Many companies I've talked to realize that they will eventually be on the web, realize the need to be on the web, but put off actually creating a web and going online "because it's not yet worth it for us". By this is usually meant that not enough of their customers or potential customers are on the Internet.
This is usually short sighted, but perhaps not for the obvious reason. Because of the prevalence of companies that can create corporate webs, the creation of a web can take place fairly quickly once the decision has been made to create one. This gives many companies not on the web a false sense of security.
While being on the web is bound to be a useful thing one way or another, it's probably true that the benefits to date for most companies have probably been overstated. The benefit actually gained by companies that go online early is a headstart in the development of their corporate culture. It's just not possible to suddenly create a web without creating the corporate culture to integrate it into the company's culture. For example, once a web goes online, the company has to be able to "catch" responses generated by its web through the appropriate channels (e.g. email). This might require the creation of a new unit within the company. The effects of the web will be complex and the organization will take some time to properly adapt to it.
Thus, although it's possible to create webs very quickly,
companies that defer the creation of a web will pay a price not
necessarily in directly lost sales in the short term (although
this may happen if their competitor is online) but in the
lead time required for their corporate culture to adapt to the
web later on when the web has increased its criticality
in their communications mix.
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