The Dynamics of Form and Function : How Yahoo ! And Excite Pursue Competitive Advantage

This paper examines the co-evolution of organizational form and function in pursuit of competitive advantage in the context of the Internet. Using in-depth case studies, it analyzes how Yahoo! and Excite evolved from Internet Search Engines into Internet Portals between 1994 and early 1999. It demonstrates that search engines relied on a process of continuously morphing of their form to regenerate transient competitive advantage. The paper combines insights from ecological and resource-based theories with insights generated in the inductive inquiry to develop a framework for regenerating competitive advantage through changes of form and function on the Internet. The Dynamics of Form and Function: How Yahoo! And Excite Pursue Competitive Advantage “Business is going to change more in the next 10 year than it has in the last 50. If the 1980s were about quality and the 1990s about reengineering, then the 2000 will be about velocity. About how quickly business itself will be transacted.” Bill Gates, “Business @ the Speed of Thought”

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