Catching the customers on the Web

For all that has been written about the Internet, most managers remain confused regarding its likely strategic impact on their businesses. Our aim, in this article, is not to try to predict the likely technological evolution of the Internet but rather to provide managers with a generic framework (the ICDT model) for understanding the opportunities and threats generated by the Internet and for developing a strategy to leverage these. The Internet, as this article will make clear, is of particular relevance to small companies and emerging businesses; entrepreneurs cannot afford to ignore it.