The Internet is often touted as a panacea for perceived deficiencies in economic development. Its space-transcending abilities, which can instantly connect producers with consumers, have the potential to cut out intermediaries and to redistribute economic surplus in a more equitable manner. This dissertation asks whether the promises of the Internet are being realized in the Thai silk industry. The project explores the following questions: (a) At which nodes in the commodity chain is the Internet being used?; (b) How has the introduction of the Internet altered production chains and the flows of capital in the Thai silk industry?; (c) How are these changes altering the socio-economic conditions of actors who are involved in reconfigured production chains?; (d) What are the relationships between contemporary discourses about the economic benefits of disintermediated commodity chains and the actual effects of disintermediated commodity chains?; and (e) Are older local silk making traditions being replaced as producers interact with distant consumers through the Internet? This project uses a textual analysis of websites selling Thai silk to examine discourses being put forth about the effects of the Internet. Surveys and interviews with producers and merchants provide data on changes that the Internet is having on the production chains of Thai silk. Results suggest that in very few cases is the Internet allowing a disintermediation of commodity chains to occur. Internet users are actually more likely to position themselves as cybermediaries: buying from, and selling to other intermediaries. Although disintermediation is rarely occurring in the commodity chains of silk, the Internet is allowing firms to sell to a geographically diverse range of customers. These findings indicate that instead of placing buyers and sellers into copresence in a virtual marketplace, the Internet is rather being used as a tool to open up virtual conduits between those already occupying privileged economic positions in the commodity chains of Thai silk.

Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2013. / This paper assesses the level of financial intermediation in the South African financial industry and the reasons for these levels of intermediation. Different banking intermediation measures are considered and mostly reflect disintermediation during the 1993 to 2009 period. Panel regressions are run to assess which economic factors had the biggest impact on intermediation by SA’s four largest banks (Absa Bank, Standard Bank of South Africa, Firstrand Bank and Nedbank). It is found that bank intermediation was impacted by bank size, profitability, as well as the level of competition and client relationships. The level of financial intermediation in SA has been low, negatively impacting on banks intermediation ability, and possibly impeding government and corporate sectors’ investment and economic activity.

This diploma thesis aims to discover, how crowdfunding influences traditional distributional structures. There are many possibilities, how to approach the problem. I have decided to compare the role of the intermediary in different forms of financing. This means, that by "distributional structures", I understand forms of financing. I compare five forms of financing, that altogether define all important kinds of financial transactions between two subjects: The bilateral model, Crowdfunding, Venture Capital, Market and Banks. As a tool for comparing all the forms, I created "Intermediate chain", that describes the way from one demanding subject, who realises his needs, through finding offering subject, to making and fulfiling a contract. I use the intermediate chain, that analyses this way, to describe all the forms of financing. The outcome of this process is a very detailed description. I describe all the models to verify, how crowdfunding takes over the function of other models. The theoretical frame of the analysis is disintermediation. Only by putting the analysis into this theoretical frame, the whole thesis becomes reasonable: The point is not to describe all the models, how people trade with each other. By the question about the influence of crowdfunding on traditional distributional structures, I...

The banking industry has been a pioneer in adopting electronic markets with exchanges, clearinghouses, and multilateral trading facilities having become the backbone of today’s globally integrated financial transactions. While most banks use the services of these electronic markets to handle interbank processes, they still strive for bilateral relations in the field of customer-facing processes. This position paper argues that the financial crises, the changing behavior of customers, upcoming innovations based on information technology (IT) and financial services offered by non-banks are strong drivers towards more customer-orientation in the financial industry. A large variety of banking IT innovations has emerged and illustrates that traditional banks are expected to have less power to impede competition at the customer interface and in consequence need to re-position themselves. Building on these developments on the one hand and existing electronic market infrastructures in the banking industry on the other, the concept of a customer-oriented financial market infrastructure is proposed as a possible future solution. The impact is illustrated using a competitive analysis of the banking industry and analogies to the media industry where new entrants from the computing industry have caused disruptive changes. Besides describing the threat to existing banks, the position paper also discusses the perspectives for banks.

