M. Fritz, et al. / International Food and Agribusiness Management Review Volume 7, Issue 1, 2004
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Table 2: Platform Characteristics in the Analysis Framework___________________ | |
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Market orientation |
Implementation mode |
|
Market specifics |
Top-down |
|
Agri-food |
Bottom-up |
|
Vertical stages of chain |
Process organization |
|
Along whole chain1) |
Value-added services (VAS) |
|
Stage specific |
Transaction support |
|
Product categories |
Logistics |
|
Agri-food products general |
Finance |
|
Specific products only |
Negotiation |
|
Non-food |
Multimedia |
|
Operating radius |
Provision of information |
|
Regional |
Market information |
|
National |
Process information |
|
Continental (Europe, North America) |
Supply chain management |
|
Worldwide |
Coordination mechanisms |
|
Organizational structure |
Dynamic (auction etc.) |
|
Cooperation with other ETPs |
Static (catalogue) |
|
Ownership |
Mixed (e.g., RFx3)) |
|
Neutral |
Revenue model |
|
Market participant |
Joint investment by members |
|
Single enterprise |
Fee for VAS |
|
Consortium |
Fee time-based membership |
|
Organizational form |
Fee transaction-based |
|
Seller/buyer n:1 Seller/buyer 1:m Seller/buyer n:m (n>>m; n<<m)2) Seller/buyer n:m (n~m) |
Remarks: 1) Baseline characteristics in italics 2) n>>m: n fragmented compared to m _____________3) RFx: Request for (quote etc.) |
Variations in the Platform Infrastructure During 2000/2002
The agri-food platform infrastructure in the US and Europe has dramatically
changed during the short period between the years 2000 and 2002 (fig. 3). Only
about 30% (25) of the 85 platforms identified in 2000 remained as trade platforms in
2002. About 45% (38) went out of business altogether, about 25% (19 platforms)
changed their focus to activities other than trade platform or merged with other
platforms (3). Furthermore, of the 36 agri-food platforms existing in 2002, about
30% (11) entered the market after the year 2000. This result contradicts the notion
of a ‘first mover advantage’, an observation that has been made by others as well
with regard to Internet-related businesses (Liebowitz, 2002, Gallaugher et al.,
2000).
The combination of platform closures at one hand and new entries at the other hand
might indicate deficiencies in business models of early platform enterprises that
new entries might have avoided. However, late entrance was no guarantee for
success. Of 18 platforms that entered the market after the year 2000, only 11
remained active whereas the others (almost 40%) discontinued their activity shortly
after their market introduction.
© 2004 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA). All rights reserved.