The role of international trade intermediaries in a global context: the case of small household appliances

The sustainability of a business model within the existing resource-based view of the firm and the international business literature is often analysed versus direct competitors and new entrants arriving from complementary or unrelated industries. This exploratory research analyses the international trade intermediaries’ business model sustainability versus threats arising from possible vertical integration of their suppliers and clients as the conducted empirical study revealed lasting in time overlaps in value chain activities of foreign producers, international trade intermediaries and local distributors -- so called “grey areas”. The “external” time compression diseconomies, asset mass efficiencies, interconnectedness and erosion along with casual ambiguity protected the analysed company from direct competitors and from vertical integration threats, whereas the firm continued to operate with good performance results in the “grey area” of the industry value net.