The increasing demand for doing business online calls for higher business interoperability on e-marketplaces (EMp). This drives
the development of integration technologies for improving EMp functions. This paper argues that by comparing the cost of business
interoperability on EMp brought by the integration technology, firms will more favour joining in public EMp than self-building
private EMp. In this shift, three integration factors of standard flexibility, service provision and semantic integration
are constantly improving EMp functions, which lead to an overall reduction of interaction cost for business interoperation.
This will change business behaviours and corporate strategies of most firms and have important implications for firms to make
strategies of how to treat EMp to increase business interoperability.
Keywords Electronic market place - Inter- enterprise interoperation - Business integration - Electronic business (E-business) - E-commerce