Impact of the Internet on the Business Environment

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Definition of the Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite to communicate between devices and networks. Therefore, it is a network of networks that includes government, business, academic, public, and private networks. This technology comprises optical networking, wireless and electronic technologies.

The Internet facilitates the comprehensive delivery of services and information resources using applications in the World Wide Web, file sharing, telephony, and electronic mail, and the hyperlinking of documents. The Internet does not have centralized control as the owners of the various resources online like applications and websites formulate the usage and access and technological implementation (Jelassi & Martínez-López, 2020).

Decentralization of Information

This has facilitated the decentralization of information resources that had been left in the control of new universities and libraries in the past. Therefore, the Internet is one of the most impactful developments in human history, a period known as the Internet Revolution, like other revolutions like the Scientific, Technical, Industrial, and Agricultural Revolutions.

Impact of the Internet on the Business World

Therefore the Internet has had a significant impact on the business world, acting as a catalyst for business development and commercial activities in general. The Internet is full of resources, efficient and ultimately fast, which has significantly disrupted the business environment. This paper shall focus on the impact of the Internet and auxiliary digital technologies on the business environment.

Internet is the Communication Infrastructure

A critical aspect of the Internet is the communication infrastructure involving the software and hardware in layers. The physical garget involved modems, repeaters, media, and routers that facilitate the connection between the information provider, for example, the person running a website and the end-user. This internetworking takes place with the use of heterogeneous devices that have been having been designated with Internet Protocol addresses for the routers.

Therefore, the Internet is accessible with the use telephone circuits in computer modems, copper wires, Wi-Fi, satellite, coaxial cable, and cellular telephone technology. Modern smartphones have facilitated access to the Internet in a more personal manner with the use of web browsers and mobile applications. Mobile phones have significantly simplified the entrance of the Internet. The critical devices essential in this case include routers and computers.

Definition of the World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a global collection of resources, including applications, images, multi-media, and documents. Access to such resources involves Uniform Resources Identifiers (URIs) interconnected with hyperlinks. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) facilitates access to the World Wide Web (WWW). This access is facilitated by WWW browser software that includes Google Chrome, Safari, Apple, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

This technology has enabled access to the Internet, which has grown significantly, observable in the period between 2000 and 2009 from three hundred million two billion people. By 2010 there were over one billion Google searches performed by about three hundred million internet users across the globe. Half the global population had access to the Internet by the End of 2018. English is the most prevalent language on the Internet, with over twenty-seven per cent of the users using the English language, twenty-five percent Mandarin, and eight percent Spanish Language.

Men include a more significant proportion of the internet users that women in addition to the fact that they spend more time using it in the various aspects of their lives. The Internet has made users’ lives more flexible by reducing the need for physical movements and transactions. This is because of the Internet in mobile Internet devices.

The access to information has made education more accessible and decentralized from the institutions such as Universities. The Internet makes informal and formal education. The Internet has reduced the cost of access to information and services by connecting people virtually. The accessibility of the Internet presents a security challenge due to the threat of various activities such as hacking.

Definition of the Social Networking

Social networking is a critical aspect of the Internet, with people constantly sending messages with images, audio, video, and text form facilitating interaction and socialization. This includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Club House. Social Media sites like Twitter act like the “Town Square”, where people meet to decide how to conduct their lives’ social, economic, and political aspects (Cong et al., 2021). People online often critique how institutions and other individuals conduct their offline life.

e-Business Impact of the Internet on the Business

The Internet has had a significant impact on the business known as e-business from the electronic work business that encompasses the value chain, including business relationship, customer service, sales, marketing, supply chain managers, and purchasing. The nature of the Internet has affected the Internet by decentralizing the control for businesses worldwide. This has led to social transformation with the Internet and the consolidation of Internet business. Telecommuting is the performance of the employers and traditional workers through technologies like videoconferencing, conference calls, virtual private networks, and groupware.

