Topic: 20 Years of Electronic Market Research: Looking Backwards Towards the Future

 

Speaker: Stefan Klein [Website]

 

Affiliation: ERCIS

 

Paper: [Link]

 

Abstract:

 

Over the past 20 years the field of electronic markets has seen a considerable proliferation and differen- tiation. This position paper takes the opportunity of the 21st volume of “Electronic Markets” to look back at important developments and insights, suggesting a framework that captures the multiple facets and indeed empirical breadth and depths of this concept. It comprises three perspectives which include the market environment, governance choices by economic actors as well as the entrepreneurial dynamics of firms who initiate and operate market platforms as their business. In addition, we propose to study the interplay of technological, market, and institu- tional drivers in order to understand the phenomenon of electronic markets, which is also a precondition for designing electronic markets. Both activities involve more than an economically motivated choice between the discrete alternatives of markets and hierarchies. Rather, electronic markets are configurations across multiple, interdependent dimensions: Technology is an important force in shaping the field, but needs to be complemented by considerations of the competitive environment and the setting of rules in order to ensure efficient and effective plays of the game. Based on this framework, this position paper develops six propositions for the future of electronic markets. Overall, the advantages of intermediated structures, an ongoing technological sophistication, as well as further innovation in market mechanisms and services make electronic markets an enabler for many inter-organizational value chains. While we are confident that the ingenuity of inventors will yield a flow of innovations, recent economic crises have shed a dark shadow over the sustainability of electronic markets. They call for suitable rules and regulation amenable to economic prosperity and stability to be agreed upon on a broad level.

 

About Stefan Klein:

 

Dr. Stefan Klein is Professor for Interorganizational Systems, Associate Dean for International Affairs and a Director of the European Research Center for Informations Systems (ERCIS) at the Department of Information Systems, Muenster University. He has held teaching or research positions at University College Dublin, Ireland (https://www.ucd.ie/cito/), University of Linz, Austria, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany, University St. Gallen, Switzerland, Harvard University, German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD), and University of Cologne. His current research areas are Electronic Business policies and strategies, development paths of interorganizational information systems, real time communication and virtual organizations. Since 1990, Prof. Klein has done extensive research and consulting with partners from the public and private sectors on Electronic Commerce, EDI, strategic information management, communication security, and the business impacts of interorganisational systems. Currently he is involved in the EU Framework Programme 6 Integrated Project ITAIDE (http://www.ITAIDE.org), which aims to develop innovative solutions for secure and competitive cross-border trade.