What Is E-Business: How the Internet Transforms Organizations

Abstract

What is E-Business: How the Internet Transforms Feng Li Blackwell Publishing (2007) 244 pages, Softcover, $39.95 Reviewed by: Raimi Abiodun University of Phoenix The book ''What is E-Business, How the Internet Transforms Organizations by Feng Li, presents basic tenets of information technology and the impact the technology paradigm shift has had on organizational performance and development. The author's goal was to introduce organizational leaders to the radical changes that are happening in the business environment. This book combined the terrific power of information technology, the Internet surge, and the changing nature of the economy to explain the differences between the old rules of the industrial economy and the emerging new rules of the e-economy. These new rules are making information more accessible, cheaper than ever before, and have called on each individual and organization to regulate behaviors and change the way they trade, think, and compete with each other. According to Li, the modus operandi in organizations is changing; organizations all around the globe are exploring opportunities and challenges brought about by the Internet and related technologies. Li further explained that the success of any organization in the 21st century will depend on how the organization is exploring and implementing new ways of conducting business through well-developed information technologies and exploitation of the new capabilities available through Internet technology. The new rules, according to Li, call on organizations to develop a community network that is customer-oriented. The new business environment demands that organizations be adaptable to new rules and structures. For an organization to succeed and fit with the new environment, it has to adjust, adapt, and evolve with the new rules. A negative reaction to market forces may lead the organization to extinction from the market. To survive, organizations must develop new strategies, new business models, and new organizational designs, and be able to manage those disruptive innovations effectively. Feng Li defined e-business as a broader concept that is concerned with using the Internet and related technologies to integrate and redesign an organization's internal activities, processes and external relations, and create new ways of working that are significantly different from, and very often far superior to, what was possible in the past (p. 1 ). According to Li, there are two fundamental changes that are new in the new business environment. First, the nature of the economy has changed because of the informational elements of the by-products, the services, and the production processes. second is the multiplication of knowledge workers. These knowledge workers have become the most important resource upon which the efficiency and competitiveness of the organization depend. The new business environment is seen as being different from the old industrial economy. In the industrial economy, according to Li, interaction and collaboration costs are high, while in the new economy of e-business, the rapid development of the Internet and related technologies have contributed to a significant reduction in the cost of interaction and collaboration, with profound implications on the organizational structure and its boundaries. The new economy has also contributed to the virtual channels that are being used to secure, promote, sell, deliver, and support goods and services in the new markets. This alone makes penetration into the new markets less difficult for business managers and entrepreneurs. Penetration into new markets was difficult and often a waste of time to buy or sell during the industrial economy. The information during this era was often difficult to get: it was expensive, and little information on consumer products was made available to consumers. …

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