222 Chapter 8 Discussion Introduction This chapter reflects on the ...

A critique of the thesis should focus upon the lack of data to inform the model, such
as the basic information about the nature or characteristics of intermediaries and
customers. There is also a shortage of information about the behaviour of
intermediated customers (i.e. customers who do not have contact with the
manufacturer) and the perceptions that drive their behaviour. Since it was not possible
to speak to any intermediaries to get their views and those of their customers, this
must necessarily lead to a one-sided perspective of e-commerce development. It also
resulted in an exploration of possible strategic options for the manufacturer only.
There was very little consideration of customer and distributor alternatives, i.e. their
responses to manufacturer actions. In general, the lack of information was
problematic because it left a number of model assumptions that were less well
validated than they might have been.
A quantitative survey would have added to the study, and made it easier to quantify
some of the parameters, in particular those involved in the sensitivity analysis (i.e.
initial perceptions and the cohesiveness / density of the network). Collecting
information articulating the perspectives of the business partners would also allow
development of the critical theory approach, where conflicts and the power
relationships that structure interactions are more fully considered. The study had an
essentially singular perspective of employees at the company and so couldn’t capture
these aspects.
Since only a single case study was considered, that was centred upon one
manufacturer, the findings are not safely generalised to development of a pluralistic
perspective on the impact of e-commerce. The study has concentrated upon a specific
case involving empirical research that adds to knowledge about markets, the value
chain, and technology diffusion. To the question of whether the findings could be
generalised to other situations, the position taken here is that although similarities
were found with other empirical work (see <strong>chapter</strong> two) across different industrial
sectors, the case study itself is very specific.
The model developed as part of this case study, is relatively fine-grain and therefore
unlikely to be relevant to other cases. The flexibility of the agent-based approach,
however, allows the possibility for particular components of the model to be replaced.
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