Even in the best of times, big companies find it hard enough to create new businesses, so the advent of the World Wide Web and the attendant stock market hoopla put even greater pressure on top managers—this time to come up with business models incorporating e-commerce platforms, and fast. Some companies took the business-to-consumer (B2C) route, others the business-to-business (B2B) one. The results often failed to meet expectations.

Among the big businesses that felt compelled to try their hand in the dot-com world was Hutchison Whampoa, the big Asian conglomerate founded and controlled by the well-known and influential businessman Li Ka-Shing. The conglomerate, which has worldwide interests in container ports, property development, telecommunications, and retailing, chose a B2B model focusing on the office supplies market in Hong Kong. The new business is called BigboXX.com. Like many other traditional companies moving on-line, Hutchison quickly learned that survival calls for the "clicks-and-bricks" business model, which blends traditional off-line assets with digital initiatives. BigboXX has yet to show a profit—its own forecasts call for a turn to the black in 2002—but as long as it shows progress, the deep pockets of the parent company can give it the breathing space that so...