| B2B systems have been
considerably misunderstood. B2B is not a new phenomenon.
It has been around for several years, and has largely
evolved from electronic data interchange and grown from
there. Here's how it works. Typically, e-business
activities are conducted with other companies and partners
through supply chains or distribution networks. These
networks provide the materials, services, components, and
products that make up the industry. Each of these has
their network, capabilities, business rules, and
competitive elements. For many
years, outsourcing and manufacturing components in these
chains resided in the most competitive locations. Each
element in the supply chain both provides a link and
establishes a firm's position in the chain. These chains
have been mainly self-monitoring and policing, with few
rules and international trade agreements keeping them in
place.
Market conditions, supply and demand,
competitiveness, and distributed locations have all
influenced where in the world part or all of the business
functions resided. As these chains and networks become
more sophisticated, the impact of globalization and the
Internet has extended the reach of our options and how
quickly we can change them.
In the case of B2B, organizations have
been trading for many years using their existing
environments, markets and supply chains, with little
impact in the electronic world. The exception to this has
been the world financial community, and a very small
sector of B2B commerce that has been connected by EDI. As
mentioned earlier, EDI and the supported dedicated
networks were early stage e-commerce or e-business
activities. They set the scene for the new markets and
e-business developments.
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