"Using the metaphorical richness of history as a framework for comparison, this book explores the parallel between the value proposition of new technologies, such as the Internet, and the birth of social change in late medieval Europe. In doing so, it reveals the synergistic role that technology has played in the development of modern business. The reader is invited to consider the effects of technology on corporate bureaucracies and organizational behaviour, and the cultural ramifications of technology as society adapts it into the mainstream of everyday life.". "Presenting technological innovation as a continuous process, Joseph DiVanna argues that its influence on social technological adoption, globalization, disintermediation and the subsequent impact on brands, products and strategies is not the product of late twentieth-century technological advancement, but a natural evolution of technology. This book demonstrates that although the definition of value changes, the role of technology continues to fit a timeless equation of adding value in facilitating commerce."--BOOK JACKET.