The banking industry has been a pioneer in adopting electronic markets with exchanges, clearinghouses, and multilateral trading facilities having become the backbone of today’s globally integrated financial transactions. While most banks use the services of these electronic markets to handle interbank processes, they still strive for bilateral relations in the field of customer-facing processes. This position paper argues that the financial crises, the changing behavior of customers, upcoming innovations based on information technology (IT) and financial services offered by non-banks are strong drivers towards more customer-orientation in the financial industry. A large variety of banking IT innovations has emerged and illustrates that traditional banks are expected to have less power to impede competition at the customer interface and in consequence need to re-position themselves. Building on these developments on the one hand and existing electronic market infrastructures in the banking industry on the other, the concept of a customer-oriented financial market infrastructure is proposed as a possible future solution. The impact is illustrated using a competitive analysis of the banking industry and analogies to the media industry where new entrants from the computing industry have caused disruptive changes. Besides describing the threat to existing banks, the position paper also discusses the perspectives for banks.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:22:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcos Antonio dos Reis.pdf: 1122754 bytes, checksum: 111315a2f89ea0f7bf53de2dad993fd2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-26 / Modern organized society lives in a crescently globalized and informatized world, where competitiveness among companies grows stronger every day. At the same time, potential and effective clients are more demanding and more informed about the products and the corporations. Internet has showed itself as a very important strategic tool in the transformation of the markets and the consumption chain, causing changes and forcing companies to rethink its business models. Electronic commerce is an emerging giant, having moved, throughout the world, US$ 502,1 billion in 2009, with an estimate projection of US$ 963 billion in 2013 - an annual growth rate around 19,5% (source: www.ecommercenew.com.br). Tourism, in the view of the client, is formed by information that is largely available in the internet. Everyday new companies are formed using the internet as a business marketplace in the tourism sector. Some companies offer its products exclusively on the internet, while others still use the traditional means. This research studies some practices of the tourism sector in Brazil, aiming to obtain a more clear perception on the impact and influence of the internet over it. Evidences possible causes and effects of internet's utilization and its non utilization as a marketplace, an important mean of communication and the business models derived from it. Finally, it tries to offer a clear sight of its role together with the e-commerce in the consolidation of the tourism business in Brazil / A sociedade organizada e moderna apresenta-se cada vez mais globalizada e informatizada, na qual a competitividade entre as empresas aumenta significativamente, dia a dia. Clientes e potenciais clientes estão cada vez mais bem informados e exigentes sobre os produtos e as empresas. A Internet mostra-se como ferramenta estratégica muito importante nas transformações de mercados e na cadeia de consumo, causando mudanças e forçando as empresas a repensar seus modelos de negócios. O comércio eletrônico é um gigante que movimentou US$ 502,1 bilhões em 2009, no mundo todo. Para 2013, há uma projeção de US$ 963 bilhões, com taxa anual de crescimento na ordem de 19,5% ao ano (disponível em: www.ecommercenew.com.br, consultado em 01/2011). O turismo, na visão do cliente, compõe-se de informações que podem ser disponibilizadas largamente pela Internet. A cada dia, surgem novas empresas, utilizando-se dessa ferramenta para realizar negócios no mercado de turismo. Algumas empresas apresentam seus produtos somente pela Internet, enquanto outras se utilizam de modelos tradicionais de comercialização. Esta pesquisa estuda alguns comportamentos do setor de turismo no Brasil, buscando abstrair a percepção sobre as influências da utilização da Internet. Evidencia possíveis causas e efeitos em empresas que utilizam ou não a Internet como meio de venda e comunicação, possibilitando obter uma visão do uso da Internet e o do comércio eletrônico na concretização do negócio turismo no Brasil

