Are the Internet and e-commerce truly revolutionising business practice? This book explodes the transformation myth by demonstrating that the Internet and e-commerce are in fact being adapted by firms to reinforce their existing relationships with customers, suppliers and business partners. Detailed case studies of eight countries show that, rather than creating a borderless global economy, e-commerce strongly reflects existing local patterns of commerce, business and consumer preference and its impact therefore varies greatly by country. Paradoxically, while e-commerce is increasing the efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness of firms, it is also increasing the complexity of their environments as they have to deal with more business partners and also face greater competition from other firms. This incisive analysis of the diffusion and impact of e-business provides academic researchers, graduate and MBA students with a solid basis for understanding its likely future evolution.

互联网和电子商务真的彻底改变了商业实践吗？这本书通过证明互联网和电子商务事实上正在被公司调整，以加强他们与客户、供应商和商业伙伴的现有关系，从而打破了转型神话。对8个国家的详细案例研究表明，电子商务并没有创造一个无国界的全球经济，而是强烈地反映了当地现有的商业、商业和消费者偏好模式，因此其影响因国家而异。自相矛盾的是，电子商务在提高企业的效率、效益和竞争力的同时，也增加了企业环境的复杂性，因为它们必须与更多的商业伙伴打交道，还面临着来自其他企业的更大竞争。这种对电子商务的传播和影响的精辟分析为学术研究人员、研究生和MBA学生了解其未来可能的演变提供了坚实的基础。