Amazon and Alibaba: Competition in a Dynamic Environment

摘要

This paper investigates the dynamic nature of the e-commerce industry and the competitive relationships based on the market commonality and resource similarity of a focal firm. This theoretical investigation is prefaced by a critical analysis of the factors that contributed to the birth of the digital revolution and its subsequent effect on commerce. The methodological process used is called competitor mapping, which is an extension of the awareness-motivation-capability framework. This study discovered that companies that are characterized by having low market commonality and low resource similarity tend to engage in competition at a moderate level. Strategic decisions or actions taken are typically in the form of attempts to enter new markets or increase current market shares. In this study, each firm's respective counterpart dominates a valued market, which elicits an opportunity for simultaneous cooperation and competition.