Examining the relationship between electronic marketplace strategy and structure

The contribution of market structure to the success of an electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) is an issue that has not received a great deal of attention in the literature. Although, researchers have given some attention to the antecedents of successful e-marketplace participation by organizations, there has been relatively little attention given to the e-marketplace structures. In this paper, the issue of e-marketplace strategy and its relationship with e-marketplace structure is examined. A classification of e-marketplace strategies is presented. The market structures of intermediary, hierarchy, consortium, and large group ownership structures are mapped onto this classification using four case studies to explain the relationship between structure and strategy. Each structural model has a range of implications for market participants. These include the economic and service benefits from intermediaries, economic benefits, and the potential to deliver improved levels of service for hierarchies, the relational benefits from the strong network ethos of consortia, and large group ownership structures which have potential for regional community or industry sector development