth
School of Business (USA), the Michael Smurfit School of
Business (Dublin, Ireland) and the Complutense Univer-
sity Business School (Madrid, Spain). He is the Editor-in-
Chief of the International Journal of Business Environment
(Inderscience Publishers), Associate Editor of the European
Journal of Marketing (Emerald) and is a member of the
Editorial Board of Industrial Marketing Management (Elsevier). Dr Martínez-López has co-
edited several international journals’ special issues and research books for leading publish-
ers of business and management research, such as Springer and Elsevier; for example, he has
edited the Handbook of Strategic e-Business Management (Springer). In addition, he has pub-
lished more than 70 papers in international journals and conference proceedings.
xxxvi

Contents
Publisher’s acknowledgements
We are grateful to tthe following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Figures
Figure on p. 10 adapted from Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics
of Bubbles and Golden Ages, 1 ed., Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (Perez, C., 2002) p. 48, used
by permission; Figure on p. 13 adapted from Yahoo! Finance, http://finance.yahoo.com/,
reprinted with permission from Yahoo. © 2013 Yahoo; Figure on p. 35 adapted from Strat-
egisches Management in Unternehmen, 4 edn, Gabler (Hungenberg, H., 2006) 83, with kind
permission of Springer Science+Business Media; Figure on p. 43 adapted from Strategisches
Management in Unternehmen, 4 edn, Gabler (Hungenberg, H., 2006) 90, with kind permis-
sion of Springer Science+Business Media; Figures on pp. 63 and 89, p. 89 from ‘Strategy
and the Internet’, Harvard Business Review (Porter, M.), [Exhibit RO 103D] Copyright ©
2001 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, all rights reserved, reprinted
by permission of Harvard Business Review; Figure on p. 52 adapted from The Free Press edi-
tion of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Copyright ©
1980, 1998 by The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., all rights reserved (Por-
ter, Michael E.) reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster Publishing Group; Fig-
ure on p. 63 adapted from Co-opetition, Currency Doubleday (Brandenburger, A. and B. Nal-
ebuff, 1998) p. 17; Figure on p. 71 after Marketing Management, Prentice Hall (Kotler,
P., 2005) pp. 251–96; Figure on p. 74 adapted from ‘Strategy and Structure: Public Policy
Implications’ in Proceedings of Marketing and the Public Interest, Marketing Science Institute
(Abell, D., 1977); Figure on p. 81 adapted from Adapted from H. Hungenberg, Strategisches
Management in Unternehmen, Gabler (Hungenberg, H., 2006) p. 143, with kind permission
of Springer Science+Business Media; Figure on p. 83 from ‘Value creation in e-business’,
Strategic Management Journal, vol. 22, no. 6, p. 504 (Amit, R and C. Zott 2001), used by
permission; Figure on p. 85 from ‘E-business capability research: A systematic literature
review’, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information Management, Innova-
tion Management and Industrial Engineering, IEEE (Wu, J.-N, L. Liu, 2010) p. 145, reprinted
with permission; Figure on p. 87 adapted from Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustain-
ing Superior Performance, Simon & Schuster (Porter, Michael E.) Copyright © 1985, 1998 by
Michael E. Porter, adapted from Figure 2.2, p. 36, reprinted with the permission of Simon &
Schuster Publishing Group; Figure on p. 90 adapted from ‘e-Banking to e-Business at Nordea
(Scandinavia) – The World’s Biggest Clicks-and-Mortar Bank’, Management Information Sys-
tems Quarterly Executive, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 31–44 (Enders, A. and T. Jelassi, 2006); Figure on
p. 92 after ‘Designing mature internet strategies: the ICDT model’, European Management
Journal, vol. 21 no. 1, pp. 38–47. (Angehrn, A., 1997); Figure on p. 98 adapted from
E-Business and E-Commerce Management, Financial Times, p. 330 (Chaffey, D., 2011),
xxxvii

FT/Prentice Hall, © The Financial Times Limited. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission;
Figures on pp. 106 and 107 adapted from Strategisches Management in Unternehmen, Gabler
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of consumers’, Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, vol.13, p. 9. (Acker, O.
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In some instances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we
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xliii

PART 1
Introduction
Part overview
this introductory part sets up the overall context for the text. It contains the following
elements:
● a definition of the key terminology used throughout the text;
● an overview of the evolution of e-business over time.
the goal of this introductory part is to provide a guide and a context for the content of
the text. Chapter 1 starts out with some definitions of the most important terms used
in the text, such as e-business, electronic commerce and mobile e-commerce, and the
concepts of strategy and value creation. It then provides an overview of the evolution of
e-business over the last decade and recognises four distinct periods: (1) the ‘grassroots
of e-business’, (2) the ‘rise of the Internet’, (3) the ‘crash’ (or the burst of the dotcom
bubble) and (4) the ‘synergy phase’.
M01_JELA7870_03_SE_C01.indd 1 10/03/14 9:21 AM

