The Parable of a Little Research: Making Money from an Internet Trading Portal
Field Guide to Case Study Research in Business-to-business Marketing and Purchasing
ISBN: 978-1-78441-080-3
Publication date: 27 August 2014
Abstract
This simple case study tells the story of three young men who started an online business-to-business trading portal for fun, and to help fund them through university. They seized the opportunity of a major assignment to ask a new lecturer, the narrator, to guide them into profitability. Reluctantly, the young men were coerced into a literature survey, which proved surprisingly helpful to them. A simple research project followed, using mixed methods (survey, expert opinion, key account interviews). Based on the survey results and some simple frameworks from the literature, the young men not only completed their exercise, but also went on to turn their hobby into a sustainable business. The business still exists today, based on the simple study conducted some 12 years ago.
Keywords
Citation
Marshall, R. and Tze Peng, P. (2014), "The Parable of a Little Research: Making Money from an Internet Trading Portal", Field Guide to Case Study Research in Business-to-business Marketing and Purchasing (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1069-096420140000021001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited