Research On The Core Competence Of Online Payment Enterprises

Online payment companies are very representative types of internet enterprises and their nearly a decade development is a microcosm of the entire internet business. Meanwhile, compared with other internet companies, online payment enterprises have the largest cash flow and significant financial characteristics. Their business directly influence both the internet and traditional companies which need to pay online to sale their products and services. Therefore, the healthy development and core competence construction of online payment enterprises are very important propositions.The research on the core competence of online payment enterprises is still in a blank stage, and the research on the core competence of internet companies stays in the discussion of business model. Chapter Two has carried on a review to the core competence theory literature, by using the theories synthetically, such as economics, management science, the network economics, the strategy management theory, game theory, marketing theory, etc. Chapter Three constructed core competence theory system of online payment enterprises in light of related theories. This theory system including network economic characteristics of online payment enterprises core competence, the game model of online payment enterprises as an intermediate, the marketing structure of competitive monopoly, five forces analysis, the gradient competitive advantage of online payment enterprises, the long tail theory and blue ocean strategy.Based on the analysis of online payment enterprise characteristics, environment and the industrial chain, Chapter Four has innovatively defined of core competence of online payment enterprise as follows: It is a dynamic loop and self-organized system, which takes the long-term accumulation of physical resources, human resources and intangible resources as foundations, forms the enterprise ability through resource management mechanisms and integrated & innovative mechanisms, integrates the government relations and supplier & consumer relations to make a better policy and market environment, and creates enterprise resources by favorable business environment and company ability. The physical resources, human resources and intangible resources are foundations of the core competence of online payment enterprises. The management, innovation and integration capabilities are the driving force of the core competence of online payment enterprises. The policy and business environment are the external security of the core competence of online payment enterprises. Physical resources include funds and materials. Human resources include management team, core staff and professionals. Intangible resources include branding, corporate culture, R&D and registered users. Management capabilities include organization optimization, marketing ability and resources management. Innovation capabilities include technological innovation, value innovation and learning capabilities. Intergration capabilities include the value chain intergration and PR ability.Through investigation and collecting the experts' advice, Chapter Five set up the the evaluation index system of online payment enterprise, which including the funds, management team, registered users, branding, corporate culture, market share, revenue increment, innovation ability, technical strengths, government relations, client relations. According to the industrial investigation data, Analytical Hierarchy Process and hierarchical cluster analysis have been used to the empirical research on the core competence level of eight online payment enterprises. The results of these two analyses match each other and reach four inspirations: 1.The level of core competence has no direct relation with the launch time. 2. The level of core competence has relations with the marketing share. 3. The ranking is highly relevant with the strength and scale of the enterprises. 4. Several indicators have strong correlation.Based on the gradient competitive advantage and evaluation index, from two angels of horizontal and vertical, Chapter Six puts forward the directions of how to cultivate the core competence. Vertically from the time series, according to the gradient competitive advantage of online payment enterprises, the dissertation points out the key ability in different stages of development. Horizontally from the process of identification, evaluation and cultivation of core conpetence, according to the weaknesses of evaluation indicators, the dissertation finds the methods to enhance and cultivate the core competence. Finally, the ten promotion strategies have been proposed including entrepreneurial culture, mainstream products, large-scale enterprise, customer satisfaction, multiple price, word of mouth marketing, learning organization and value innovation, second-mover advantage, government PR and crisis PR, strategic alliance.