The information environment of electronic commerce: information imperatives for the firms

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is an activity which takes place in a soci al context called the 'digital information environment'. The advantage of u sing this concept is its emphasis on the information-intensive character of business conducted on the Web. After a brief discussion of a definition an d the current state of e-commerce, the digital information environment of e -commerce is introduced and two of its constitutive elements, rules and res ources, are discussed. Attention then shifts to a subset of rules, called ' information imperatives', that are critical for e-commerce. The paper concl udes with a discussion of the organizational changes that can be expected t o accompany the incorporation of these imperatives into the mission and cor e business processes of e-commerce firms.