E-business - The Perspective of Systems Thinking and Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

E-business can be described as a way of creating value in an enterprise in which the use of the Internet or information and communications technology (ICT) plays a key role. This concept applies to both new industries and the digital transformation of traditional ones. During the last 20 years e-business has transformed consumer activities, corporate models and strategies, and even market behaviour. In this Special Issue, we want to encourage to research the phenomena of e-business through the lens of the systems thinking and the concept of sustainability.

Systems thinking makes it possible to perceive an e-business company as a complex system in which customers purchase products, co-create value, enter into collaborative or competitive interactions with other customers. However, this concept can also apply to the functioning of companies in larger systems (e.g. ecosystems, platforms, marketplaces, social media). Various systems may have different characteristics (hence classifications of e-business models) and their structure may result in complex growth archetypes (hence the legitimacy of using system dynamics). Companies may attempt to maintain balance (homeostasis) or to grow in a non-linear, disruptive way. Their development may also be perceived as a development of new emergent properties (e.g. brand, network effect, accessibility in search engine listings).

In the second approach, i.e. the perspective of sustainability, business performance is assessed in economic, social and environmental terms. The relationship between e-business and sustainability is ambiguous. On the one hand, the use of modern technologies can facilitate relations with different stakeholders, increase value for consumers and enable a cooperation between them. On the other hand, it may also lead to an increase of low-paid work, unjust distribution of benefits (e.g. in an intermediate-vendor relationship), commercialization of privacy, dominant position of selected entities and their hardly controlled impact on the functioning of societies.

Given the wide range of topics and possible approaches, we are open to articles that use various research methods, including theoretical and position papers, qualitative and quantitative studies.

References:

Bansal, P. & Song, H.-C. Similar but Not the Same: Differentiating Corporate Sustainability from Corporate Responsibility. Academy of Management Annals, 2017, 11, 105–149.

Casadesus-Masanell, R., Ricart, J.E. How to Design a Winning Business Model, Harvard Business Review, 2011, 89, 100–107.

Colla, E. & Lapoule, P. E‐commerce: Exploring the Critical Success Factors. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 2012, 40, 842–864.

de Reuver, M., Sørensen, C., & Basole, R. C. The Digital Platform: A Research Agenda. Journal of Information Technology, 2018, 33, 124–135.

Jacobides, M.G., Cennamo, C., Gawer, A. Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal. 2018, 39, 2255–2276.

Doligalski T. Internet Business Models in the Consumer Market – a Typological Approach, Marketing i Rynek, 2018, 12, 5–13.

Vargo, S. L., Koskela-Huotari, K., Baron, S., Edvardsson, B., Reynoso, J. & Colurcio, M. A Systems Perspective on Markets – Toward a Research Agenda. Journal of Business Research, 2017, 79, 260–268.

Wolstenholme, E. F. Qualitative vs Quantitative Modelling: The Evolving Balance. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1999, 50, 422.

Zott, C. & Amit, R. Business Model Design: An Activity System Perspective. Long Range Planning, 2010, 43, 216–226.

Dr. Tymoteusz Doligalski
Guest Editor

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