Using Information Technology to

Engage in Electronic Commerce

Introduction:

As today’s business executives develop strategic business plans for their firms, they have an option that was not available a few years ago. Firms can engage in electronic commerce the use of the computer as a primary toll for performing the basic business operations. Firms engage in electronic commerce for a variety of reasons, but the overriding objective is competitive advantage. Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce can be defined very narrowly: it can be said to include only business transactions that deal with customers and suppliers. And it often described in terms of internet, implying the there are no other communications alternatives.

Main Environment of the functional Areas

Finance Human Resource

Information Service

Manufacturing

Marketing

Customers x xSupplier x x

Stockholders and

ownersx

Labor Unions x x

Government x x x x x

Financial Community x

Global Community x

Competitors x

Anticipated Benefits from Electronic Commerce Firms engage in electronic commerce to

achieve improvements throughout the organization.These are expected to result in three main benefits:

• Improved customer service• Improved relationships with suppliers and the

financial community • Increased return on stockholder and owner

investments

These benefits contribute to the firm’s financial stability and enable it to compete more efficiently in a business world that is becoming more and more

committed to employing computer technology.    

Electronic Commerce Constraints Just a few years ago many firms were hesitant to

jump on the electronic commerce bandwagon. In a 1996 survey, 60 percent of the responding firms

indicated that they had not implemented electronic commerce and had no plans to do so within the next tree years. When asked the reasons for their caution.

The firms listed three constraints in the following order• High costs• Security concerns • Immature or unavailable software

The forms that had implemented systems were using them primarily for transactions with suppliers (91

percent) and customers (88 percent), and the main processes dealt with purchase orders, transfers of

payment, and invoices.

Each of these constraints is being challenged as information technology and systems increase in popularity. The high cost of computing resources

inevitably comes down. Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel, said in 1965 that the number of integrated

circuit per inch on a chip would double every year. The pace has slowed in that over the last 30 years the industry has seen the doubling every 18moths.

With the doubling of circuits per square inch comes a dramatic price decrease. Most experts believe that

doubling every 18moths will continue for decades to come.

The Pathway to Electronic Commerce

When a firm’s executive decides that the anticipated benefits outweigh the constraints and make a “go” decision, they understand that the implementation will be a mammoth task. The

strategic Business plan embodies the commitment to use electronic commerce to achieve

competitive advantage. The firm first gathers business intelligence so that it can understand the potential role each of the environmental elements will play. When firms interact with each other, the

next step is to establish an inter organizational system (IOS) by means of electronic data

interchange (EDI) or an extranet. Extranets are a special type of internet system where standard

Web page browsers and Web

BusinessIIntelligence

Competitive advantage

Enabling Strategy

Enabling methodoloy

Enabling Technology

Inter-organizational sysytem

Electronic Dara

Interchange

Sysyten Life Cycle

Business Process

Direct Connectivity

Value Added

Network

The Internet

Strategic Business Plan

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

The application was dedicated to gathering information on the firm’s competitor’s, and thus, the term Competitive Intelligence (CI) was coined. When defined broadly to include information on all environmental

elements, the proper term term is Business intelligence (BI). The information that

describes the elements in the environment of the firm is given the name Intelligence.

Data

5. Disseminate Intelligence

3. Annalyze Data

4. Store Intelligence

Data

2. Evaluate1.Collect Data

Intelligence

Five Basic Intelligence Task

1. Collected Data- the firm may acquire either primary data or secondary data. Primary Data is

gathered by the firm. Secondary Data is gathered by someone else and made available to the firm. Much

secondary is available in the form of commercial databases that are provided by database services for a fee. The firm can access the services central databases

or obtain copies of the databases in a compact disk/read-only memory (CD-ROM) form2. Evaluated Data- All the data, secondary as

well as primary, should be evaluated prior to use to ensure its accuracy.

3. Analyzed Data- The purpose of the analysis step is to transform data into intelligence.

4. Store Intelligence- If the intelligence is purchased in a machine- readable form, such a

CD-ROM, or if it is available on-line, entry into the computer is no problem. However if the

intelligence exists in a printed form, it must be entered either by optical character recognition (OCR) or by keying . Once in the computer the

intelligence must be stored in a way that allows easy retrieval.

5. Disseminate Intelligence - Once in a computer storage, the text of the document or abstract is retrieved by entering certain search

parameters , such as company name, date, publication name, and author’s name.

