A resource-based view of electronic commerce

A management theory known as the resource-based view of the firm states that resources foster organizational success. Our study of e-commerce retailers applied this theory to examine the effects of human, business, and e-commerce technology resources on firm competitiveness. An e-mail and Web-based survey used 458 responses from site managers. Business and e-commerce technology resources, as well as the individual business resource of process redesign, were found to predict e-commerce performance, whereas human resources did not. E-commerce performance, in turn, predicted firm performance. These findings partially support the resource-based view and coincide with differences between physical and e-commerce retailing.