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Executives remain hopeful, despite recent turmoil in the e-commerce business environment, that the internet will fulfil their expectations and become a source of competitive advantage. The authors of this article provide a historical review of the first decade of e-commerce and its business models. The authors provide a historical foundation so that future research will not duplicate what has already been done by documenting the evolution of e-commerce models developed by researchers during the initial decade of e-commerce. In addition, strategic challenges facing executives who seek to use the internet as part of their global business strategy are offered.

The global digital divide as a concept is intuitively understood by most academicians, politicians and public policy makers. However, to date little empirical work exists to explain differences in per country access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The research that does exists places heavy influence on the impact of country wealth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, on the diffusion of ICTs. While GDP per capita certainly influences the diffusion of ICTs within a country, it is not the sole determinant of a country's location versus other countries vis-a-vis the global digital divide.To investigate and map the global digital divide, as it currently exists, the authors utilize modelbased cluster analysis to determine cohorts of countries based on three variables: personal computers The results indicate that the global digital divide consists of four tiers. And although all of the developed countries are included in the first tier, some surprising results are obtained. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are provided.

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