Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities

Lynda M. Applegate; Janis Lee Gogan

Background Note | HBS Case Collection | July 1995 (Revised October 1995)

Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities

by Lynda M. Applegate and Janis Lee Gogan

Abstract

In a 1966 Harvard Business Review article, Felix Kaufman implored general managers to think beyond their own organizational boundaries to the possibilities of interorganizational systems (IOS)--networked computers that enable companies to share information and information processing across organizational boundaries. His was a visionary argument that was already becoming a reality; from entrepreneurial actions at American Hospital Supply Corp. and American Airlines grew two legendary strategic IT applications that changed the face of their respective industries. In doing so, they helped change the role of IT so that it became a tool to support commerce--the organizational strategies, structures, and systems through which an organization conducts business with buyers, sellers, and other industry participants. Today, many of the most dramatic and potentially powerful uses of IT involve networks that transcend company boundaries. These IOS enable firms to incorporate buyers, suppliers, and partners in the redesign of their key business processes, thereby enhancing productivity, quality, speed, and flexibility.

Keywords: Online Technology; Trends; Opportunities;

Format: Print

16 pages

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Applegate, Lynda M., and Janis Lee Gogan. "Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities." Harvard Business School Background Note 196-006, July 1995. (Revised October 1995.)

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Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities

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