Internet‐based e‐commerce and its impact on manufacturing and business operations

The current dynamic and turbulent business environment has forced companies that are competing in global markets to change their traditional methods of conducting business. Recent developments in Internet‐based e‐commerce offer the most exciting business opportunities in the marketplace. Organisations must re‐evaluate every aspect of their manufacturing strategy and quickly move to a working mode where the Internet‐based e‐commerce is essential for their success. As the Internet develops it is possible that e‐mail and applications‐based technologies will take over from traditional telephony as the common method of communications. Furthermore, the Internet provides an unprecedented infrastructure for moving information. The real key to making e‐commerce over the Internet a normal, everyday business activity is the convergence of the telecommunications, content/media and software industries. The business‐to‐business and business‐to‐customer segments of commerce contain both common and differing characteristics that must be understood to succeed in implementing an Internet‐based e‐commerce strategy. This study examines the benefits and drawbacks of Internet‐based e‐commerce and its possible applications for future business operations.