Having dramatically altered the nature of work and organizations over the past few decades, computer-based technology is poised to revolutionize the fundamental nature of business itself. Recent advances in computer and communication technologies are fueling the rapid rise of a global electronic marketplace. Although still in its formative stages and still posing a host of interesting challenges and opportunities for researchers, systems developers, and participants, electronic commerce will in short order replace many of the traditional ways of conducting business and may well foster fundamentally different kinds of business relationships. Alan Reynolds, an economist with H.C. Wainwright & Co., has estimated that half the products in the private sector could eventually be sold in the electronic marketplace ("The IRS vs. Cyberspace," Investor's Business Daily, Dec. 8, 1995, p. Bl). Indeed, a vast array of goods and services is susceptible to online buying and selling and many are amenable to electronic distribution as well. Electronic commerce involves more than just buying and selling. It encompasses all sorts of presale and postsale efforts, as well as a host of ancillary activities. These include new approaches to market research, generation of qualified sales leads, advertising, product purchasing and distribution, customer support, recruiting, public relations, business operations, production management, knowledge distribution, and financial transactions. These activities affect strategic planning, entrepreneurial opportunities, organizational design and performance, business law, and taxation policies.