Eric Clemons

Dr. Eric K. Clemons is Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. A pioneer in the systematic study of the transformational impacts of information on the strategy and practice of business, his research and teaching interests include strategic uses of information systems, information economics, and the changes enabled by information technology.

Eric K. Clemons and Rick Spitler (Working), The Road Map for eCommerce: Mastering the Territory, Setting Your Strategy.

Eric K. Clemons and Elizabeth T. Gray, jr (Working), Vendor Relationship Management: The Role of Shared History and the Value of Return on Trust.

Abstract: Information technology outsourcing has become too important to ignore, or to delegate. The twin goals remain unchanged — (1) creating and retaining economic value over time while (2) controlling exposure and strategic risks — but the scale of both the upside gain and downside risk have become enormous. Fortunately, as we shall show in this article, setting strategy for outsourcing is principally a leadership issue, not a technical issue, and thus now falls squarely within executives’ expertise and experience. Managing sourcing is principally about setting a strategy, based on economic objectives, communicating those objectives within and between firms, and managing psychology and expectations when the high economic stakes cause communications to break down. Successfully managing expectations and maintaining effective communications leads to trust, which, we have seen, produces great and measurable economic benefits in strategic sourcing relationships.

Eric K. Clemons and M. C. Row (Working), Alternative futures for Electronic Customer Interaction: Market Structures and Competitive Strategies.

Eric K. Clemons (Working), Victory: Information Endowment, HyperDifferentiation, And NonInformation Goods.

Eric K. Clemons and S. P. Reddi (Working), An Analysis of the Impact of Information Technology on the Organization of Economic Activity.

Noi Sian Koh, Hu Nan, Eric K. Clemons (Forthcoming), Do Online Reviews Reflect a Product’s True Perceived Quality—An Investigation of Online Movie Reviews Across Cultures , ECommerce Research and Applications.

Eric K. Clemons and Paul F. Nunes (Under Review), Carrying Your Long Tail: Delighting Your Consumers and Managing Your Operations.

Abstract: The growing ability to sell a wider range of goods, in smaller quantities, while still making a profit, is now widely called a long tail strategy. Profiting from greater product diversity represents a real change in optimal business strategy, which is based on real changes in customer behavior. Many firms want to develop long tail strategies, avoiding competition in mass market fat spots, and harvesting the superior margins available through selling in market sweet spots. Sweet spot offerings resonate with customers, allowing customers to find what they truly want and to avoid compromises; consequently, customers pay more while remaining happier with their purchases, and firms earn more and are more profitable. Evidence from earlier recessions suggests that in an era of excess capacity and pressures on consumers to find the best possible prices, competing through resonance offerings may represent an important source of protected profits. And yet, carrying a long tail and selling into sweet spots requires new skills, both for locating targets of opportunities and for controlling costs.

Eric K. Clemons and Nehal Madhani (Forthcoming), Regulation of Digital Businesses with Natural Monopolies or Third Party Payment Business Models: Antitrust Lessons from the Analysis of Google , Journal of Management Information Systems.

Eric K. Clemons, Bin Gu, Michael C. Row (Working), ECommerce and eDistribution: Understanding The Role of Power When Selecting Alternatives Channel Strategies.

Abstract: In a wide range of industries alternative electronic distribution channels may permit customers to deal directly with manufacturers and primary service providers, effectively disintermediating wholesalers, retailers, and agencies. In some cases manufacturers or primary service deliverers will be able to implement strategies to interact with and sell directly to their customers, while in other industries existing intermediaries will be able to withstand attempts to bypass them. Two illustrative industries — consumer packaged goods and air travel — are compared. Simulation models are used to examine alternative strategies for channel participants in both industries. Simulation, particularly the philosophy of Industrial Dynamics, is employed in order to observe the dynamic behavior of complex systems, where the strategies of consumers, producers, and intermediaries interact in complex and nonlinear ways. The critical aspects of the system, including consumer preferences and brand strength, channel power and channel conflict, and the role of customers’ speed of adoption, are borrowed from the marketing literature. We conclude that consumer packaged goods manufacturers will for a variety of reasons continue to find it difficult to disintermediate major retailers; in contrast, airlines have found that the power structure of their industry supports either disintermediation of agencies or dramatic reduction in commissions paid to them. Strategic responses for the weaker channel participants in both industries are explored. While we focus here on exemplars where the endconsumer of the good or service is an individual, this does not mean that the analysis applies solely to businesstoconsumer channels. Indeed, the most attractive customers sought by airlines were corporate travelers, and the attempted disintermediation of retailers and of wholesalers of industrial components can be addressed with the same simulation models.

Eric K. Clemons (Forthcoming), The Power of Patterns and Pattern Recognition When Developing InformationBased Strategy , Journal of Management Information Systems.

Past Courses

OIDD210 MANAGEMENT INFO SYSTEMS

This course provides a broadbased introduction to the management of information technology focusing on three interrelated themes: technology, organization, and strategy. The goal of this course is to equip students with the knowledge and tools to utilize information systems to pursue a firm's strategic and organizational goals. The course has no prerequisites other than a general interest in the applications of information technology.

