E-partnering: Moving bricks and mortar online

The internet has been one of the main drivers behind the growth in number of partnerships. Although e-partnerships have received attention in research, this attention has mainly been reserved for the role of the internet firm in the partnership and for technology partnerships. This article explores the use of e-partnerships by traditional, non-internet related firms for business development. It describes the goals these firms try to achieve and the organizational form of the e-partnerships they have chosen. A number of european cases illustrate the developments in this field and clarify the changes firms make to their e-partnerships over time. Moreover, since companies are becoming embedded in an increasingly larger number of e-partnerships, the concept of e-partnering ecosystems is explored.