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d’ignames, ce qu’il regarda comme insuffisant, et comme un échec. Il fit
appel. Le procès traîna des années devant des tribunaux de divers degrés,
avec des jugements successifs confirmant toujours le premier. L’affaire vint
enfin devant la cour suprême, où elle s’arrêta vingt ans. Mais, l’été dernier,
la cour suprême elle-même se décida à prononcer son verdict. Et le premier
jugement fut confirmé une fois de plus.
Christian se déclara satisfait. Mais Stavely était présent, et lui parlant à
voix basse, ainsi qu’à son avocat, lui suggéra, comme une simple question
de forme, de demander que l’on produisît le texte de la loi, pour que l’on fût
sûr qu’elle existait. Cette idée parut bizarre, mais ingénieuse. La demande
fut adressée. On envoya un express à la demeure du magistrat. Il revint
aussitôt pour annoncer que le texte de loi avait disparu des archives.
La cour annula son jugement, comme ayant été prononcé d’après une loi
qui n’avait pas d’existence actuelle.
Il s’ensuivit une vive et subite émotion. La nouvelle se répandit par toute
l’île que le palladium des libertés populaires était perdu, peut-être détruit
traîtreusement. Dans l’espace d’une heure, presque toute la nation se
trouvait réunie dans le prétoire, c’est-à-dire l’église. Le renversement du
magistrat suprême suivit, sur la motion de Stavely. L’accusé supporta son
infortune avec la dignité qu’il fallait. Il ne plaida ni ne discuta. Il dit
simplement pour sa défense qu’il n’était pour rien dans la perte du texte de
loi, qu’il avait gardé constamment les archives publiques dans la même
caisse à bougies qui avait servi depuis l’origine à cet usage et qu’il était
innocent de l’enlèvement ou de la destruction du document perdu.
Mais rien ne put le sauver. Il fut déclaré coupable de trahison et de
dissimulation, déchu de ses fonctions; et toutes ses propriétés furent
confisquées. La partie la moins solide de tout ce honteux procès fut la
raison indiquée par ses ennemis à la destruction du texte de loi; à savoir
qu’il voulait favoriser Christian parce qu’il était son cousin! Stavely était, à
vrai dire, parmi toute la nation, le seul individu qui ne fût pas le cousin du
juge. Le lecteur doit se souvenir que tous les gens de ce peuple
descendaient d’une demi-douzaine de personnes. Les premiers enfants
s’étaient mariés ensemble et avaient donné aux révoltés des petits-enfants.
Ces petits-enfants s’étaient mariés entre eux. Ensuite on vit des mariages
d’arrière-petits-fils et de leurs enfants. Aujourd’hui, par suite, tous sont
consanguins. Il y a des parentés étonnantes, stupéfiantes même, par leurs
combinaisons compliquées. Un étranger, par exemple, dira à un habitant de
l’île:
—«Vous parlez de cette jeune fille comme de votre cousine. Tout à
l’heure, vous l’appeliez votre tante.»
—«Parfaitement. Elle est ma tante et aussi ma cousine. Elle est
également ma belle-sœur, ma nièce, ma cousine au quatrième degré, au
trente-troisième, ou quarante-deuxième, ma grand’tante, ma grand’mère, la
veuve de mon beau-frère, et, la semaine prochaine, elle sera ma femme.»
Ainsi l’accusation de népotisme contre le premier magistrat était faible.
Mais, peu importe. Faible ou forte, elle convint à Stavely. Il fut
immédiatement élu à la place vacante, et, suant des réformes par tous les
pores, il se mit à l’œuvre avec vigueur. En peu de temps, les services
religieux firent rage, partout et sans discontinuer. Par ordre, la seconde
prière de l’office du matin, qui avait jusqu’alors duré quelque trente-cinq ou
quarante minutes, et où l’on faisait des vœux pour le monde, en énumérant
les continents et puis les nations et les tribus, fut étendue à une heure et
demie. On y ajouta des supplications en faveur des peuples possibles dans
les diverses planètes. Tout le monde en fut ravi. Chacun disait: «Cela
commence à prendre tournure.» Par ordre les trois sermons habituels de
trois heures chacun furent doublés en longueur. La nation vint en corps
signifier sa gratitude au nouveau magistrat. La vieille loi défendant de faire
la cuisine le jour du sabbat s’étendit à l’interdiction de manger, également.
Par ordre, l’école du dimanche eut le privilège de se continuer pendant la
semaine. La joie de tous fut complète. En un mois à peine, le nouveau
magistrat était devenu l’idole du peuple.
Le moment lui parut propice au nouveau mouvement qu’il méditait. Il
commença, d’abord avec prudence, à exciter l’opinion publique contre
l’Angleterre. Il prit à part, un par un, les principaux citoyens, et causa avec
eux sur ce sujet. Bientôt, il s’enhardit, et parla ouvertement. Il dit que la
nation devait à elle-même, à son honneur, à ses grandes traditions, de se
dresser dans sa force et de secouer le joug écrasant de l’Angleterre.
Les naïfs insulaires répondirent:—«Nous n’avons jamais remarqué qu’il
nous écrasât. Comment pourrait-il nous écraser! Une fois en trois ou quatre
ans, l’Angleterre nous envoie un navire, avec du savon et des vêtements, et
toutes les choses dont nous avons grand besoin et que nous recevons avec
reconnaissance. Elle ne nous dérange jamais. Elle nous laisse aller comme
nous voulons.»
—«Aller comme vous voulez! De tout temps les esclaves ont pensé et
parlé ainsi. Vos paroles montrent combien vous êtes tombés bas, combien
vils et abrutis vous êtes devenus, sous cette tyrannie qui vous écrase. Eh!
quoi? avez-vous renié toute fierté humaine? N’est-ce rien que la liberté?
Êtes-vous satisfaits de n’être qu’une dépendance d’une souveraineté
étrangère et odieuse, alors que vous pourriez vous lever et prendre votre
juste place dans l’auguste famille des nations? Vous seriez libres, grands,
civilisés, indépendants. Vous ne seriez plus les serviteurs d’un maître
couronné, mais les arbitres de votre destin. Vous auriez le droit de parler et
vous pèseriez dans la balance des destinées des nations terrestres, vos
sœurs.»
De semblables discours produisirent leur effet. Les citoyens
commencèrent à sentir le joug anglais. Ils ne savaient pas exactement
comment et où, mais ils étaient parfaitement sûrs de le sentir. Ils se mirent à
murmurer avec insistance, à secouer leurs chaînes, à soupirer pour le
soulagement et la délivrance. Ils en vinrent à la haine du drapeau anglais, le
signe et le symbole de leur humiliation nationale. Ils cessèrent de le
regarder quand ils passaient près du Capitole, détournèrent les yeux et
grincèrent des dents. Et quand, un beau matin, on le trouva piétiné dans la
boue, au bas du poteau, on le laissa là; personne n’avança la main pour le
rehisser. Une chose alors, qui devait arriver tôt ou tard, se produisit.
Quelques-uns des principaux citoyens allèrent trouver une nuit le magistrat
et lui dirent:
—«Nous ne pouvons supporter plus longtemps cette odieuse tyrannie.
Comment faire pour nous affranchir?»
—«Par un coup d’État.»
—«Comment?»
—«Un coup d’État, voici ce que c’est. Tout est prêt d’ailleurs. A un
moment donné, comme chef suprême de la nation, je proclame
publiquement et solennellement son indépendance, et je la délie de toute
obéissance à quelque autre puissance que ce soit.»
—«Cela paraît simple et aisé. Nous pouvons fort bien l’exécuter. Quelle
sera la première chose à faire ensuite?»
—«S’emparer de toutes les forces, et des propriétés publiques de toute
sorte, promulguer une loi martiale, mettre l’armée et la marine sur le pied
de guerre et proclamer l’empire.»
Ce beau programme éblouit ces gens naïfs.
—«Cela est grand, dirent-ils, cela est splendide. Mais l’Angleterre ne
résistera-t-elle pas?»
—«Laissez-la faire. Ce rocher est un vrai Gibraltar.»
—«Bien, mais parlons de l’empire. Nous faut-il vraiment un empire, et
un empereur?»
