Internet Newspapers: Are Some More Equal than Others?

Journal of Media Management (JMM), Vol. 2, n. 1, 2000

System Life Expectancy and the Maintenance Effort: Exploring their Equilibration

Management Information Systems Quartely (MISQ), Vol. 4, n. 2, pp. 277-297, Jun. 2000, co-authored with E. Burton Swanson

IT Investment in Small and Medium Enterprises: Paradoxically Productive?

http://is.twi.tudelft.nl/ejise/vol4/papers/Productivity-ECITE.htm

Recent research has demonstrated the existence of a positive relationship between IT investment and productivity in the context of large firms. However, the validity of such relationship for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has not yet been established. The issue is of critical importance for SMEs, which suffer a constant struggle for survival due to the absence of slack resources and high competitive pressures. The present study analyzes a sample of 1,700 SMEs from Spain using a sample selection model, and examines several indicators of IT investment and their impact on productivity. The results confirm for SMEs the positive relationship between IT investment and productivity previously found in large firms: the so-called "productivity paradox" does not hold true for SMEs either.

Internet Marketing the News: Leveraging Brand Equity from Marketplace to Marketspace

Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 8, n. 4-5, pp. 303-314, May 2001, co-authored with K. Pauwels

Can established newspapers leverage their offline brand equity to the online edition in order to create visits and page views? This question is key for publishers, as they are now facing a change only comparable to the advent of the printing press in the fifteenth century. In the present study, both a cross-sectional and a time-series analysis are applied to 12 Spanish newspapers. Our findings indicate that brand equity in the market place can be efficiently leveraged into the market space. On-line readership depends both on off-line popularity as on the profile fit between the typical Internet user and the typical off-line reader of the newspaper. The digital market dynamics are uncovered by persistence modeling of visits, page views and brand choice for each newspaper. First, the total number of visits initially evolves, but later stabilizes. In contrast, page views continue to evolve as usage depth increases over time. Finally, brand choice is stable and proportional to the brand equity borrowed from the printed newspaper. Our analysis yields specific recommendations for the three leading newspapers.

Existing Business Models for Brokering and their Adaptation to Electronic Markets

Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (JECR), Vol. 3, n. 2, 2002, pp. 23-31, Special Issue on "Exchange Relationships in the Digital Economy"

In this paper we report an extensive analysis of the different business models for auctions found on the Web. Three hundred websites randomly selected from the main search engines are analyzed, classified, commented and compared in terms of their basic parameters. Departing from a theoretical review of the classical auction theory applied to the online world, twelve business models are defined and analyzed. The confusing terminology regarding the new online auction models is also conveniently organized. The results show that the new possibilities brought by the popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web are making possible emergent business models in both the business-to-consumer and the business-to-business arena.

Casa del Libro: from dot.com to dot.cold

Journal of Internet commerce, 2006, vol. 5, no2, pp. 63-74, co-authored with Guillermo de Haro

In 2001, the largest editorial group in Spanish, Planeta, launched an online venture, casadellibro.com, mainly motivated by the Internet frenzy and the huge growth expectations of the moment. The obvious reality of the market at the beginning of 2002 forced the new management, appointed during that summer in the midst of a high-growth scenario, to face a huge downsizing and cost reduction. Thus the main problem is to decide whether they should look for a new and inexpensive technological platform, or stick with the initial one, with high maintenance costs but offering a superior functionality for a high number of users. What seemed to be a simple decision about which platform to use became a decision about the future of the firm, confronting financial, technological and cultural factors, among others.