E-business: Boom or gloom?

This essay offers some propositions and predictions about the future conduct and effectiveness of e-business. It is argued that successful e-business activity will require the effective management of certain core 'building blocks'. These are concerned with new technology, supply chain relationships, business processes and empowered employees. It is argued that the UK's track record is poor in these areas, in large part due to many organizations lacking a systemic understanding of these issues and the relationships between them. It is predicted that such systemic understanding will get harder for organizations (as systems get more complex and tightly coupled) and that the majority of e-business ventures, in the short to medium term, will fail to meet their objectives.