—«Ce qu’il vous faut, mes amis, c’est l’unification. Regardez
l’Allemagne, l’Italie. Elles ont fait leur unité. Il s’agit de faire notre unité.
C’est ce qui rend la vie chère. C’est ce qui constitue le progrès. Il nous faut
une armée permanente et une flotte. Des impôts s’ensuivront,
naturellement. Tout cela réuni fait la grandeur d’un peuple. L’unification et
la grandeur, que pouvez-vous demander de plus? Et bien,—seul un empire
peut vous donner tous ces avantages.»
Le 8 septembre, l’île Pitcairn fut donc proclamée nation libre et
indépendante. Et le même jour eut lieu le couronnement solennel de
Butterworth Ier, empereur de Pitcairn, au milieu de grandes fêtes et
réjouissances. La nation entière, à l’exception de quatorze personnes, en
grande partie des petits enfants, défila devant le trône sur un seul rang, avec
bannières et musique; le cortège avait plus de quatre-vingt-dix pieds de
long; on observa qu’il mit trois bons quarts de minute à passer. Jamais, dans
l’histoire de l’île, on n’avait vu chose pareille. L’enthousiasme public était
sans bornes.
Dès lors, sans tarder, commencèrent les réformes impériales. On institua
des ordres de noblesse. Un ministre de la marine fut nommé. On lui confia
la baleinière. Un ministre de la guerre fut choisi et reçut le soin de procéder
aussitôt à la formation d’une armée permanente. On nomma un premier lord
de la trésorerie. Il fut chargé d’établir un projet d’impôt, et d’ouvrir des
négociations pour des traités offensif, défensif et commercial avec les
puissances étrangères. On créa des généraux et des amiraux, ainsi que des
chambellans, des écuyers-servants et des gentilshommes de la chambre.
A ce moment-là, tous les gens disponibles furent occupés. Le grand-duc
de Galilée, ministre de la guerre, se plaignit que tous les hommes faits, au
nombre de seize, qui se trouvaient dans l’empire fussent pourvus de charges
importantes; aucun d’eux ne voulait dès lors servir dans les rangs. Son
armée permanente était dans le lac. Le marquis d’Ararat, ministre de la
marine, formulait les mêmes plaintes. Il voulait bien, disait-il, prendre lui-
même la direction de la baleinière, mais il lui fallait quelqu’un pour
représenter l’équipage.
L’empereur fit pour le mieux, dans les circonstances. Il enleva à leurs
mères tous les enfants âgés de plus de dix ans, et les incorpora dans
l’armée. On forma ainsi un corps de dix-sept soldats, commandé par un
lieutenant général et deux majors. Cette mesure satisfit le ministre de la
guerre, et mécontenta toutes les mères du pays. Leurs chers petits ne
devaient pas, disaient-elles, trouver des tombes sanglantes sur les champs
de bataille, et le ministre de la guerre aurait à répondre de cette décision.
Quelques-unes, les plus désolées et les plus inconsolables, passèrent leur
temps à guetter le passage de l’empereur, et lui jetaient des ignames, sans se
soucier des gardes du corps.
En outre, étant toujours donné le petit nombre d’hommes, on fut obligé
d’utiliser le duc de Bethany, ministre des postes, comme rameur sur la
baleinière. Cela le mit dans une position inférieure vis-à-vis de tel autre
noble de rang plus bas, par exemple le vicomte de Canaan, juge-maître des
plaids-communs. Le duc de Bethany, par suite, prit ouvertement des allures
de mécontent, et, en secret, conspira. L’empereur l’avait prévu, mais ne put
l’empêcher.
Tout alla de mal en pis. L’empereur, certain jour, éleva Nancy Peter à la
pairie, et le lendemain, l’épousa. Cependant, pour des raisons d’État, le
cabinet lui avait énergiquement conseillé d’épouser Emmeline, fille aînée
de l’archevêque de Bethléem. Suivirent des griefs dans un parti important,
les gens d’église. La nouvelle impératrice s’assura l’appui et l’amitié des
deux tiers des trente-six femmes adultes de la nation, en les absorbant dans
sa cour comme dames d’honneur, mais cela lui fit douze ennemies mortelles
des douze restant. Les familles des dames d’honneur bientôt commencèrent
à s’insurger, de ce qu’il n’y avait plus personne pour faire le ménage à la
maison. Les douze femmes non choisies refusèrent d’entrer dans les
cuisines impériales comme servantes. Ainsi l’impératrice dut prier la
comtesse de Jéricho et autres grandes dames de la cour d’aller chercher
l’eau, de balayer le palais, et d’accomplir d’autres services vulgaires
également désagréables. Cela causa quelque fureur de ce côté-là.
Chacun se plaignait des taxes levées pour l’entretien de l’armée et de la
marine, et pour le reste des dépenses du gouvernement impérial. Elles
étaient intolérables et écrasantes, et réduisaient la nation à la mendicité. Les
réponses de l’empereur ne satisfaisaient personne:
—«Voyez la Germanie, voyez l’Italie. Sont-elles plus heureuses que
vous? N’avez-vous pas l’unification?»
Eux disaient:—«On ne peut pas se nourrir avec de l’unification et nous
mourons de faim. Il n’y a pas d’agriculture... Tout le monde est à l’armée,
ou dans la marine, ou dans un service public, paradant en uniforme, avec
rien à faire, ni à manger. Personne pour travailler aux champs...
—«Regardez la Germanie, regardez l’Italie. C’est la même chose là.
Telle est l’unification. Il n’y a pas d’autre procédé pour l’obtenir, pas
d’autre procédé pour la conserver quand on l’a», disait toujours le pauvre
empereur. Mais les mécontents ne répondaient que:—«Nous ne pouvons
pas supporter les taxes. Nous ne pouvons pas.»
Pour couronner le tout, les ministres annoncèrent une dette publique de
plus de quarante-cinq dollars, un demi-dollar par tête pour la nation. Et ils
proposèrent quelque nouvel impôt. Ils avaient entendu dire que l’on fait
toujours ainsi en pareil cas. Ils proposèrent des droits sur l’exportation, et
aussi sur l’importation. Ils voulaient émettre des bons du trésor, ainsi que du
papier-monnaie, amortissables en ignames et choux en cinquante ans. Il y
avait un fort arriéré dans le paiement des dépenses de l’armée, de la marine
et des autres administrations. Il fallait prendre des mesures, et des mesures
immédiates, si l’on voulait éviter une banqueroute nationale et, peut-être,
l’insurrection et la révolution. L’empereur prit soudain une décision
énergique dont on n’avait jamais eu d’exemple jusqu’alors dans l’histoire
de l’île. Il vint en grand apparat à l’église un dimanche matin, avec toute
l’armée derrière lui, et donna ordre au ministre des finances de faire une
collecte.
Ce fut la plume dont le poids vint faire plier les genoux du chameau. Un
citoyen, puis un autre, se levèrent et refusèrent de se soumettre à cet outrage
inouï. Chaque refus entraîna la confiscation immédiate des biens des
mécontents. Ce procédé énergique vint à bout des résistances, et la collecte
se fit au milieu d’un silence morne et menaçant. En se retirant avec les
troupes: «Je vous apprendrai qui est le maître ici», dit l’empereur. Quelques
personnes crièrent: «A bas l’unification!» Elles furent aussitôt arrêtées et
arrachées des bras de leurs amis en larmes, par la soldatesque.
Dans l’intervalle, comme il était facile à quelque prophète que ce fût de
le prévoir, un socialiste démocrate était né. Comme l’empereur, devant la
porte de l’église, montait dans sa brouette impériale toute dorée, le
socialiste démocrate lui porta quinze ou seize coups de harpon,
malheureusement avec une maladresse si particulièrement socialo-
démocratique qu’il ne lui fit aucun mal.
Cette nuit même, la révolution éclata. La nation tout entière se leva
comme un seul homme, bien que quarante-neuf des révolutionnaires fussent
du sexe féminin. Les soldats d’infanterie mirent bas leurs fourches,
l’artillerie jeta ses noix de coco, la marine se révolta. L’empereur fut pris et
enfermé pieds et poings liés dans son palais. Il était fort déprimé.
