Market Structure and Business Uses of External Telecommunications Networks

这是一个为期两年的奖项的第一年资助。拟议研究的目的是更好地了解使用外部电信和数据网络对公司业绩的影响以及贸易伙伴之间关系的性质。该研究将通过使用定性案例研究和定量调查方法研究跨公司和跨行业的外部网络使用情况，为这一领域的知识基础做出贡献。特别是，该研究将对一个模型进行实证检验，该模型提出外部网络使用对企业绩效和买卖关系的影响取决于所使用的网络、企业、产品和商业环境的属性。这项研究将集中于电信网络的开放性和它们携带计算机化数据的程度。网络使用的这些偶然影响将反过来通过一些中介因素对绩效和买卖双方结构产生影响，本研究将明确测量这些中介因素。中介因素包括企业在与贸易伙伴进行交易过程中产生的各种成本、买卖双方之间存在的人际关系的性质以及所交换的服务和产品的类型。

This is the first year funding of a two-year award. The objective of the proposed research is to better understand the effects of using external telecommunications and data networks on firm performance and the nature of relations among trading partners. The research will contribute to the base of knowledge in this area by studying external network usage across firms and across industries, using both qualitative case studies and quantitative survey methodologies. In particular, the research will empirically test a model that proposes that the effects of external network usage on firm performance and buyer-seller relationships are dependent upon the attributes of the networks used, firms, products, and the business context. The research will focus on the openness of the telecommunications networks and on the degree to which they carry computerized data. These contingent influences of network usage will in turn have their effects on performance and buyer-seller structures through a number of mediating factors, which the research will explicitly measure. Mediating factors include the various type of costs firms incur in the process of making transactions with trading partners, the nature of the interpersonal relations that exist between buyers and sellers, and the types of services and products that are exchanged.