Small firms are always vulnerable to complex technological change that may render their existing business model obsolete. This paper emphasises the need to understand how the Internet's ubiquitous World Wide Web is impacting on their operating environments. Consideration of evolutionary theory...

Many existing companies have set up corporate websites in response to competitive pressures and/or the perceived advantages of having a presence in marketspace. However, the effect of this form of communication and/or way of doing business on the corporate brand has yet to be examined in detail....

This paper explores the endeavours of five small firms to develop web-based commerce capabilities within their existing operations. The focus is upon the strategic acquisition and exploitation of knowledge which underpins new value creating activates related to web-based commerce. A normative...

Purpose of the paper: The paper advocates a Darwinian explanation of the process of firm transformation. Existing, but generally opposing views related to the selection-adaptation debates are united to consider the dialogic nature of both approaches. It is argued that a Darwinian approach, as...

Does the Internet's World Wide Web (the web) represent an opportunity or threat to the small firms of the world? In line with recent calls for entrepreneurship research to adopt a more evolutionary approach, this article considers the context, process, and possible outcomes of small place-based...

At present, the rate of small firm adoption of the Internet's ubiquitous World Wide Web (the web) far exceeds the actual exploitation its commercial potential. An inability to strategically acquire, comprehend and use external knowledge is proposed as a major barrier to optimal exploitation of...

Many small firms increasingly operate in markets under siege from new entrants who exploit the technologies associated with the Internet's World Wide Web (the web). In these circumstances, interpreting the operating environment is like a vu jade, the opposite of deja vu, a time in space where...

Purpose of the paper: This paper aims to go beyond a bookkeeping approach to evolutionary analysis whereby surviving firms are better adapted and extinct firms were less adapted. From discussion of the preliminary findings of research into the Hobart pizza industry, evidence is presented of the...

The concept of a market orientation it is not universally accepted to be beneficial despite strong support for its status as an intangible resource supportive of a competitive advantage. Research on market orientation is largely quantitatively based focussing on justifying the performance link...

This study commenced with an interest in the question; why do some firms survive for considerably longer periods of time when other apparently similar types of firms operating under apparently similar conditions do not? Considering this issue in the context of the Hobart pizza industry led to...