—«Je vous ai délivrés, leur dit-il, d’une odieuse tyrannie; je vous ai fait
sortir de votre avilissement et j’ai fait de vous une nation parmi les nations.
Je vous ai donné un gouvernement fort, compact, centralisé, mieux encore
je vous ai donné le plus grand de tous les biens, l’unification. J’ai fait tout
cela, et pour récompense j’ai la haine, l’insulte et des fers. Prenez-moi;
faites de moi ce que vous voudrez. Je renonce ici à ma couronne et à toutes
mes dignités, et c’est avec joie que je m’affranchis de leur fardeau trop
pesant. Pour votre bien, j’ai pris le pouvoir, je l’abandonne pour votre bien.
Les joyaux de la couronne impériale sont tombés. Vous pouvez fouler aux
pieds la monture, qui ne sert plus.»
D’un commun accord, le peuple condamna l’ex-empereur ainsi que le
socialiste démocrate à l’exclusion perpétuelle des services religieux, ou aux
travaux forcés à perpétuité comme galériens sur la baleinière,—à leur
choix. Le lendemain, la nation se réunit de nouveau, redressa le drapeau
britannique, rétablit la tyrannie britannique, et fit rentrer les nobles dans le
rang. Tous s’occupèrent aussitôt avec le zèle le plus actif de reconstituer les
plants d’ignames dévastés et abandonnés, et de remettre en honneur les
vieilles industries utiles, et la pratique salutaire et consolante des anciens
exercices religieux. L’ex-empereur rendit le texte égaré de la loi sur la
violation de propriété, expliquant qu’il l’avait dérobé non pour faire tort à
qui que ce fût, mais pour servir ses projets politiques. Le peuple en
conséquence rétablit l’ancien magistrat dans ses fonctions et lui rendit ses
biens confisqués.
Après réflexion, l’ex-empereur et le socialiste démocrate choisirent l’exil
perpétuel des services religieux, de préférence aux travaux forcés à
perpétuité «avec les services religieux à perpétuité», pour employer leur
expression. Le peuple pensa dès lors que les malheurs de ces pauvres gens
leur avaient troublé la raison, et l’on jugea prudent de les enfermer. Ainsi
fit-on. Telle est l’histoire de «l’acquisition douteuse» de Pitcairn.
COMMENT JE DEVINS DIRECTEUR D’UN JOURNAL
D’AGRICULTURE
Quand je devins le directeur temporaire d’un journal d’agriculture, ce ne
fut pas sans appréhension. Un terrien non plus n’assumerait pas sans
appréhension le commandement d’un vaisseau. Mais j’étais dans une
situation où la question de salaire devait primer tout. Le directeur habituel
partait en congé, j’acceptai ses propositions et je pris sa place.
Je savourai la sensation d’avoir à nouveau du travail, et je travaillai toute
la semaine avec un plaisir sans mélange. Nous mîmes sous presse, et
j’attendis le soir avec quelque anxiété pour voir si mes efforts allaient attirer
l’attention. Comme je quittais le bureau, vers le coucher du soleil, des
hommes et des garçons groupés au pied de l’escalier se dispersèrent, d’un
seul mouvement, et me livrèrent passage, et j’en entendis un ou deux qui
disaient: «C’est lui!» Je fus naturellement flatté de cet incident. Le
lendemain matin, je trouvai un groupe semblable au pied de l’escalier, après
avoir rencontré des couples épars et des individus arrêtés çà et là dans la
rue, et sur mon passage, qui me considéraient avec intérêt. Le groupe se
sépara, et les gens s’éloignèrent comme j’arrivais, et j’entendis un homme
dire: «Regardez son œil!» Je feignis de ne pas remarquer l’attention dont
j’étais l’objet, mais dans le fond j’en fus enchanté, et je projetai d’écrire
tout cela à ma tante. Je grimpai les quelques marches, et j’entendis des voix
joyeuses et un retentissant éclat de rire en approchant de la porte. En
l’ouvrant, j’aperçus deux jeunes gens dont les figures pâlirent et
s’allongèrent quand ils me virent, et tous les deux sautèrent soudain par la
fenêtre avec grand fracas. Je fus surpris.
Une demi-heure plus tard, environ, un vieux gentleman, à barbe
opulente, à visage noble et plutôt sévère, entra et s’assit à mon invitation. Il
semblait préoccupé. Il quitta son chapeau, le posa sur le sol, et en retira un
foulard de soie rouge et un numéro de notre journal. Il ouvrit la feuille sur
ses genoux, et tandis qu’il polissait ses lunettes avec son foulard, il dit:
—«Vous êtes le nouveau directeur?»
Je répondis que oui.
—«Avez-vous jamais dirigé un autre journal d’agriculture?»
—«Non, fis-je, c’est mon premier essai.»
—«C’est très vraisemblable. Avez-vous quelque expérience pratique en
matière d’agriculture?»
—«Non. Je ne crois pas.»
—«Quelque chose me le disait, fit le vieux gentleman en mettant ses
lunettes et me regardant par-dessus avec un air âpre, tandis qu’il pliait le
journal commodément. Je veux vous lire ce qui m’a fait supposer cela.
C’est cet article. Écoutez et dites-moi si c’est vous qui avez écrit ce qui suit:
«On ne devrait jamais arracher les navets. Cela les abîme. Il est bien
préférable de faire monter un gamin pour secouer l’arbre.»
—«Eh bien! qu’en pensez-vous?... car c’est bien vous qui avez écrit
cette phrase?»
—«Ce que j’en pense? Mais je pense que c’est très juste. Très sensé. Je
suis convaincu que chaque année des millions et des millions de boisseaux
de navets, rien que dans ce pays, sont perdus parce qu’on les arrache à
moitié mûrs. Au contraire, si l’on faisait monter un garçon pour secouer
arbre...!»
—«Secouer votre grand’mère! Alors, vous croyez que les navets
poussent sur des arbres!»
—«Oh! non, certainement non! Qui vous dit qu’ils poussent sur des
arbres? C’est une expression figurée, purement figurée. A moins d’être un
âne bâté, on comprend bien que le garçon devrait secouer les ceps...»
Là-dessus le vieux monsieur se leva, déchira le journal en petits
morceaux, les piétina, brisa un certain nombre d’objets avec sa canne,
déclara que j’étais plus ignorant qu’une vache, puis sortit en faisant claquer
la porte derrière lui; bref, se comporta de telle sorte que je fus persuadé que
quelque chose lui avait déplu. Mais ne sachant ce que c’était, je ne pus lui
être d’aucun secours.
Un instant après, une longue créature cadavérique, avec des cheveux
plats tombant sur les épaules, et les broussailles d’une barbe de huit jours
hérissant les collines et les vallées de sa face, se précipita dans mon bureau,
s’arrêta, immobile, un doigt sur les lèvres, la tête et le corps penchés dans
une attitude d’écoute.
Le silence était complet. Le personnage écouta encore. Aucun bruit.
Alors, il donna à la porte un tour de clef, puis s’avança vers moi en
marchant sur la pointe des pieds avec précaution, jusqu’à me toucher, et
s’arrêta. Après avoir considéré ma figure avec un intense intérêt, pendant
quelques instants, il tira d’une poche intérieure un numéro plié du journal.
—«Là, dit-il, là. Voici ce que vous avez écrit. Lisez-le-moi, vite,
secourez-moi. Je souffre.»
Je lus ce qui suit. Et à mesure que les phrases tombaient de mes lèvres, je
pouvais voir renaître le calme sur son visage, ses muscles se détendre,
l’anxiété disparaître de sa face, la paix et la sérénité se répandre sur ses
traits comme un clair de lune béni sur un paysage désolé:
«Le guano est un bel oiseau, mais son éducation exige de grands soins.
On ne doit pas l’importer avant juin ou après septembre. En hiver, on aura
soin de le tenir dans un endroit chaud, où il puisse couver ses petits.»
«Il est évident que la saison sera tardive pour les céréales. Le fermier
fera bien de commencer à aligner les pieds de blé et à planter les gâteaux de
sarrasin en juillet au lieu d’août.»
«Quelques mots sur la citrouille: Cette baie est fort appréciée par les
indigènes de l’intérieur de la Nouvelle Angleterre, qui la préfèrent à la
groseille à maquereau pour faire les tartes. Ils la préfèrent aussi à la
