Expekt - A study of Expekt.com from a strategic point of view

Abstract

The discussion during the last few years about the importance of working with strategy has been in some ways neglected because of the entrance of Internet. This issue has intrigued us and so we asked ourselves the question, what has happened with the traditional strategic business models that the business community for so many years have been using?

Michael Porter created one of the most traditional business strategy models during the eighties. It became increasingly interesting for us to uncover if his theories still have a value in today's Internet economy. With this background in mind, we have formulated the following problems: In general, to what extent, are the existing strategic schools pertaining to the e-business companies? Specifically, is the strategic framework by Michael Porter suitable for the Internet based e-businesses? If this is not the case, might there be a need to complement Porters theory with other approaches?

We have chosen to answer our stated questions by following the start up process of one e-commerce business in United States. The company is called Expekt.com and they are in the beginning of their expansion as a startup. Expekt.com's business idea is to provide the market with comprehensive interactive online betting services on the Internet. We have taken an active part with them during their entrance into the US market

Therefore we have decided to answer our problem questions by gathering data in two ways: From our own observations through the initial process of Expekt.com into the United States, and from interviews made with each market's manager for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Germany.

The conclusions from this thesis are integrated with the issue that Porters theory of five-forces fulfills a very important purpose for e-commerce, but yet the theory needs to be complement by other strategic approaches to make it functionally viable for Expekt.com and other e-commerce companies.