Customer Resources and Economic Sustainability of Online Channels
Pavlov, O. (2011). Customer Resources and Economic Sustainability of Online Channels. In M. A. Quaddus and M. A. B. Siddique (Eds). The Handbook of Corporate Sustainability: Frameworks, Strategies and Tools. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, pp. 161-183.
24 Pages Posted: 10 Jun 2013 Last revised: 28 Jul 2013
Date Written: February 10, 2010
Abstract
In this chapter, I used the strategy dynamics methodology, which is a combination of the resource-based theory and system dynamics, to explain the sustained ability of two online channels to deliver economic value to its users. I posed that since spam and file-sharing applications are acutely dependent on customer resources they both can be understood in terms of the limits-to-growth generic feedback structure. That insight led to a conclusion that these digital channels were able to survive and thrive due to their underlying feedback structure. The computer experiments, however, made it clear that despite their apparent invulnerability commercial e-mail and file-sharing can succumb to strong external shocks.
Keywords: Online Channels, strategy, system dynamics, systems thinking
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