framboise pour nourrir les vaches, comme étant plus nutritive sans empâter.
La citrouille est la seule variété comestible de la famille des oranges qui
réussisse dans le nord, excepté la gourde et une ou deux espèces de
calebasses. Mais la coutume de la planter dans les cours en façade des
maisons, pour faire des bosquets, disparaît rapidement. Il est aujourd’hui
généralement reconnu que la citrouille, pour donner de l’ombrage, ne vaut
rien.»
«La saison chaude approche, et les jars commencent à frayer...»
Mon auditeur enthousiasmé se précipita vers moi, me prit les mains et
s’écria:
—«Là! là! il suffit. Je sais maintenant que j’ai toute ma tête, vous avez lu
cela juste comme moi, mot pour mot. Mais étranger, quand je vous lus
d’abord, ce matin, je me dis: Non, non, jamais je ne l’avais cru, malgré les
soins que me prodiguent mes amis, mais maintenant je sens bien que je suis
fou; et alors j’ai poussé un hurlement que vous auriez entendu de deux
kilomètres, et je suis parti pour tuer quelqu’un, car je sentais que cela
arriverait tôt ou tard, et qu’autant valait commencer tout de suite. J’ai relu
d’un bout à l’autre un de vos paragraphes, pour être tout à fait sûr, puis j’ai
mis le feu à ma maison, et je suis parti. J’ai estropié plusieurs personnes et
j’ai logé un individu dans un arbre où je le retrouverai quand je le voudrai.
Mais j’ai pensé qu’il fallait entrer chez vous comme je passais par là, et
m’assurer de la chose. Et maintenant je sais à quoi m’en tenir, et je puis
vous dire que c’est un bonheur pour l’individu qui est dans l’arbre. Je
l’aurais tué, sans nul doute, en repassant. Bonsoir, Monsieur, bonsoir, vous
m’avez ôté un grand poids de l’esprit. Ma raison a résisté à la lecture d’un
de vos articles d’agriculture. Je sais que rien désormais ne pourra plus la
troubler. Bonsoir, Monsieur.»
Je me sentis un peu ému en songeant aux forfaits et aux incendies que
cet individu s’était permis; je ne pouvais m’empêcher de songer que j’en
étais un peu le complice. Mais ces sentiments disparurent vite, car le
directeur en titre venait d’entrer.
Je me dis en moi-même: «Tu aurais mieux fait d’aller te promener en
Égypte, comme je te l’avais conseillé. Il y aurait eu quelque chance que tout
marchât bien. Mais tu n’as pas voulu m’écouter, et voilà où tu en es. Il
fallait t’y attendre.»
Le directeur paraissait morne, navré, désolé.
Il contempla les dégâts que le vieux gentleman irascible et les deux
jeunes fermiers avait faits, et dit:
—«C’est de la vilaine besogne, de la très vilaine besogne. Le flacon de
colle est brisé, six carreaux cassés, un crachoir et deux chandeliers. Mais ce
n’est pas le pis. C’est la réputation du journal qui est démolie, et pour
toujours, je le crains. On ne le vendait pas beaucoup jusqu’à aujourd’hui,
nous n’avions jamais eu un si fort tirage ni tant fait parler de nous. Mais
doit-on souhaiter un succès dû à la folie, et une prospérité fondée sur la
faiblesse d’esprit? Mon ami, aussi vrai que je suis un honnête homme, il y a
des gens, là dehors, plein la rue. D’autres sont perchés sur les haies,
guettant votre sortie, car ils vous croient fou. Et ils sont fondés à le croire,
après avoir lu vos articles qui sont une honte pour la presse. Voyons! quoi
donc a pu vous mettre en tête que vous étiez capable de rédiger un journal
de cette sorte? Vous paraissez ignorer les premiers éléments de
l’agriculture... Vous confondez un sillon avec une herse. Vous parlez de la
saison où les vaches muent, et vous recommandez l’apprivoisement du
putois sous prétexte qu’il aime à jouer et qu’il attrape les rats! Votre
remarque que les moules restent calmes quand on leur fait de la musique est
tout à fait superflue. Rien ne trouble la sérénité des moules. Les moules sont
toujours calmes. Les moules ne se préoccupent en aucune façon de la
musique. Ah! ciel et terre! mon ami. Si vous aviez fait de l’acquisition de
l’ignorance l’étude de votre vie, vous n’auriez jamais pu passer vos
examens de doctorat es-nullité plus brillamment qu’aujourd’hui. Je n’ai
jamais vu rien de pareil. Votre observation que le marron d’Inde est de plus
en plus en faveur comme article de commerce est simplement calculée pour
détruire ce journal. Je vous prie de laisser vos travaux et de partir. Je n’ai
plus besoin de vacances. Je ne pourrais plus en jouir, en sachant que vous
êtes assis à ma place. Je me demanderais sans cesse avec épouvante ce que
vous iriez la prochaine fois recommander à mes lecteurs. Je perds patience
quand je songe que vous avez parlé des parcs d’huîtres sous la rubrique:
«Le jardinier paysagiste.» Je vous supplie de partir. Rien au monde ne
pourrait me décider à prendre un nouveau congé. O pourquoi ne m’avoir
pas dit que vous ignoriez tout de l’agriculture?»
—«Pourquoi, épi de maïs, tête d’artichaut, enfant de chou-fleur! Mais
c’est la première fois qu’on me fait des observations aussi ridicules. Je vous
dis que je suis dans le journalisme depuis quatorze ans, et je n’ai jamais
entendu dire qu’il faille savoir quelque chose pour écrire dans un journal.
Espèce de navet! Qui rédige les critiques dramatiques dans les feuilles de
second ordre? Un tas de cordonniers choisis pour cela et d’apprentis
pharmaciens qui connaissent l’art du théâtre comme je connais l’agriculture
et pas plus. Les livres, qui donc en rend compte? Des gens qui n’en ont
jamais écrit un. Qui donc fait les articles sur les finances? Des individus qui
ont les meilleures raisons pour n’y rien entendre. Quels sont ceux qui
critiquent la manière dont sont menées les campagnes contre les Indiens?
Des gens qui ne sauraient pas distinguer un cri de guerre d’un wigwam, qui
jamais n’ont fait de course à pied avec un tomahawk dans la main, et qui
n’ont jamais eu à recueillir les flèches plantées dans le cadavre des divers
membres de leur famille pour en allumer le feu au campement du soir. Qui
écrit les articles sur la tempérance et hurle contre le punch? Des gaillards
qui n’auront pas une minute l’haleine sobre jusqu’au jour de leur
enterrement. Qui rédige les journaux d’agriculture? Vous, tête d’igname. Et
tous ceux, en règle absolue, qui ont échoué dans la poésie, ou dans les
romans à couverture jaune, les drames à sensation, les chroniques
mondaines, et qui finalement tombent sur l’agriculture dans leur dernière
station avant l’hôpital. Et c’est vous qui essayez de m’en remontrer sur le
métier de journaliste! Monsieur, je connais ce métier depuis alpha jusqu’à
oméga, et je vous dis que moins un homme a de compétence, plus il a de
vogue et gagne d’argent. Le ciel m’est témoin que si j’avais été un ignare au
lieu d’être un homme instruit, impudent au lieu de modeste, j’aurais pu me
faire un nom dans ce monde froid et égoïste. Je me retire, Monsieur. Depuis
que j’ai été traité comme je l’ai été par vous, je suis décidé à me retirer. J’ai
fait mon devoir. J’ai rempli mes engagements aussi scrupuleusement que
j’ai pu. J’ai prétendu que je pouvais rendre votre journal intéressant pour
toutes les classes de lecteurs. Je l’ai fait. J’avais promis de faire monter
votre tirage à vingt mille. Deux semaines de plus et le chiffre était atteint. Et
je vous aurais donné la meilleure sorte de lecteurs qu’un journal
d’agriculture ait jamais eue, qui n’eût pas compté un seul fermier, un seul
individu capable de distinguer, quand même sa vie en dépendrait, un melon
d’eau d’une pêche. C’est vous qui perdez à notre rupture, racine de pâté, et
non pas moi. Adieu.» Et je partis.
LE MEURTRE DE JULES CÉSAR EN FAIT DIVERS
Seul récit complet et authentique paru à ce jour. Extrait du journal romain Les Faisceaux
du Soir quotidiens, à la date de ce terrible accident.
Rien au monde ne procure autant de satisfaction à un reporter que de