Purpose - The purpose of this master thesis is to identify critical factors and create guidelines for traditional consultant brokerage firms to stay competitive in a digital economy. Methodology - This qualitative study with an abductive approach, gathered data primary from semi-structured interviews. A total 18 interviews were conducted with travel agency executives as well as buyers, sellers, and matchmakers of consultant services. Collected data were analyzed using thematic coding. Findings - The main findings of this show that traditional matchmakers can take actions to stay competitive if a digital platform enters the market. In addition, the study suggests proactive and reactive measures that organizations can take to address these disruptive forces. Theoretical implications - The study will provide an understanding of consultant brokerage and their function as a matchmaker in the marketplace. Besides, it will provide an insight into how some traditional matchmakers can survive in a digital economy. Practical implications - This thesis will provide managers with concrete guidelines on how to react in the event of disintermediation of a matchmaker market. Keywords - Disintermediation, Business strategy, Reintermediation, Matchmakers, Intermediates, Consultants, Brokers Paper type - Master thesis

Blockchain technology emerged in 2009 together with the introduction of Bitcoin, the first virtual currency which enabled nodes in a network, that do not necessarily trust each other, to exchange digital value without the use of trusted intermediaries. Since then, the idea of disintermediation and decentralization has gained traction in a large number of applications outside the world of finance and virtual currencies. This thesis is written in collaboration with Scania, an automotive industry manufacturer, with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of blockchain technology and how it can be used in the transportation industry. This thesis proposes five potential blockchain use cases that aim to either enhance Scania’s existing services or to create new services. Out of these five use cases, one is deemed inappropriate in regards to the use of blockchain technology while the other four have potentials benefits. The common denominator among these use cases is that they are decentralized in nature meaning that the use of intermediaries is mitigated. It is recognized that all use cases could be implemented using traditional, centralized databases and that the use of blockchain boils down to a technology choice with its own trade-offs relative to other potential choices. This thesis concludes that blockchain technology offers a new kind of database architecture, the main benefit of which is that it lets several non-trusting entities agree on a common set of facts, without having a trusted intermediary establishing these facts.

The main topic of this diploma thesis is the capital allocation. I focus on crowdfunding and study how the development of crowdfunding during the last years influenced options and effectiveness of the capital allocation. I compare crowdfunding with other distributional models. Under the term of "distributional models", I understand funding models, namely bilateral model, banks, stock markets and venture capital. I choose start-ups or arising projects as a medium of exploration. The hypothesis of this thesis is as follows: "Crowdfunding is better model for funding arising projects than venture capital, banks, stock market or bilateral model." To answer the main hypothesis, I analyze two supporting hypothesis. The first hypothesis studies the principle of crowdfunding. It says, that crowdfunding is able to recognize funding-worthy projects better than other models. I want to know, what makes crowdfunding an innovative concept, I study, how the new media manifest themself in the concept of crowdfunding. I analyze, how crowdfunding eliminates individual errors by using the "crowd". And above all, I study how each model addresses the role of an intermediary in the relation between surplus and scarce subjects. The second hypothesis observes, whether crowdfunding provides more money to the arising projects than...

It is necessary for firms to consider and understand sales and buying processes to improve relationship initiation and accommodate the buyers and end-customers. Relationships within the supply chain enable firms to access beneficial abilities to overcome challenges and complexities of new products, shrinking time to market, capital intensities and thus meeting competitive challenges. Developing strategic partnerships with key supply chain actors is an emerging trend in supply chain management. Firms are seen as complex nodes in interdependent supply chain networks where competitive advantages are met by collaboration and co-creation in the business environment. The aim of this study is to investigate the problem areas and assess the critical success factors for a supplier within a relation driven B2B three-tier supply chain network by adopting an abductive, theory-building methodology using qualitative case studies, using the case company as a focal firm. Two different three-tier supply chains are investigated within the focal company with an endcustomer, a buyer and a supplier in each supply chain structure. The study offered us four dominant themes common to all findings. These are structural power within the supply chain network, relationship stability with the end-customer, market knowledge and structural network position. In our discussion, we looked for common denominators to frame our propositions. We organized the propositions in each of the four key themes that emerged from the findings. We then incorporated literature at this stage to compare and contrast our findings, essentially using the literature study as an additional source of validation. The main theoretical contributions of this research involve targeting a new area of  importance in the crossroads of supply chain management, customer relationship management and knowledge management, and identifying four critical success factors in a market entry on a relationship-driven industrial B2B market.