The dynamics of global e‐commerce: an organizational ecology perspective

Purpose – A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population ecology model and the current global e‐commerce environment.Design/methodology/approach – Survivorship theory is applied to global e‐commerce. The Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation can be used to describe the inhibition of growth within an ecosystem. The approach is to apply the Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation to describe international growth dynamics of the internet.Findings – When applying the Verhulst‐Pearl equation to the internet environment around the world, the number of domain names or host counts, the rate at which there is an increase or decrease in the number of domain names, and the availability of information technology infrastructure are all factors that are part of the equation. The model of population dynamics presented in our discussion lends itself to the description of the current pattern of growth wi...

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