réunir les détails d’un meurtre sanglant et mystérieux, et de les exposer avec
toutes les circonstances aggravantes. Il prend un vif plaisir à ce travail
charmant, surtout s’il sait que tous les autres journaux sont sous presse, et
que le sien sera le seul à donner les affreux détails. J’ai souvent éprouvé un
sentiment de regret, de n’avoir pas été reporter à Rome au temps du meurtre
de César, reporter à un journal du soir, et le seul journal du soir dans la
ville; j’aurais battu d’au moins douze têtes d’heure à la course les reporters
aux journaux du matin, avec le plus merveilleux fait divers qui jamais échut
à quelqu’un du métier. D’autres événements se sont produits, aussi
étonnants que celui-là. Mais aucun n’a présenté, si particulièrement, tous les
caractères du «fait divers» comme on le conçoit aujourd’hui, rehaussés et
magnifiés par le rang élevé, la réputation, la situation sociale et politique
des personnages.
Puisqu’il ne m’a pas été permis de reporter l’assassinat de César d’une
façon régulière, j’ai eu du moins une satisfaction rare à en traduire le fidèle
récit suivant du texte latin des Faisceaux du Soir quotidiens de cette date,
seconde édition:
«Notre ville de Rome, si paisible d’habitude, a été hier profondément
émue et troublée par un de ces crimes sanglants qui navrent le cœur et
emplissent l’âme d’effroi, en même temps qu’ils inspirent à tous les
hommes sages des appréhensions pour l’avenir d’une cité où la vie humaine
compte si peu, et où les lois les plus sérieuses sont ouvertement violées. Un
tel crime ayant été commis, il est de notre devoir douloureux, à nous
journalistes, de raconter la mort d’un de nos plus estimés concitoyens, d’un
homme dont le nom est connu aussi loin que peut aller ce journal et dont
nous avons eu le plaisir et aussi le privilège d’étendre la renommée, et de
protéger la réputation contre les calomnies et les mensonges, au mieux de
notre faible pouvoir. Nous voulons parler de M. J. César, empereur élu.
«Voici les faits, aussi exactement que notre reporter a pu les dégager des
récits contradictoires des témoins: Il s’agissait d’une querelle électorale,
naturellement. Les neuf dixièmes des effroyables massacres qui
déshonorent chaque jour notre cité viennent des querelles, des jalousies et
des haines engendrées par ces maudites élections. Rome gagnerait
beaucoup à ce que les agents de police eux-mêmes fussent nommés pour
cent ans. Car c’est un fait d’expérience que nous n’avons jamais pu élire
même un ramasseur de chiens, sans célébrer cet événement par une
douzaine de têtes cassées, et tous les postes de police encombrés de
vagabonds ivres jusqu’au matin. On dit que lorsque l’écrasante majorité aux
élections sur la place du marché fut proclamée l’autre jour, et que l’on offrit
la couronne à ce gentleman, même son bizarre désintéressement qui le fit
refuser trois fois ne suffit pas à le sauver des insultes murmurées par des
hommes comme Casca, du dixième arrondissement, et d’autres séides des
candidats battus, venus surtout du onzième et du treizième, et des districts
de banlieue. On les surprit à s’exprimer avec ironie et mépris sur la
conduite de M. César en cette occasion.
«On assure, d’autre part, et beaucoup de nos amis se croient autorisés à
admettre, que l’assassinat de Jules César était une chose arrangée, suivant
un plan longuement mûri, élaboré par Marcus Brutus et une bande de
coquins à ses gages, et dont le programme n’a été que trop fidèlement
exécuté. Si ce soupçon repose sur des bases solides, ou non, nous laissons le
lecteur juger. Nous lui demandons uniquement de vouloir bien lire le
suivant récit du triste événement avec attention et sans parti pris, avant de
se prononcer:
«Le Sénat était déjà réuni, et César descendait la rue qui conduit au
Capitole, causant avec quelques amis, et suivi, comme à l’ordinaire, d’un
grand nombre de citoyens. Juste comme il passait devant la droguerie
Démosthène et Thucydide, il fit remarquer à un gentleman, qui, à ce que
croit notre rédacteur, était un prédiseur d’avenir, que les ides de mars étaient
venues. «Oui, répondit l’autre, mais elles ne sont pas passées.» A ce
moment, Artemidorus s’avança, dit à César que le temps pressait et lui
demanda de lire un papier, une brochure ou quelque chose dans ce genre
qu’il avait apportée pour la lui montrer. Decius Brutus dit aussi quelques
mots au sujet d’une «humble requête» qu’il voulait soumettre à César.
Artemidorus demanda la priorité, disant que son écrit concernait César
personnellement. Celui-ci répliqua que ce qui regardait César lui-même
devait passer en dernier lieu, ou prononça quelque phrase analogue.
Artemidorus le supplia de lire ce papier immédiatement[D]. Mais César
l’écarta et refusa de lire aucune pétition dans la rue. Il entra alors au
Capitole et la foule derrière lui.
«Environ ce temps, fut surprise la conversation suivante, qui, rapprochée
des événements qui succédèrent, prend une terrible signification. M.
Papilius Lena fit remarquer à Georges W. Cassius, communément connu
sous le nom de «le gros gars du troisième arrondissement», un émeutier à la
solde de l’opposition, qu’il souhaitait bon succès à son entreprise de ce jour.
Et Cassius ayant demandé «Quelle entreprise?» l’autre se contenta de
cligner l’œil gauche en disant avec une indifférence simulée: «Bonne
chance», et s’en fut du côté de César. Marcus Brutus, que l’on soupçonne
d’avoir été le meneur de la bande qui commit le crime, demanda ce que
Lena venait de dire. Cassius le lui répéta, et ajouta à voix basse: «Je crains
que notre projet soit découvert.»
«Brutus dit à son misérable complice d’avoir l’œil sur Lena, et un
moment après Cassius enjoignit à Casca, ce vil et famélique vagabond, dont
la réputation est détestable, d’agir promptement, car il craignait d’être
prévenu. Casca se tourna vers Brutus, l’air très excité, et demanda des
instructions, et jura que de César ou de lui un resterait sur la place; il avait
fait le sacrifice de sa vie. A ce moment César causait, avec quelques
représentants des districts ruraux, des élections aux sièges renouvelables, et
portait peu d’attention sur ce qui se passait autour de lui. William Trebonius
engagea une conversation avec un ami du peuple et de César, Marcus
Antonius, et, sous un prétexte ou un autre, l’écarta; Brutus, Decius, Casca,
