Abstract:

The development of international trade as we have come to know it today has been the climax of many centuries of change. It first evolved slowly, from the early bartering and transfer of flints and metals between local communities. Over time, the geography gradually widened and from the Roman Empire to the seventeenth century an international coinage system was developed. The Commercial Revolution of the seventeenth century led a transformation to the sophisticated world trade networks that we know today, with the global economy dominated by multi-national corporations and the world of stocks and shares. I argue that we are now seeing the first signs of a new revolution in world trade which will not only change the way in which we trade, but will fundamentally alter the way in which we communicate with each other outside of the work environment. This is the TRUE impact: of the e-business revolution.