A sophisticated approach to dissemination is to prepare an intelligence profile for each user,

describing in a coded form the intelligence topics that the user wants to monitor . This profile is stored in the

computer and when a piece of intelligence comes along that matches the profile , the intelligence is

made available to the user. This techniques Is called Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI).External Database

• There are a number of important commercial databases that provide information on virtually any

subjects.

• -Firms use these databases to gather business intelligence because it is less expensive than trying

to research a wide array of information sources.

LEXIS-NEXIS (WWW.LEXIS-NEXIS.COM) provides legal, financial and governmental information from a

wide variety of sources .

DIALOG (WWW.DIALOG.COM) covers news, business, government, and other sources.

DOWJONES(@WWW.DOWJONES.COM) offers a wide variety of information concerning financial matters .Yahoo Search Engine (www.YAHOO.COM) lists over

1000 companies with websites that provides data and data services to firms.

REUTERS (WWW.REUTERS.COM) can search and analyze news media for subjects of concerns to the

firm much more effectively and efficiently than most firms can do for themselves.

Thomas Register Online (WWW.THOMASREGISTERONLINE.COM) a database that provides a great deal of information for free and also offers services for a fee.

Search EnginesIs a special computer program that asks a user

for a word or group of words to be found. The program then searches the content of internet sites

to see if the word or words exists at the site .The program then estimates the usefulness of the sites that contains the words and presents the requestor with the addresses of internet sites and documents

that contain the chosen words.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE STRATEGYthe strategy that is most often mentioned is one in

which the elements are linked with transmissions of electronic data.

 Extranets- allow the sharing of sensitive computer-based information with other firms using information technology commonly associated with the internet.

Firewall- is a computer software that only allows authorized users access typically via a user name and

password.

IOS(Inter-Organizational System)sometimes called an interorganizational

information.-is a combination of firms that are linked so that

they function as a single system; they work together to achieve a common objective. The firms that form the IOS are called trading partners or business

partners. IOS Benefits(2 main Categories)

Comparative Efficiencyby joining an IOS, trading partners can provide

their goods and services at lower costs than their competitors. This improvement in efficiency can be derived internally and in conjunction with the other

organizations.

• Internal efficiency consists of improvements in the firm's own operations, thus enabling the firm to

gather data faster, analyze it faster, and make decision faster.

• Inter organizational efficiency includes improvements that are gained by working with other firms. These improvements enable the firms to offer more products and services, serve more customers,

shift certain work to suppliers or customers, and gather environmental data more easily.

 Bargaining Power

- the ability of a firm to resolve disagreements with its suppliers and customers to its own advantage is called its bargaining power. The power is derived from 3 basic

methods-by offering unique product features, by reducing search-related costs, and by increasing

switching costs.

• Unique products features the electronic linkages of the IOS enable firms to offer better service to their customers in the form of easier ordering, quicker shipment, and faster response

times to requests for information.• Reducing search-related costs a firm can

reduce the “shopping” costs that its customers incur in searching for supplier, identifying alternative

products, and getting the lowest price. Since the firm is a customer of its suppliers, the firm can realize the same shopping cost reductions when ordering from

its suppliers.• Increased switching costs a firm would like

to make it expensive for customers to switch to competitor. IOS achieves this benefit by providing

customers with such information resources as hardware, software, and data communications

channels that would have to be replaced if products were purchased from another firm.

Electronic Data Interchanged(EDI)consist of direct computer transmissions among

multiple firms in a machine-readable, structured format. The transmission enable the data to be

transmitted and received without rekeying.

Typical EDI Linkagesestablish connections between the firm and its

suppliers and its customers. Connection between the suppliers are referred to as the supply slide of the system , and connection with customers go by the

name customer slide

Vendor Stock Replenishmentillustrates the typical dialogue between the firm

and a supplier. EDI makes possible an entirely new relationship. It is longer necessary for the firm to

trigger the purchasing process.

SupplierThe Firm

Price quote

Purchase Order

P.O receipt acknowledgement

Invoice

Request for price quote

Electronic Funds Transfer(EFT)When the data representing money is transmitted

over a computer network. It is called FFT. It is used by many firms and also by individuals who have their

payroll checks deposited into their bank accounts and who pay their bills with electronic.

