Impact I: Organization and Transaction Costs: Change in Intra- and Interorganizational Transactions leading to a "reduction in paperwork", thereby to a change in the justification of organizational boundaries: Impact on hierachies and bureaucracies, communities, democratic organizations (incl. parties and party organizations)
(a) changes in given organizational structures and institutions
(b) changes in these structures

Questions: How is the increase in transaction efficiency actually achieved? [Organization of transactions]

• Which levels in the bureaucratic hierachy are particularly affected?
• Which vertical communications are eliminated, electronically substituted or shifting to horizontal forms of commuinication and collaboration
• Does electronic communication lead to the strengthening of informal organizations? (previously prevented by (spatial etc.) communications bariiers?)
• Does the centralization/decentralization dichotomy cover the issue? Or do we need other variables, dimensions, conceptual distinctions to deal with our geographic interests in organizational change?

Impact II: Daily Spatial Logistics [Consumer Orientation & Organization of daily interactions]

• Telecommunication vs. Transportation (shipping bits or atoms?)
• Different Patterns of Telecommuting:
• Telework, Telemedicine, Tele-Libraries,
• Tele-Shopping, Distance-Learning, Tele-Conferencing, Tele-???
• Work- and Study Centers

Impact III: Industrial Restructuring in the Tele-Communications Industry: The Rise of New Industries, The Functional Changes of Others.. [Changes in the corporate and spatial / infrastructural organization of information provision]

• Local Internet providers versus proprietary networks (AOL, CompuServe etc.)
• Commercial Home Page Design Activities
• Cable TV, Telephone, Cellular, (future) Teledesic Services
• Concentration & Restructuring in the Software Industry
• Entertainment Industry ; Financial Services

Impact IV: The Internet and Marketing: Business Geographics. Changes in the presentation of information for marketing. Web advertising; Data transmission and presentation; Government data (Census etc.) and the Internet [Organization of the packing and delivery of information for marketing purposes]

Impact V: Changes in Labor Markets and the Nature of Jobs; Changes in Career and Employment Opportunities, Changes in Education, Foundations for Structural Changes in the Service Sector; Change in the Nature of the Classified Employment Page in the Seattle Times. [Organization of skills, their embodiment, their creation and their markets]

Impact VI: Geographic Insights and Analogies for the Information Superhighway: e.g. what can we say about the optimal location of your Web site?

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[October 25, 1996; econgeog@u.washington.edu]