Business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (EC) marketplaces offer an array of benefits including: cost savings, increased operational efficiency, and improved information. However, achieving these benefits requires a critical mass of buyers and sellers use the marketplace. This dissertation investigates what facilitates B2B EC marketplaces in achieving critical mass and being used. First, we use ethnography and a literature review to develop a two-stage model of factors facilitating: (1) a marketplace achieving critical mass, (2) a marketplace being used, and (3) organizations using the marketplace. We then use ethnography, unstructured interviews, and structured interviews to refine our model. Our investigation includes four B2B EC marketplaces, four organizations participating in each B2B EC marketplace, and one organization that chose not to participate in each marketplace.
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