Cinna, Metellus Cimber et d’autres de cette bande d’infâmes forcenés qui
infectent Rome actuellement entourèrent de près l’infortuné. Alors Metellus
Cimber mit un genou en terre et demanda la grâce de son frère exilé. Mais
César lui fit honte de sa bassesse et refusa. Aussitôt, sur un signe de
Cimber, Brutus, d’abord, puis Cassius implorèrent le retour de Publius
banni. Mais César, derechef, refusa. Il dit que rien ne pourrait l’ébranler,
qu’il était aussi immobile que l’étoile polaire, puis se mit à faire l’éloge,
dans les termes les plus flatteurs, de la stabilité de cette étoile et de la
fermeté de son caractère. Il ajouta qu’il était semblable à elle, et qu’il
pensait être le seul homme dans le pays qui le fût. D’ailleurs, puisqu’il était
«constant» que Cimber avait dû être banni, il était aussi «constant» qu’il
devait rester banni, et, lui, César, voulait être pendu s’il ne le gardait pas en
exil.
«Saisissant aussitôt ce futile prétexte de violence, Casca bondit vers
César, et le frappa d’un coup de poignard. Mais César, de la main droite, lui
retint le bras, et du poing gauche ramené jusqu’à l’épaule, puis projeté,
frappa un coup qui envoya le misérable rouler ensanglanté sur le sol. Il
s’adossa ensuite à la statue de Pompée et se mit en garde. Cassius, Cimber
et Cinna se précipitèrent vers lui, le poignard levé, et le premier réussit à le
frapper. Mais avant qu’il pût porter un autre coup, et qu’aucun des autres
pût l’atteindre, César étendit à ses pieds les trois mécréants d’autant de
coups de son poing solide. Pendant ce temps, le Sénat était dans un
affolement inexprimable. La ruée des citoyens dans les couloirs, et leurs
efforts frénétiques pour s’échapper avaient bloqué les portes. Le sergent
d’armes et ses hommes luttaient contre les assassins. De vénérables
sénateurs avaient jeté leurs robes encombrantes et sautaient par-dessus les
bancs, fuyant dans une confusion sauvage à travers les ailes latérales pour
chercher refuge dans les salles des commissions; un millier de voix criaient:
«La police! la police!» sur des tons discordants qui s’élevaient au-dessus du
fracas effroyable comme le sifflement des vents au-dessus d’une tempête
qui gronde. Et parmi tout cela se tenait debout le grand César, adossé à la
statue comme un lion acculé, et sans armes, de ses mains luttant contre les
assaillants, avec l’allure hautaine et le courage intrépide qu’il avait montrés
tant de fois sur les champs de bataille sanglants. William Trebonius et Caius
Ligarius le frappèrent de leur poignard. Ils tombèrent comme leurs
complices étaient tombés. Mais à la fin, lorsque César vit son vieil ami
Brutus marcher vers lui, armé d’une dague meurtrière, on dit qu’il parut
succomber sous la douleur et la stupeur. Laissant tomber son bras
invincible, il cacha sa face dans les plis de son manteau, et reçut le coup du
traître sans un effort pour écarter la main qui le porta. Il dit seulement: «Toi
aussi, Brutus!» et tomba mort, sur le marbre du pavé.
«On affirme que le vêtement qu’il portait quand il fut tué était le même
qu’il avait sur lui l’après-midi, dans sa tente, le jour de sa victoire sur les
Nerviens. Quand on le lui retira, on trouva qu’il était percé et déchiré à sept
endroits différents. Il n’y avait rien dans les poches. Le vêtement sera
produit en justice à la requête du coroner, et fournira une preuve irréfutable
du meurtre. Ces derniers détails sont dignes de foi. Nous les tenons de
Marcus Antonius, que sa position met à même de connaître toutes les
particularités se rapportant au sujet le plus absorbant de l’actualité
d’aujourd’hui.
«Dernières nouvelles.—Tandis que le coroner convoquait le jury,
Marcus Antonius et d’autres amis de feu César s’emparaient du corps et le
transportaient au forum. A la dernière heure. Antonius et Brutus étaient en
train de faire des discours sur le cadavre, et suscitaient un tel vacarme parmi
le peuple qu’au moment où nous mettons sous presse le préfet de police est
convaincu qu’il va y avoir une émeute et prend les mesures en
conséquence.»
LA CÉLÈBRE GRENOUILLE SAUTEUSE DU COMTÉ DE
CALAVERAS
Pour faire droit à la requête d’un ami, qui m’écrivait de l’Est, j’allai
rendre visite à ce brave garçon et vieux bavard de Simon Wheeler. Je lui
demandai des nouvelles d’un ami de mon ami, Léonidas W. Smiley, comme
j’en avais été prié, et voici le résultat. J’ai un vague soupçon que Léonidas
W. Smiley n’est qu’un mythe, que mon ami ne l’a jamais vu, et que, dans sa
pensée, si j’en parlais à Simon Wheeler, ce serait simplement pour celui-ci
une occasion de se rappeler son infâme Jim Smiley et de m’ennuyer
mortellement avec quelque exaspérant souvenir de ce personnage, histoire
aussi longue, aussi ennuyeuse que dénuée d’intérêt pour moi. Si c’était son
intention, il a réussi.
Je trouvai Simon Wheeler somnolant d’un air confortable, près du poêle,
dans le bar-room de la vieille taverne délabrée, au milieu de l’ancien camp
minier de l’Ange; je remarquai qu’il était gras et chauve, et qu’il y avait une
expression de sympathique douceur et de simplicité dans sa physionomie. Il
se réveilla et me souhaita le bonjour. Je lui dis qu’un de mes amis m’avait
chargé de prendre quelques informations sur un compagnon chéri de son
enfance, du nom de Léonidas W. Smiley, le révérend Léonidas W. Smiley,
jeune ministre de l’évangile, qui, lui disait-on, avait résidé quelque temps
au camp de l’Ange. J’ajoutai que si M. Wheeler pouvait me donner des
renseignements sur ce Léonidas W. Smiley, je lui aurais beaucoup
d’obligation.
Simon Wheeler me poussa dans un coin, m’y bloqua avec sa chaise, puis
s’assit, et dévida la monotone narration suivante. Il ne sourit pas une fois, il
ne sourcilla pas une fois, il ne changea pas une fois d’intonation, et garda
jusqu’au bout la clef d’harmonie sur laquelle sa première phrase avait
commencé. Pas une fois il ne trahit le plus léger enthousiasme. Mais à
travers son interminable récit courait une veine d’impressive et sérieuse
sincérité. Il me fut prouvé jusqu’à l’évidence qu’il ne voyait rien de ridicule
ou de plaisant dans cette histoire. Il la considérait, en vérité, comme un
événement important, et voyait avec admiration, dans ses deux héros, des
hommes d’un génie transcendant sous le rapport de la finesse. Je le laissai
donc parler, sans l’interrompre une seule fois.