EDI StandardsThe data that flows along each path between firms and

its trading partners adheres to standard format. The standard used in North America go by the name ANSI

ASC X12. The international standards are named EDIFACT

104. Air Shipment Information130. Student Educational Record(Transcript)152. Statistical Government Information300. Reservation (Booking Request) (Ocean)311. Canadian Customers Information810. Invoice

NameAddress InformationMarking, Packaging, LoadingIndustry CodeQuantityTax InformationPacing InformationItem Physical DetailsTerms of Sale/Deferred Terms of SaleCarrier DetailProduct/Item DescriptionInvoice Shipment SummaryTransaction Totals

Mapping Software

Application Software

Sending firm’s computer

Application Software

Mapping Software

Receiving firm’s

computer

Standard EDI format

Degree of EDI Implementation

• Level-one users- one or two transaction sets are transmitted to a large number of trading partner.• Level-two users- Many transaction sets are

transmitted to a large number of trading partners.• Level-three users- Not only are many

transaction sets partners, but the firm’s computer application are tailored to EDI approach

Proactive and Reactive Partners When a firm decide to adopt EDI, it can do so in a prssssssoactive or reactive way. The IOS sponsor typically takes a proactive approach, stimulating interest in the IOS and encouraging participants in an EDI network. The participants, on the other hand typically respond in a reactive manner-accepting or rejecting the sponsor’s offer to adopt EDI.

Adoption InfluencesMIS Professors G. Premkumar and K.

Ramamurthy studied the factors that can influence the EDI decision and identified four that determine whether the firm will be proactive or reactive.• Competitive pressure

When the firm is in a poor position in relation to its competitors or when industry or trade associations provide strong pressure, the firm will adopt EDI in a reactive way.• Exercised power

When a firm can exert power over other members of the IOS, it will be proactive in adopting EDI.• Top management support

Regardless of whether the firm acts in a proactive or reactive manner, top management support always influences the decision.

CompetitorsTrading

partners

EDI

Environmental Influences

Internal Need

Top Management Support

Internal Influences

Pressure Exercise Power

EDI BenefitsDirect Benefits (reduced errors, reduced costs, and

increased operational efficiency)

Indirect Benefits (increased ability to compete, improved relationships with trading partners, and

improved customer service)

• Reduced errors – If incoming data does not have to be keyed into system, data entry errors can be greatly reduced.

• Reduced costs – Cost reductions can be realized by eliminating redundant steps, eliminating paper documents, and reducing the manual labor of routing paper documents through organization.

Competitors Trading partner

Customer

Indirect Benefits

Reduced errors

Reduced Cost

Increased operational efficiency

Direct benefits

Increased the ability to increased

Improved relationship

Improved Serviced

• Increased operational efficiency – The IOS benefits of internal and interorganizational

efficiency are made possible to a large extent by EDI.

• Increased ability to compete – The combination of reduced costs and unique product

features made possible by the IOS make it exceedingly difficult for competitors to match the

firm’s product and service offerings.

• Improved relationships with trading partners – By entering into a formal system with the trading partners, good relations come about naturally–as a byproduct of the business activity.

• Improved customer service – The speed of electronic communications enables the firm to

respond quickly to customer orders and requests for service.

A Challenge to EDIAlthough EDI is currently stimulating much

interest in the global business community, it is being challenged by a new tool called extensible markup language (XML)*

It is an extension of the hypertext markup language that is code used in most current Web pages.

The feature of the great interest is that it can provide file formatting structure and a means for describing data in the file. This characteristic will allow Web pages to perform many of the functions currently performed only by EDI.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TECHNOLOGYData communications is the area of computing that is

currently receiving the most attention , with the internet in the spotlight.

TECHNOLOGY CHOICES

• Direct Connectivity- firms can establish data communication links with its trading partners using circuit provided by such common carriers as AT &

T,GTE,MCI ,and Sprint . This is the traditional way to build business

networks, and it provides the trading partners with the most direct control over the network .However ,the IOS sponsors must make substantial investment in

people ,hardware and software to create and maintain the network.

• Value Added Network- A value added network ( VAN ) is provided by a vendor who not only

furnishes the circuit but also provided many of the services that are necessary to use the circuit for

EDI.

