Preface: Internet-Based Management Information Systems

Recent decades have witnessed a paradigm shift in management information systems research from a technology orientation to a combined focus on technology and management. This shift stems from advances in information technology coupled with information technology fusion that brings information technology and businesses together. Information technology fusion is characterized by technology transparency in that information technology is no longer seen as an addition to a product or service but an inherent element of the product or service, so it is transparent to the users. Information technology fusion is also characterized by technology pervasiveness in that information technology now deeply penetrates many businesses who now rely on information technology for survival.