The structural and performance effects of internetworking: Why IT still matters, and probably more than you think!

(The Internet enabling of business operations is affecting the scope, structure, and performance of firms, and this article shows that deeply internetworked firms are more focused, less hierarchical, and form external partnerships more readily. They are also more operationally efficient. However, though clear operational benefits associate with Internet enabling, little IT derived competitive advantage is noted. By differentiating operational from strategic internetworking we explain why this should be so. However, this lack of any notable competitive advantage does not mean Internet enabling is any less important, nor that IT no longer matters. Internetworking’s operational effects are so profound in their own right that they warrant attention regardless of the presence (or otherwise) of any strategic effects. New forms of organization and better methods of operational integration and control are emerging, and these structural and performance effects are seen because internetworking is being widely dispersed and effectively commoditized. Despite its utility - like status IT still matters, now more than ever).