• Internet- makes available a global communication network that not only links the trading partners but

also include consumers. Much of the boom in electronic commerce is expected to come from

firms that will promote –and in some cases deliver –their products via the internet.The Evolution of Internet Apranet

• The PURPOSE of ARPANET ,a product of the Advanced Research Projects Agency was to make it possible for military personnel and civilian researcher to exchange information

relating to military matters.

• It was the first network to demonstrate the feasibility of computer - to- computer

transmission of data in the form of packets.• Internet- name given to the world’s largest collection of computer networks ,each of which is

composed of a collection of smaller networks.

• When the person requests data from the internet ,the request travels from the computer to

computer through the network until it reaches the location where the data is stored . The

response follows the same computer to computer path back to the person who made the request

• During the 1970’s work on ARPANET consisted of connecting the various networks and developing

the necessary Internetwork Software.

• During the early 1980 ,the network became known as the internet ,and it was during this period that

business firms began using it from work station and local area network.

WORLD WIDE WEB

• In 1989.the idea was to use HYPERTEXT –document in an electronic from that are linked together in some

fashion.

• The idea became reality in mid – 1992 in the form of the World Wide Web and it has since far surpassed

original expectation. Rather than handling only textual material ,it is also possible to store and

retrieve HYPERMEDIA –multimedia consisting of text, graphics ,audio ,and video .

• The World Wide Web ,also called the WEB,WWW, and W3,is information space on the internet where hypermedia documents are stored and can be

retrieved by means of unique addressing scheme. 

Many people commonly use the terms Internet and World Wide Web interchangeably .This is not really a problem but we should remember that the internet

itself is the global communication network that connects millions of computer. The World Wide Web is the collection of computer acting as internet servers

that host document formatted to allow viewing of text ,graphic and audio.

World Wide Web TerminologyWeb Site- This refers to a computer linked to the

Internet containing hypermedia that can be accessed from any other computer in the network by means of

hypertext links.

Hypertext link– This refer to a pointer consisting of text or a graphic that is used to access hypertext

stored at any Web site.

Web Page- This refers to a hypermedia file stored at a Web site, which is identified by a unique address.

Home Page– This refers to the first page of a Web site. Other pages at the site can be reached from the

home page.

Protocol Hypertext markup language

http://www.prenhall.com/mcleod/index.htm

Domain name Path

Part of the URL

URL (UNIVERSAL RESOURCE ALLOCATOR) - This refers to the address of a Web page.• A protocol- is a set of standard that govern the

communication data. The protocol name is followed by a colon (:) and two slashes (//).

• The domain name- is the address of the Web site where the Web page is stored.The domain name resides on a computer but it does not have to be

the only domain name on that computer. The domain name may refer to a subdirectory or a directory several layers deep on the physical

machine hosting the Web site.• The path- can identify a certain

directory/subdirectory and file at the Web site. 

Browser- This refers to a software system that enables you to retrieve hypermedia by a typing in search

parameters or clicking on a graphic. Popular browsers include InfoSeek, WebCrawler, and Yahoo. A browser is

also called search engine.FTP (File Transfer Protocol)-This refers to software

that enables you to copy files onto your computer from any Web site.

Cyber Spaced and the Information SuperhighwayTwo other terms are also associated with the Internet and the Web. One is cyberspace and the other is the information superhighway. The term cyberspace was coined in 1984, when author William Gibson used it in his book Neuromancer. Today, cyberspace means the

world of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The term superhighway is also used in the same context, but

there is not complete agreement concerning its eventual impact on society.

Internet ModelBoth the Internet and the Web conform to a client/

server architecture. This is currently the most popular way to use an enterprise-wide network in business, and it involves the central computer performing the role of server and the users at their workstations representing

the clients. On the Internet, the Web sites are the servers and the users are the clients.

 • Gopher-Gopher was developed by the University of

Minnesota as a means of retrieving documents. Over time, it has been modified to its present form: a

menu-driven system used to retrieve files.• WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers)- is a

system used for locating and retrieving textual material.

• USENET- The Internet has made it possible for persons with similar interest, called newgroups, to exchange information electronically. USENET is the

name given to the sites that have agreed to participate in the transmission of the messages

among thousands of new groups.

Internet StandardsA major reason why the Internet and the Web

has been received with two open arms by computer users around the world is because the two work

together as a single system that can be used from any computer flat form.

