We propose a framework for understanding circumstances under which information
technology (IT) innovations for electronic commerce (EC) change firm-level strategic
choices, and the economic forces behind these choices, in Internet market competition. We
identify a recurring pattern of intermediation, disintermediation and reintermediation: the IDR
cycle. With this framework, we explain technological reintermediation, where a
disenfranchised player is able to compete again, by combining technological innovation with …