Many firms have found that the increased responsiveness of a con- temporary cost management system has allowed them to realize significant cost savings by eliminating the huge volume of internally generated monthly financial reports. The third major advance is the emergence of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is any form of business that is executed using information and ommunications technology. Internet trading, electronic data interchange, and bar examples of e-commerce. Internet trading allows buyers and sellers to come oding a together and execute transactions from diverse locations and circumstances. Internet