Insight: New millennium enterprise. (CIM news).(electronic commerce)

Many businesses and corporations started the countdown to Y2K with the implementation of early and substantive measures designed to manage this compelling issue. Others are not so fortunate and, as a result, the aftermath may well spell misfortune for some. Whereas in Canada this business issue has been given good visibility and early attention by professionals, this approach has not been adopted universally. Therein lies cause for concern as business propels into a millennium full of promise for unparalleled growth. What will be the spillover effect from inattention or lack of resources to dedicate to this issue and, perhaps more importantly, what will be the extent of collateral damage from Y2K reality and fiction? No one really knows, but one thing for certain is that uncertainty will prevail leaving some skeptical about hardware and software. This suspicion will no doubt translate into a community of undetermined size somewhat reluctant to move hastily into internet-based enterprises. There is, however, s ome good news in all of this. Namely, because we managed to create this problem, I have no doubt whatsoever that we are equally capable of generating innovative solutions to move forward. Much will be learned about risk management.

In moving to a new millennium we have an opportunity to reflect on past accomplishments and technology trends. In my professional career, spanning four decades, I have witnessed a discernable trend. In the 60's we gathered data employing analog technology; in the 70's digital technology began to take root with the advent of collecting, storing, and disseminating vast quantities of mainframe computer information; in the 80's the stress seemed to be on the improved management and increased speed of dissemination for this same digital information; in the 90's the internet has led to multi-path communication of information and a determination to manage knowledge now stored on CD-ROM's, or available online via home computers, information centres, and libraries. The next step is clear insofar as the new millennium will offer increased opportunity in the areas of knowledge management, artificial intelligence (AI), organizational learning, strategic alliances, and electronic-commerce (e-commerce) in the context of t he internet, intranet, and extranet environments.

I relate these thoughts simply because technology, in large measure, has defined our thinking. The point to remember, however, is that technology is a tool and it is we who decide how, when, where and under what circumstances to employ it. In this sense the internet will have the same significance to the new millennium as the tractor to the agricultural age. We are on the brink of witnessing a rapid and dramatic sea change in our traditional paradigm for business. Unlike the evolutionary steps of the past, this change will be unquestionably revolutionary. The internet is the current vehicle, which permits high-speed navigation through a networked highway for nonstop electronic commerce in an environment which transcends time zones and geographic boundaries. Refinements in speed, security, server technology and the introduction of sensible regulations will no doubt make this the vehicle of preference for emerging new millennium enterprises. The forthcoming millennium is thus the era of the net generation ente rprise and the longer we fail to acknowledge this model, the greater the peril in putting our traditional business models at risk.

The turning point for recognition of the value-added in pursuing online commerce will unmistakably occur when there is a general awareness that this vehicle is customer-centered. The customer actively chooses to visit a site, selects a service or product to his liking, places an order, or executes an online transaction. The interesting aspects of doing business online is that the web site can easily accommodate additional growth and can be readily modified to adjust to trends and client tastes. The new environment really reflects the benefit of time compression and offers small business enormous leverage. Nowhere else is growth revenue being generated at such an unheralded rate. As the number of internet users increases, so too does the number of customers comfortable with online net transactions. For industrialized countries having a relatively small population yet capable of producing superior quality products and services like Canada, this environment affords one the opportunity to go global instantly and to compete with the giants.

What will this mean to business? In Canada, e-commerce is anticipated to grow from $1B to $14.5 B between now and 2002 (International Data Corp. -- Canada). Worldwide, this new business model forecasts an increase in sales and transactions from $32 billion to $425 B US dollars by 2002 (International Data Corp. -- USA). Aside from revolutionizing the concept of revenue and how it is generated, e-commerce will cause us to collectively rethink advertising, marketing, security, privacy, operational and legal issues. Equally, I believe the way in which business considers value and calculates capital will also come under review, as well as our concept of currency.

My current position is that of President for a publicly-traded company -- Tropika International Limited (TPIL). Tropika is an e-commerce company, which has spent the greater part of 1998 and 1999 acquiring experience in business operations and online transactions on the internet. It has focused on managing velocity. Its strategy is simple -- growth through knowledge. The company is truly virtual in the sense that there are only four members of the management team and they each pull weight in conducting transglobal operations. Tropika has managed to structure a new millennium enterprise wherein business strategy is originated in one country, products are designed and services executed from another, transactional processing occurs in a third, banking is done in a fourth, and securities trading in a fifth. The whole of this is done on the internet. Tropika undertakes to provide management expertise, customer and technical support, credit card processing, banking as an integral part of its service offerings.

Having successfully established fundamentals and garnered the trust of shareholders and customers alike, Tropika intends to move into online brokerage, banking, and trust services in the last three months of this year. The company aspires to facilitate innovative e-commerce services with the objective of providing strategic business-to-business solutions for new generation enterprises. Beyond this, the company has developed a revolutionary proprietary internet search engine technology through one of its subsidiaries and is poised to launch this package early in the new year.

Ken Nason is a member of the Toronto Branch of CIM.

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