B2b, old economy businesses and the role of quality: part 2 – the more complex possibilities

This paper explores the impact of the Internet on the business transactions of organisations. Three main impacts – globalisation, customisation, and customer demand solutions – are examined. It is argued that the medium and large old economy companies will be most affected by transactions within the new economy, and this leads to both problems and possibilities. The paper has identified three major ways in which these old economy companies are attempting to integrate the new economy as a development of their current business – treating the Net as an extension of their normal service, using the Net to expand and improve their current co‐makership relationship with suppliers, and a step‐back‐and‐reflect approach to assess how the Internet might affect their business.