Course Description

This course is intended to supply MBA students with an overview of the electronic commerce phenomenon currently sweeping through the global economy. The course introduces contemporary management philosophies as they have come to be used for the marketing, selling, and distribution of goods and services through the Internet, World-Wide-Web, and other electronic media. Much has happened in this arena and new developments continue at a high rate. In fact, Forrester Research expects that 5% of the world's commerce, $3.2 trillion, will be Internet-based by 2003. The goal of the course is to cover the major topics rather than be encyclopedic. The course makes use of lecture and discussion, readings, cases, guest speakers, and student projects.

What this course is NOT: Because this course is an IS course and is meant to expose contemporary managerial thought associated with a new and dynamic environment, the information technologies associated with the delivery of Internet sites, etc. will be only briefly mentioned. If the student has an interest in learning to build web pages or to develop databases, search engines, intelligent agents, etc., the instructor suggests an IT or CS course. We will do little here to further your working knowledge of the tools available to the IT professional, but will do much to further your ability to manage a business in the digital world.

Course Sequencing

This is an elective course for the MBA program. Most students will have taken all Stage I and Stage II courses prior to taking this course.

Course Educational Objectives

Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to:

·Describe how electronic commerce affects the strategic intent and operations function of the firm;

·Explain the differences between different types of ecommerce environments and how they are important in positioning and focusing the efforts of the organization;

·Explain how electronic commerce can be used to create a strategic competitive advantage for an enterprise; and

·Describe the some of the best practices in Ecommerce that are currently available to managers.

Measurement of Attainment of Course Objectives

Attainment of course educational objectives by the student is measured by scores on examinations and quizzes, evaluation of written documentation of research activities, evaluation of oral presentations, and class instruction assessment techniques.

Textbook

Because of the dynamic nature of the marketplace and the availability of suitable online material, there is no textbook for this course.Instead, the student will build their own textbook through a combination of assigned readings and class notes.Most, if not all, of the assigned readings will be available on the Web.Usually, the instructor will furnish a URL where the reading can be found.

Grading

Homework Assignments30%

Final Exam35%

Research report35%

Total100%

Research Report

Each student will be required to conduct a research project.The student is expected to evaluate the Ecommerce initiatives of a group of competing firms. The target firms of the research will be proposed by the student and approved by the instructor.Further details concerning this project will be articulated in class.

Course Topics:

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

·Technology Overview

·ebusiness Models

·The Virtual Value Chain

·Competition and Pricing Implications

·The Marketing Mix for the Internet

·Agents and Personalization

·Business to Business Ecommerce

·Business and Industry Transformation

NOTE:The instructor reserves the right to modify this syllabus, either verbally or in writing, as is necessary to meet the objectives of the course.Such modifications, if necessary, will always take place at least one week prior to any submission deadline.