The Internet has created business opportunities for existing business enterprises and start-ups. The fact that this is revolution all technology, people who have invested in this companies are generating supernormal profits. The businesses that have adopted the Internet swiftly can create more profit because they become more competitive. Additionally, the online presence of already existing businesses had increased visibility and the overall transparency of the company.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has made it challenging to conduct many essential businesses without using the Internet. The Internet has become central in banking, insurance, communication, and various activities. The Internet has created a connection between the consumer and the producer, removing the middleman’s position. The Internet is critical in both business-to-business transactions and business-to-consumer transactions. This makes the transactions involved in this case more efficient. In this case, the kind of marketing involved is known as digital marketing that requires internet browsers, applications, and social media.

Impact of the Internet in Marketing Opportunities

The Internet has created marketing opportunities with digital marketing and e-commerce. It involves using search engines, email, websites, and media. Many businesses have been able to grow due to the Internet with the use of online marketing. By making the businesses sector more decentralized, the Internet has facilitated the rapid growth of small businesses. This is an acritical aspect of various new companies’ branding that does not rely on the physical presence (Lai et al., 2018).

Online business opportunities have risen, providing the commodities in a more continent manner. Through creating new job opportunities, the Internet has facilitated increased employment opportunities across the economy. Existing businesses use the Internet to share the products they sell to potential customers, the description, prices, and store location. This has had a significant impact on the competition in businesses. The Internet has facilitated remote staff whereby people can work from home of any location of their choice instead of reporting to the offices frequently and regularly.

This is ubiquitous in the IT sector, with jobs like content creation, digital marketing, and software development being done remotely. Nowadays, pretty much every business goes through the information. Organizations need to make due/secure workers information, showcasing information and client information day by day. It was a significant work previously. However, because of cloud-based applications and distributed storage, the data is consequently saved. Furthermore, don’t’ require additional hours to oversee it. This is because every one of the applications that representatives are utilizing is cloud-situated, in which stockpiling and availability are simple.

Impact of the Internet in Business Automation

Business automation has taken place due to the use of the Internet. This is due to hardware, software, website, apps. This has led to reducing the processes involved in making a transaction. The buyer uses an app that has their details and can purchase an item with only one click, like the case of Amazon.com.

Artificial intelligence has played a critical role in business automation, for example, the use technology like Google Assistant App in making orders online (Leminen et al., 2020). This has increased the efficiency of the business, making it possible to deliver commodities continuously and at a lower price. The workforce has been severely affected by the Internet with businesses’ automation, leading to the loss of job opportunities.

The business development opportunities make it possible for the efficient delivery of activities. This is has affected small businesses entrepreneurs and companies. This involves the use of data and analytic in the delivery of businesses and companies. The Internet has facilitated the fast growth of various companies at the global level. This is by reducing the need for the multiple departments that require a workforce. The creation of efficiency is likely to affect the short runs negatively and have positive effects.

Impact of the Internet on Competitive Advantage

The Internet has created a competitive advantage in the creation of high competition. This involves online accounting, e-Commerce, automation tools, cloud computing and digital marketing (Nayyar et al., 2020). It involves the use of management distribution, production, and research. This involves the creation of a technology facilitating ninety per cent of the citizens.

Additionally, it has granted the businesses a significant power that they exploited to make it more effective in delivering commodities at large. The Internet has created an opportunity for further innovation, which involves the creation of employment, innovation, and businesses in general. This involves the formation of innovation involving the creation by making collaboration between people with disrupting ideas interact effectively.

References

Cong, L. W., Li, B., & Zhang, Q. T. (2021). Internet of Things: Business Economics and Applications. Review of Business, 41(1), 15-29.

Jelassi, T., & Martínez-López, F. J. (2020). External Analysis: The Impact of the Internet on the Macro-environment and on the Industry Structure of e-Business Companies. In Strategies for e-Business (pp. 49-95). Springer, Cham.

Lai, C. T. A., Jackson, P., & Jiang, W. (2018). Internet of things business models in ecosystem context-cases of elevator services. International Journal of Computer and Software Engineering, 3(2), 1-12.

Leminen, S., Rajahonka, M., Wendelin, R., & Westerlund, M. (2020). Industrial Internet of things business models in the machine-to-machine context. Industrial Marketing Management, 84, 298-311.

Nayyar, A., Rameshwar, R. U. D. R. A., & Solanki, A. (2020). Internet of Things (IoT) and the digital business environment: a standpoint inclusive cyber space, cyber crimes, and cybersecurity. The Evolution of Business in the Cyber Age, 10, 9780429276484-6.