In their article, Granados, Kauffman and King test the Theory of Newly Vulnerable Markets for the transformation of e-travel distribution. Considering the world that we live in today, should we even be using the term ‘vulnerable’?
The internet offers technologies that can help businesses create a sustainable competitive advantage. When informed about the master programme in Business Information Management, were we not told that the internet is inevitably embedded in the businesses of the future? That we should learn to understand the possibilities that internet technologies have to offer, so that we can manage the intersection between businesses and IT? We should not ‘fear’ using the internet and we should not use the term ‘vulnerable’ for markets that experience substantial disruptions due to the introduction of the internet.
Yes, the internet can cause unwanted shifts in an industry due to companies’ overenthusiasm in the use of it, as Porter has described in his article ‘Strategy and the Internet’. In the early years of the internet, I can imagine it being perceived as a dubious and abstract concept. A market was seen as an established phenomenon and the use of the internet could throw overboard all of the assumptions about markets that people thought were rock-solid, and this could scare them. Seeing a market being disrupted by this abstract concept has led to the use of the word ‘vulnerable’.
Do not understand me wrong; I do think that the content of this theory has a solid base and that we can apply this theory to numerous markets that facing changes due to the introduction of internet technologies. It is solely the name that worries me. If – and I think that, with the knowledge and prospect tools that we possess, we can establish that this is the case – the internet is indeed becoming a more and more important factor in several industries, then we should learn how to use the internet for the advantage of our businesses. All the more because there is still danger in the use of internet and businesses can still make wrong decisions when using it.
The term ‘vulnerable’ has been based on the perception of incumbents in markets that were being disrupted by the internet. When seen from a 2016- point-of-view, we see the internet and the technologies that it brings as a prosperous development that will lead business into a new era.
What do you think? Do you think that the use of the internet can still do so much damage to a company that we should be hesitant in using it? Or do you agree with me? Do you have ideas on better names for the theory?
Granados, N., Kauffman, R.J., and King, B. 2008. How Has Electronic Travel Distribution Been Transformed? A Test of the Theory of Newly-Vulnerable Markets. Journal of Management Information Systems 25(2) 73-96
Porter, M.E. 2001. Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review 79(3) 62-79
http://www.rsm.nl/master/msc-programmes/msc-business-information-management/overview/
