Also, grocery retailers will provide, for a fee, reports to food manufactures that detail the performance and consumer profiles of their product in the market. In this example a highly sophisticated network has been developed with the use of information technology that has transformed the grocery industry. Other industries have also undergone changes with the adaptation and application of new technologies. Communication technologies, the integration of internal and external information systems, has also transformed the office, planning, and strategic development activities of a firm's endeavors. Technologies applicable to this part of the discussion relate to the use of electronic mail systems, newsgroup computer networks, and integrated, networked PC systems.
Businesses are now able to procure low cost methods of communicating across vast distances.
Also, these networks can be developed within the firm itself to coordinate the activities of different project teams assigned to related production functions. These systems allow for highly efficient dissemination of general information, while on the networked PC scale, allow for highly innovative and customized applications. Until recently, computerization has been dominated by numerical and mathematical formats, which have been bulky conduits of information and analysis accessible only to those with mathematical training or proclivity. Data are now processed with software that interprets data files and generates a multi-media information representations. In this sense McLuhan's implication that the medium is more important than the message becomes relevant.