Causality of Factors Reducing Competitiveness of e-Commerce Firms

Abstract

E-Commerce is widely recognized as a phenomenon that has exhibited unparalleled potentials to radically transform both local and global marketplaces. Searching for new opportunities, longing for flexibility to successfully address quickly emerging challenges, and gaining significant cost savings are among top incentives for companies to go online. As more and more companies adopt e-Commerce at a staggering rate, nearly two decades after the explosion of the e-Commerce ‘Universe’ in a rather ‘Big Bang’ manner, it becomes pretty obvious that achieving sustainable competitive advantages by avoiding the myriad of pitfalls intrinsic to the new paradigm, becomes an imperative, a ‘holy grail’ for online companies. How to become much popular than other e-Commerce firms? How to attract more potential e-Customers and retain the existing ones? The common thread underpinning the answer to all such questions is the complex and multidimensional construct of competitiveness, a synonymous to a firm’s sustainable performance that can be achieved by meeting e-Customers’ needs more efficiently and more effectively than other firms. However, contrary to the increasing volume of research made on this topic that takes into account competitiveness factors affecting e-Commerce firms in a somewhat ‘positive’ way, this paper aims to provide an insight into the factors that contribute to decreasing e-Commerce firms’ competitiveness. Moreover, the paper introduces the concept of causality and tries to apply it vis-a-vis competitiveness factors using the technique of brainstorming and cause-and-effect diagrams. Visualization significantly improves the quality of the analysis and provides a suitable tool for communicating all of the possible causes that contribute to a complex problem, in this case, the reduced firm-level competitiveness. The proposed diagram-based approach provides a solid base of evidence that might support academics conducting case studies, comparative overviews and further research on this and similar topics.

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