Two organizations have assumed roles of leadership in establishing Internet and Web

standards. The Internet Society was formed in 1992 to promote commercial Internet use and has

delegated responsibility for Internet standards to the IETF ( Internet Engineering Task Force). Web standards come from the World Wide Web

Consortium (W3C).

INTERNET SECURITY

There are not many flaws in the Internet, but one that has the potential to can strain business use is the lack of security. Computer Resources are exposed to more risk when they are linked to a data communication network. When the network has the scale and number of users of the Internet, the risk is significant. Hackers and other computer criminals can enter a firm’s computer network through its Web site.

Internet Security can be achieved by means of the firewall, which is a filter that restricts the flow of the data between the firm’s internal network and the Internet. The idea behind the firewall is that it establishes one safeguard for all computers on the network rather than separate safeguards for each computer.

Firewall can provide varying degrees of security, depending on the type. There are three types of it these are :

PACKET-FILTERING FIREWALL. A tye of device that is normally included in a network is a router, which

directs the flow of traffic. Switches can also perform this function. A limitation of the router is that it is only

single point of security. If a computer criminal slips through the filter, the firm can be in for trouble. This

method is known as “IP spoofing” because the unauthorized person uses an Internet protocolof a trusted site to trick the router into believing the

message come from the trusted sites.

CIRCUIT-LEVEL FIREWALL. A set-up from the router is a computer, that is installed between the

Internet and the Internal Network.APPLICATION-LEVEL FIREWALL. The most

complete form of security is achieved by creating a securty zone between the Internet and the Internal

Network. 

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS OF THE INTERNET• The Internet can be used for any business

application that involves data communication, including both communication inside and with the environment.

• Many firms use the Internet for internal communications, an application called the Intranet• The Internet offers several advantages over the

types of networks that firms have used for years.

• The Internet can be used with any computer platform without making a special effort.

• The Internet makes it possible to transmit a wider variety of media than many firms handle over their conventional networks.

• The phenomenal growth of the number of Internet host sites has made the Internet a source of information that cannot be ignored.• The Internet Software Consortium (www.isc.org)

has charted the rise in domain names from a handful in the early 1990’s to more than 50 million today.

• The Internet offers a new way to reach a market segment that can be measured in millions.

Internet

Incoming packets from the Internet pass Through the connectivity suppliers network

to a router and to the organization. The packet goes to a router box that duplicates

the function of the external router.

Rather than routing the packet directly to its destination, the router redirects traffic through

an external services host an IP “choke” host. The external services host runs desired apps

such as an E-mail interface. The IP choke performs actual protocol filtering.

Traffic is sent through a gateway to a separate router box on the internal network, configured

according to internal security policy. Internal Network

Internet Connectivity Supplier’s Network

Router

Isolation Mechanism

Border Router

External Services

IP Choke Protocol Filter

Internal/External Service Gateway

Internal Router

Internet

Incoming packets from the Internet pass Through the connectivity suppliers network

to a router and to the organization. The packet goes to a router box that duplicates

the function of the external router.

Rather than routing the packet directly to its destination, the router redirects traffic through

an external services host an IP “choke” host. The external services host runs desired apps

such as an E-mail interface. The IP choke performs actual protocol filtering.

Traffic is sent through a gateway to a separate router box on the internal network, configured

according to internal security policy. Internal Network

Internet Connectivity Supplier’s Network

Router

Isolation Mechanism

Border Router

External Services

IP Choke Protocol Filter

Internal/External Service Gateway

Internal Router

Internet

Incoming packets from the Internet pass Through the connectivity suppliers network

to a router and to the organization. The packet goes to a router box that duplicates

the function of the external router.

Rather than routing the packet directly to its destination, the router redirects traffic through

an external services host an IP “choke” host. The external services host runs desired apps

such as an E-mail interface. The IP choke performs actual protocol filtering.

Traffic is sent through a gateway to a separate router box on the internal network, configured

according to internal security policy. Internal Network

Internet Connectivity Supplier’s Network

Router

Isolation Mechanism

Border Router

External Services

IP Choke Protocol Filter

Internal/External Service Gateway

Internal Router

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE• All firms can use the Internet the same way the

industrial marketers use it and thus learn about their competitors and they dont even have to know the competitors URLs.

