Sustainable Competitive Advantage in E-Commerce and the Role of the Enterprise System

Petra Schubert, Susan P. Williams, Ralf Woelfle

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Developing and sustaining a competitive advantage from the use of information technology is a topic of concern for information systems research. Mata et al. (1995) present a model that is founded on the resource-based view of the firm. The model is used to discuss factors that lead to competitive advantage in e-commerce companies. This paper explores factors that enable sustainable competitive advantages in B2C retailing. The analysis is based on a single in-depth case study of an Internet pioneer company (LeShop), which was observed by the authors since its inception more than 10 years ago. The research data stems from a series of interviews with managers at LeShop as well as two case studies about the company from two different points in time (2000 and 2009). LeShop is an online pioneer, which began selling groceries on the Internet in Switzerland in April 1998. After a turbulent few years, LeShop is now one of the few successful e-commerce suppliers in the supermarket segment worldwide. The discussion includes an analysis of further critical resources of the company from a resource-based view.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalInternational Journal of Enterprise Information Systems
    Volume7
    Issue number2
    Pages (from-to)1-17
    ISSN1548-1115
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • B2C
    • E-Commerce
    • Enterprise System
    • RBV
    • Ressource Based View
    • Retail

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