ABSTRACT
Internet research has clarified and systematized what are the main motivations driving companies to the adoption of the Internet in customer-supplier relationships; such motivations are different, but not mutually exclusive. A great attention has been paid to the potentialities related to the Internet adoption within business processes. Along the entire research process, the unit of analysis has been the customer-supplier relationship. The Internet changes the nature of traditional relationships and leads to new possible configurations. Those changes are allowed by the technology, but its introduction will not be worthwhile if it is not supported by an integrated analysis within the company and beyond it, upstream and downstream in the supply chain. The exploratory stage aims at identifying main variables explaining and influencing the Internet adoption in procurement relationships. The most important result is related to the influence of the Internet adoption in customer-supplier relationships. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
