Introduction

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Inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) are essential to the growth of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce). According to Forrester Research, this market segment is expected to reach $2.7 trillion in sales by the end of 2004 (Kafka, 2000). Web-based IOISs facilitate the processing of B2B e-commerce transactions and enhance the seamless communication of information between businesses. Despite the importance of Web-based IOISs, such as extranets, the majority of IOIS research has focused on older systems, such as electronic data interchange (EDI). Additional research regarding e- commerce has focused on business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. To under- stand the purpose of IOISs and their organizational uses, and to fill in the gaps not yet investigated by researchers, this chapter provides a typology of IOIS. This typology highlights the differences and similarities not only among the many configurations of IOISs available today but also contrasts this with internal Web sites (intranets) and public (external) Internet Web sites. This approach offers new insights for practitioners and researchers.

The chapter is organized as follows. First, the background of an IOIS is presented. Next, the typology of IOISs is introduced. Two general areas where these systems differ, the structures of the relationships, and the types and formats of the information exchanged, are identified and discussed in separate sections, respectively. Each system has features that help to distinguish it, and these differences will be highlighted. Two tables (1 and 2) are provided to aid understanding and offer a broad landscape for the rest of the book. Next, the benefits and risks of an IOIS are discussed. Later, previous research on EDI and Web-based systems is introduced to identify exciting new areas for investigation. Finally, the authors identify future trends for IOISs, and the implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

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