The Internet also includes Web sites of several services that offer competitive information for a modest fee. GE Information Services (WWW.GEIS.COM) sells a sevice named BusinessPro that is aimed at small businesses. The InfoSage service from IBM (WWW.INFOSAGE.COM) is aimed at larger applications and one of its products, DECISIVE, is aimed at real-time data collection applications.

MARKETING RESEARCH

• The Golden Rule of marketing could well be: “Know your customer”

• A big segment of marketing is industrial marketing, in which one firm sells to another.

• Two web sites, PR Newswire (www.pnenewswire.com) and MSNBC (www.msnbc.com), maintain Web pages that contain press releases and news stories full of rich information on company activities.

RETAILING APPLICATIONS • The Internet business application with

which the general public is most familiar is retailing. Most of the large retail chains have already established an Internet presence. JC Penney opened its Web site in 1994, allowing customers to place orders for about 350 items. It planned to increase the number of items to 1,400 by the end of 1996. Wal-Mart opened its Web site in mid-1996 and intended to target its products to a more upscale audience than the customers who normally shop its stores.• Some retailers make their home pages accessible through the Internet. Some Virtual malls take a traditional mall view—collectiuons of different types of stores.

AAAMll.Net (WWW.AAAMALL.NET) and American Cyber Mall (WWW.USACM.COM) are two such collections of stores.

Cybershop (WWW.CYBERSHOP.COM) is another virtual mall whose stock is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under symbol CYSP.

• Some retailing operationsare changing in the face of Internet information.

Autobytel.com.Inc (www.autobyle.com) provides customers with car selection, financing, insurance, and other services.

Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) has grown from a seller books to a mutimedia cyber warehouse offering music, videos, and even toys and games.

• In a 1996 survey, the research firm Intelliquest found that 24 million Americans over the age of 16 accessed the Web at least one time between March and May. Although is a big group of potential customers, it represents only 12 percent of the population. This constraint on market reach should be eased considerably with the marketing of low-cost devices and TVs with an Internet capability.

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL INTERNET USE

Although Web activity is only a few years old, firms have identified keys that lead to successful use. The executives who make the strategic decisions in the firm should consider the following tips and assign responsibility for achieving these goals to the CIO and to information services.1. Make sure your Web site is robust. When

you commit to a Web project, be prepared to go beyond the Web pages and link your databases to the Internet into your computer – based information system rather than to simply use it as a way to provide and obtain information.

2..Make sure your browser and database structure are both flexible and intuitive. This will enable you to handle future growth and provide users with quick access.

3. Emphasize content. Don’t get so caught up in artwork, audio and video that you over-look the real objective of providing information. When it comes to a robust content, it is hard to beat a narrative and tabular display.

4. Update often. Entice business partners and browsers to keep coming back. A daily update is not too often for many firms.

5. Look beyond customers. Use the Internet to improve communications with all of the environmental elements – except competitors of course.6. Target content to specific users’ needs. Require viewers to register on your site by providing names, addresses, and interest. With this understanding you can tailor your pages to their needs

7. Make the interface intuitive. Do everything you can make the Web site as fast and efficient as possible. Use graphics sparingly, since they slow down retrieval.

8. Be in the right Web location. If your Web site isn’t generating as much traffic as you would like, consider linking is to such other sites as trade associations and industry and professional organizations.9. Create a sense of community. Involve users in

your site by providing an opportunity for them to input suggestions, complaints, and so on. Make the use of such other interactive Web features as bulletin board systems and e – mail.

10. Get help if you need it. Web work is highly specialized. Rather than develop an internal expertise yourself. It might be better to outsource Web development and maintenance to professionals.

FUTURE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON BUSINESS

The internet is seen as the beginning of a National Information Infrastructure, or NII. Each country would have an NII, and each would be linked in some manner that is yet to be defined.

Assuming that the NII becomes a reality, it will affect commerce in the different countries in varying ways. In such highly industrialized countries as Canada, Japan, Korea, Germany, and the U.S., which make quick use of innovations in technology, the effect can be swift and dramatic.

Within a single country, the effect can vary from one industry to another.

For many retailers, developing an Internet presence might be a life – saving strategy.

Reported by:

Aboc, Christian Joy A.Arizala, Rose Ayen, Ella Mae D.

Bagon, Karyn Joy G.Doronilla, PatriciaEscobido, Cecille

Marilag, Ana Jane A.Profeta, Beverly B.

Salac, Ma. ConsolacionSiva, Veronica