Oligopolies of transformed and rejuvenated giants come to dominate
as the initial Internet expansion slows
Structure of Commerce
Growth in the new economy slowed as shares of market for Internet-based
services and products hit ceilings
Many instances of over capacity as too many players vied
for the same opportunity
As Internet-related growth slowed, a natural period of consolidation
ensued in most markets
Many incumbents saw acquisition and consolidation as
the only way to reduce destructive competition
Oligopolies have become the norm in relatively mature
markets
Mergers between old and new economy firms have been common;
"click and mortar" integration of virtual and physical
commerce is critical to success in almost any market
High volumes of products or services are required in a world
where margins have shrunk through increased competition
Being able to effectively manage a large-scale operation
on a multinational basis is a key competency
The giants learn to co-exist with smaller new entrants and
leverage their strengths
Business Architecture
Large companies have also succeeded at transforming into efficient,
flexible e-businesses
They have made radical changes to their processes, systems,
and organizational structures
Federated models are dominant
They have replaced top-down command and control structures
with internal markets that can respond to new challenges
quickly
Internal markets reward achievers and defuse traditional
power politics
Managers see the organization in terms of complex adaptive
systems that are influenced not controlled
The architecture inside corporations is largely the same
as the architecture outside: federations, ecosystems, and markets
The same standards and interfaces are used so that internal
and external activities can be easily combined
Scalable process management is a critical competency
Enablers
Competition authorities remain generally favorable to large
mergers and acquisitions
Process automation software is widely adopted and successful
Technology for integrating systems of acquired companies
is effective
Very large-scale computing and communications utilities handle
most IT needs now with very high levels of reliability and extremely
low unit costs
Platform technologies for e-business have matured making
it easier to find people to support them