OIDD613 INFO & BUS TRANSFRM

Information technology has transformed many industries, including media, financial services, and retailing, among others. These technologies ahve changed not only how we produce services (e.g., outsourcing and offshoring, and their newest extension, cloud computing) but what services we offer (virtual experiences, online advertising, long tail products and services, and social networking). The purpose of this course is to improve understanding of how information technologies enable transformation of business models within existing organizations as well as the development of completely new business models and new organizational forms. The course will serve as an introductory course on information technologies and will serve as a foundation on which students can explore more advanced technology concepts.

DIVORCE: A Site for Sore Wives, Business Week 01/15/2007

Knowledge @ Wharton

• The Death of the Daily Deal, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/28/2017
• A Boutique Investment Bank’s Aramco IPO Grand Slam, Knowledge @ Wharton 02/16/2017
• Why Samsung Could Get Burned in the Android Market, Knowledge @ Wharton 10/18/2016
• The Internet’s ‘Nasty’ Side: Can Firms Control the Trolls?, Knowledge @ Wharton 08/09/2016
• How to Get Your Enterprise Digitally Ready and Agile, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/27/2016
• Digital Transformation: Becoming a ‘Forgetting Organization’, Knowledge @ Wharton 10/29/2015
• How Apple’s Latest Offerings Will Expand Its Piece of the Pie, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/14/2015
• Why the Google Antitrust Case Is a ‘Step in the Negotiation Process’, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/01/2015
• Why Google’s Antitrust Problems Are Far from Over, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/31/2015
• The Competition Question at the Heart of the Apple Antitrust Case, Knowledge @ Wharton 12/15/2014
• How to Fix Google+: Accentuate the Positive, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/11/2014
• Technology Can Save the News — If Readers Change How They Consume It, Knowledge @ Wharton 11/22/2013
• After Facebook and Groupon Stumble, a Cautious IPO for Twitter, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/25/2013
• Walmart vs. Amazon in Online Groceries: Who Has the Edge?, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/24/2013
• Sony Faces a Fork in the Road, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/31/2013
• Advice for Apple: Strategizing a Lowerend iPhone, Knowledge @ Wharton 01/14/2013
• How Instagram Can Make Money — Without Alienating Users, Knowledge @ Wharton 01/02/2013
• Has the ‘Death of the PC’ Been Greatly Exaggerated?, Knowledge @ Wharton 10/24/2012
• Apple’s Maps Fiasco and the Mobile Arms Race, Knowledge @ Wharton 10/10/2012
• Press “Print” and I’m Yours, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/26/2012
• Zynga’s Potentially Losing Game, Knowledge @ Wharton 07/30/2012
• Digging Below the Surface of Microsoft’s Tablet Strategy, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/21/2012
• The Facebook IPO: What Went Wrong?, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/23/2012
• King of the Hill: Can Established Tech Companies Be Bested?, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/25/2012
• Facebook and Instagram: How Much Is a Picture Worth?, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/10/2012
• The Latest Cell Phone Innovations: Breakthroughs or Busts?, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/16/2012
• Taxes for Thee, but Not for Me, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/14/2012
• Will the Kindle Fire Burn the iPad?, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/29/2011
• How Will Google Digest Zagat?, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/12/2011
• Apple Without Steve Jobs: How the New CEO Can ‘Think Different’, Knowledge @ Wharton 08/25/2011
• Want to Rent out That Spare Room? The Growing Popularity of ‘Collaborative Consumption’, Knowledge @ Wharton 08/25/2011
• Is Zynga’s Dependence on Facebook the Key to Its Success — Or Its Downfall?, Knowledge @ Wharton 08/03/2011
• Learning from the Citibank Breakin: Watch What You Share, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/21/2011
• An End to Online Retailers’ Immaculate Tax Exception?, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/15/2011
• What’s Behind Microsoft’s US$8.5 Billion Takeover of Skype?, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/25/2011
• What’s Behind Microsoft’s $8.5 Billion Takeover of Skype?, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/11/2011
• The Flap over Cisco’s Flip: Why the Company Killed off a Popular Product, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/27/2011
• In Search of the Perfect Search: Can Google Beat Attempts to Game the System?, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/16/2011
• Everything New Is Old Again: iPad 2 Ups the Stakes in the Tablet Wars, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/03/2011
• The NYSEDeutsche Börse Merger: Building a Powerhouse or a Dinosaur?, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/02/2011
• Three Questions about the AOLHuffington Post Deal, Knowledge @ Wharton 02/08/2011
• Google’s Shake Up: Why Now?, Knowledge @ Wharton 01/21/2011
• Power to the People or Just a Fad? Forecasting the Future of Group Buying Sites, Knowledge @ Wharton 11/10/2010
• Group Buying Sites: Strategy of the Future or Too Good to Be True?, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/09/2010
• Financial Services on Aisle Nine: WalMart Gives Banks a Run for Their Money, Knowledge @ Wharton 09/01/2010
• Will Tablets Close the Book on eReaders?, Knowledge @ Wharton 07/07/2010
• To Boycott or Not: The Consequences of a Protest, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/09/2010
• Will Windows Phone 7 Reboot Microsoft’s Mobile Strategy?, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/31/2010
• It’s a Long Way to 4G Nirvana, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/17/2010
• Grab Your Goggles: Will 3D Be the Next Wave in Home Entertainment?, Knowledge @ Wharton 02/17/2010