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Strategies for e-business : creating

value through electronic and mobile

StrategieS for e-BuSineSS

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Strategies for e-Business

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First published 2005 (print)

the print publication is protected by copyright. prior to any prohibited reproduction,

the screenshots in this book are reprinted by permission of Microsoft Corporation.

IsBn: 978-0-273-75787-0 (print)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

print edition typeset in 9.5/12.5 Charter ItC std by 73

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14 Building e-business competence through concepts and cases 317

a guide to the main focus of the case studies 337

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Chapter 1 Key terminology and evolution of e-business 3

1.1.4 the concept of strategy 6

1.2.2 the rise of the Internet 16

1.2.3 the crash 18

FT article Webvan’s billion-dollar mistake 21

1.2.4 the synergy phase 22

Blog box Google acquires Internet (May 2017) 27

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Part 2 The e-business strategy framework

Chapter 2 Overview of the e-business strategy framework 33

Chapter 3 External analysis: the impact of the Internet on the macro-

FT article publishers sued over e-book price ‘collusion’ 45

3.1.2 the economic environment 46

3.1.4 the natural environment 47

FT article a social network links our personal and office lives 48

Blog box How Facebook got its green back 49

3.1.5 the technological environment 50

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FT article trying on the future 51

3.2 Examining industry structure with the five forces framework 51

3.2.1 Industry rivalry 54

3.2.3 substitute products 59

FT article Google buys UK price comparison website for £37.7m 61

FT article nokia and Microsoft talk up benefits of co-dependence 64

Critical perspective 3.1 Benefits and drawbacks of industry analysis tools 66

3.4 Defining industries, segmenting markets and targeting markets in e-business 67

FT article: Vodafone and Facebook team up on smartphone 72

3.4.3 targeting specific markets in an industry 73

FT article Google searches to become personalised 75

Chapter 4 Internal analysis: e-business competencies as sources

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FT article It linked to financial performance 84

4.2 Analysing the Internet-impacted value chain 86

4.4.2 Communication activities 95

Blog box Moving back to personalised interaction – e-diets.com 95

4.4.3 transaction activities 96

Chapter 5 Strategy options in e-business markets 104

Chapter at a glance 104

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Blog box easyJet – setting up an organisation for a low-cost strategy 121

FT article airlines ditch simple model for complexity 122