Resumen
Despite the recent sharp downturn in the various technology markets, disappearance of so many promising dot-com startup companies, loss of investor confidence in technology manufacturers and distributors and consolidation and layoffs throughout the computer industry information technology (IT) remains an important force changing the nature of organizations. IT, especially in the form of communication networks, is having a profound effect on how organizations structure themselves, assign their employees and partner and compete with one another, as well as on the global economy. IT facilitates the design of new types of organizations, institutions and partnering arrangements. Their implementation has second-order effects on demand for physical space for manufacturing, retailing, and offices in the U.S. Most exciting about information technologies second and third order effects is they represent a vast store of new options for business managers. Along with consumers and policy-makers, they now have alternatives that did not exist before the development of IT design variables.