Abstract
Between two manufacturers making the same product, one may decide to be a manufacturer as well as operate its own online marketplace, whereas the other might simple choose to offload the sales function entirely to a wholesaler. Is this a result of the company's strategy? Or is it perhaps because keeping these transactions internal gives it a cost advantage? What factors define this “boundary of company operations"? And what causes a company to operate in areas outside of its core competence? Further, how is the problem compounded by human and capital constraints? Choosing small-medium sized Japanese companies as my target, I decided to investigate these questions for my research.
