Predicting web services performance from internet performance an empirical study of resources and capabilities in ebusiness SMEs

Purpose Web services promise a step change in businesstobusiness application models and practices. But how do we measure web services' performance Because web services are so new, and implementations so few, the purpose of this paper is to take internet performance as a proxy for web services performance. Designmethodologyapproach The authors surveyed 106 ebusiness SMEs to identify key drivers for internet performance, and then predicted web services performance. Findings Surprisingly, it was found that while business resources and IT resources positively impact internet performance, dynamic capabilities do not. Also, there appear to be significant firm size effects. Originalityvalue The implications of these findings for the strategic management of web services are discussed, and in particular, managers' need to balance resources and capabilities in volatile business environments.