| Organizations have struggled with the implementation of Internet technology. They have tried to analyze current technology and looked to incorporate the Internet based on compliance to customers, supplier, and competitor's standards. This approach, a technology driven approach, does not take into account the competitive advantages of a firm. Therefore, the need to reverse the paradigm of an Internet strategy approach is needed to implement Internet technology to gain a competitive advantage. The Internet itself is not a competitive advantage, however when used as a tool to complement existing business practices, a sustained competitive advantage may be achieved. This is a business driven approach to Internet strategy.; This research developed and measured a construct for Internet strategy, based on a business driven approach. This was achieved through an exhaustive review of strategy and strategic alignment literature at the business and functional level. With a solid basis from the strategy literature, companies were interviewed to determine the key aspects of an Internet strategy. From this information, a construct for Internet strategy was developed and measured along with Internet performance.; The research was then tested using a survey for data collection. The survey measured an organization's business, marketing, operations, and Internet strategy for its relationship to each strategy and Internet performance. The entire data collection was conducted via the Internet through an email to 5217 IT professionals. A click-through response of 689 was received, with actual responses of 265. Of the 265 responses, 257 were deemed usable. The data collected was put through a rigorous statistical analysis to test for content, construct, criterion-related validity, as well as reliability and sampling adequacy. Based on this analysis, a structural equation model was developed, based a hypothesized business-driven approach to Internet strategy. The results from the structural model show a significant relationship between an integrated Internet strategy and performance. The results also showed that an Internet strategy is significantly influenced at the functional level of an organization and the direct relationship between business strategy and Internet strategy is not significant. The overall model had very good fit, which showed that the data is a close replication of the theoretical model that was hypothesized for this research.; This research showed that an Internet strategy that is influenced from the functional level of an organization, such as marketing or operations, could have a significant impact on measures that are necessary for Internet success. Therefore, a business driven approach to an Internet strategy can lead to a high level of Internet performance. |
