In an empirical study, we explore success factors of electronic business models by comparing how the two
professional social networking sites (SNS) LinkedIn and Xing have achieved competitive advantage. Using
the grounded theory method and a resource-based perspective, our interpretative case study employs the
business models of the respective organizations as units of analysis. The resource-based view of the firm
(RBV) proposes to explain competitive advantage. Hence, our study aims at revealing success factors that
lead to competitive advantage by grounding them with unique resources and capabilities encompassed by
the business model as well as pioneering advantages. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first
studies taking an organizational perspective instead of a user perspective on the growth and success of
social networking sites. Surprisingly, our results indicate that even in a digitized and globalized world where location didn’t seem to matter anymore, location is still one of the major drivers for a successful
social networking business. It is strongly linked with management resources and funding opportunities that enable different types of growth strategies for such digital start-ups.
Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.
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