E-commerce and business models - (Business design capability becomes much more critical)

The development of IT will lead to the integration of computers and networks, and IT will become more function oriented service and result in an indispensable part of the social infrastructure. This means that the critical point will shift from prioritizing "ownership of IS (Information Systems) before anything else" to "how IT will be utilized." By reaching this technology level, Western origin non-discretion oriented management concept where IT is used as an enabler and IT-based business tools can be flexible enough to accommodate highly discretion oriented practices in Japanese organizations. In other words, IT can finally be utilized in a Japanese way. Taking account of the technological development trend, there is a need to take a macro look at the meaning of the concept of business models, something that has become viewed in the "micro" as patent-related issues. Under such trends, the greater freedom in business design the multipurpose use of IT functions is providing, the more critical a capability in the design of an elaborate business model is becoming.