Reshaping Industries with Internet Supply Chains

Casing the Innovators

Included in our book, Creating and Capturing Value, are 22 case studies that contain a wealth of information about technologies, industries, issues, firms, strategies, organizational structures, and the issues electronic commerce poses for students and practitioners. Many are also available on the Web at www.gsb.stanford.edu/research/cases/, where they can be searched by title.

“ERP Overview” and “SAP and Online Procurement Cases” discuss enterprise software systems and analyze how one of the leading firms, SAP, is positioned to compete in the online procurement market. “Siebel Systems, Inc.” describes the booming customer relationship management market and its leading firm. “QRS Corporation” provides background on electronic data interchange and examines the role of an important intermediary. “AOL: The Emergence of an Internet Media Company” examines the role of portals, and the “Webvan.com” case discusses the “last mile” problem in fulfillment and delivery.

Other cases describe issues related to changes in market structure and function, including the growing role played by online auctions (“Online Auctions in 1999”), electronic markets (“E-Markets 2000”), and pricing and branding (“Pricing and Branding on the Internet”). They also deal with channel structure and channel conflict (“GAP.com” and “Nike: Channel Conflict”) and disintermediation (“Disintermediation in the U.S. Auto Industry”).

Another group of cases centers around the opportunities and challenges that e-commerce poses for both established and new companies and the markets for talent and advice that these companies can draw on (including Web development, consulting, venture capital, and so on in “E-Commerce Building Blocks”). “Karen Brown Books” describes the opportunities and risks involved in a possible deal between a travel portal and a traditional publisher of travel guides. “Brokerage.com” discusses the evolution of competition in the brokerage industry, including both online and traditional firms, and provides the context for understanding each group’s competitive strategy.

Additionally, “Babycenter.com” shows how a firm can exploit the Internet to create a novel business strategy and discusses partnering, global expansion, and acquisition issues. “HP E-Services Solutions” examines the challenges a traditional IT provider faces in responding to e-commerce opportunities. To acquire new technology or develop an e-commerce operation, it has to decide whether to organize as an internal venture or a new, separate firm. “Cisco Systems” examines the novel approach that company has taken to fund and then spin in new technology. Finally, “Tradeweave” integrates many of these topics and analyzes the opportunity, strategy, and organization involved in launching an e-commerce venture.

A final group of cases examines how firms’ nonmarket environments affect their e-commerce strategies and behavior. These cases, written by our colleague David Baron, consider privacy issues (“DoubleClick and Internet Privacy”), intellectual property (“Ebay and Database Protection”), and taxation (“Internet Taxation”).

Many of the cases were written by our MBA students and casewriters. While we supervised most of them, our colleague Haim Mendelson supervised the ERP and Webvan cases, and Robert Burgelman was responsible for AOL and E-Markets.

—Garth Saloner and A. Michael Spence