What is Socio-Technical System

Probably the most important aspect of e-Business and e-Commerce is that it mediates the interaction between various stakeholders in a business setting. New organizational forms such as virtual organizations emerged in which independent companies form a strategic alliance for a close collaboration towards a shared goal (e.g., shared product development). New forms of B2C (business-to-customer) interaction argue for the importance of hearing the customer’s voice e.g., by providing means for customization (Piller, 2006) or by collecting the customers’ feedback (Levine, Locke, Searls, & Weinberger, 2000). And in some cases, C2C (customer-to-customer) interaction has become an integrated part of the business (in settings where customers also act as providers of goods or services). Closely related to these trends is the emergence of the Web 2.0 as “a set of economic, social, and technology trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the Internet – a more mature, distinctive medium characterized by user participation, openness, and network effects.” (Musser, O’Reilly et al., 2006, p. 4). Again, collaboration and user participation is one of the most important terms in this definition and it is what makes Web 2.0 different from traditional web sites that have mainly focused on content delivery rather than interaction and collaboration among users of content. Considered from an e-business perspective, there are important analogies, especially the shift from mass delivery to customized goods and services that are co-created by traditional sellers and customers.