In search of business success on the Web. The dilemma of defensive functionality

In this paper we propose a new typology for commercial World Wide Web services. We examine their general functionality and the utility they offer a company and its customers. We apply a success model for the evaluation of strategic planning, to test empirically our assumption that it is difficult to achieve commercial success without both offensive Web functionality and intangible products. Our results, based on analyses of data from pioneering companies, showed that a focus on offensive Web functionality significantly improved the commercial success of intangible products on the Web, independently from the size of the product investment or focus on business-to-business versus consumer markets.