BU MBA eCommerce workshop info

The following info is for the BU MBA ecommerce class from August 28 to 31, 2014

Textbook: Rana Tassabehji (2005) Applying e-commerce in business, Sage Publications, London.

References
The global IT report 2014
Info economy (oecd)
The long tail
Law of disruption
Strategy + business
What are network effects
New rules for new economy
Rise of crowdsourcing
9 examples of crowdsourcing
How does bitcoin work?
Bad behavior of email users
Data protection
Guide to Internet law
The dot-com survivors
Another digital gold-rush
Another tech bubble
Business models on the web
2014 info security breaches survey
How cyber-criminals attack websites
Spear-phishing
Office intruders bbc
Managing enterprise security
Playstations offline
Social networking (pdf)
Web gurus
e-commerce intelligence (pdf)
We are the web
Amazon apologize on cloud fault
10 best intranets


Topics:

1. Introduction to e-commerce
2. The technology
3. Elements of e-commerce: applications
4. Security and e-commerce
5. e-business models
6. From dot com to dot bomb
7. Public policies and legal issues
8. The impact of e on economic and management thinking
9. The future and beyond

ASSESSMENT

Individual Assignment

Select one of the following questions for your individual assignment.

This assignment should be your own work and is worth 100% of the

total marks.  [this subject has no exam this time; only 1 assignment]

Length of assignment: 2,000 words

Question 1: Since the first Internet boom in the mid 1990s, there has

been consolidation and today, the Internet has an impact on the way we

work, play, communicate, learn and shop. In business and governmental

organisations throughout the world, new strategies, new business models

and new organisational designs have emerged to exploit the new

possibilities enabled by the Internet and related technologies. In the midst

of such radical changes, one fundamental question remains unanswered

today: What is e-business and does it still matter? If so, in what ways and

what can we do about it? Most of all, where is it going and what are the

main business opportunities and challenges? What are the implications for

your own organisation and for your sector in general and what can be

done about them?

l Outline the main contemporary issues in e-business and where it is

going.

l Identify emerging opportunities and challenges for your sector in

general and for your organisation in particular. (If your own organisation

is not suitable for this assignment, please choose an organisation or

sector with which you are familiar.)

l Make some recommendations based on your findings.

This assignment will require you to conduct comprehensive research of

relevant literature (e.g. journal papers, books, consultancy and

government reports as well as newspaper and business magazine articles,

etc.) and real life examples. Your assignment should include a detailed

explanation of the issues with supporting evidence. You should also

include a list of e-business resources and references you used to inform

your assignment (not included in the 2,000 word limit). Your views must be

backed up with evidence and well-grounded critical reasoning. The focus

is on emerging e-business opportunities and challenges in your sector and

for your organisation – from a business perspective.

Question 2: e-Government is a concept that has revolutionised

bureaucracy and the way that governments operate in the 21st

century.

Explain the concept of e-government and, using an example of your

choice, evaluate how effective e-government has been (or not). What are

the implications of e-government for the future?

You may use one country which has adopted e-government;

OR you can use an example of one country that has not adopted

e-government and evaluate whether it should or not;

OR you can make a comparative study of two countries.

Question 3: What has been the most successful business model of

the ‘Internet age’ to date?

Analyse the different kinds of business models that have emerged from

the advent of the Internet and select one model that you consider to have

been the most successful. In your answer, you need to clearly

demonstrate what criteria of success you are using and why. Your answer

must demonstrate full reading and critical analysis of academic literature to

synthesise your argument. You should also include real life examples to

support your answer.

Question 4: New Internet-based technologies have transformed

whole industries, societies and/or ways of doing business.

You may select one of the three (industry, society, business) to focus on in

your answer. Do you believe this statement to be true? Referring to

academic literature and drawing on examples, synthesise an argument in

support of your beliefs. In your answer you must ensure that you critically

evaluate the concept of transformation, including criteria for assessing

transformation and how this has taken place.

NOTE

The main purpose of this assignment is for you to demonstrate an

understanding of the concepts of e-business and to be able to question

and critically analyse relevant theories and models.

In the past, students that have tended to perform badly are those that:

a) Only provided a descriptive analysis, with no critical analysis or review

of the literature, with a presentation and justification of their views.

b) Provided a review of the technology and description of the technical

aspects and details.

c) Have not answered the question posed.

Do not focus merely on the descriptive, but give a detailed analysis

bringing in academic references and frameworks. Please make sure you

reference all your work appropriately. (Check your MBA manual and

supporting workbooks on referencing to make sure this is done correctly.)

There is a word limit of 2,000 words; you must therefore demonstrate your

writing skills in being able to include information that is relevant and to the

point. You must be succinct and only include information that will further

develop your argument and evidence wider reading. You may use

appendices in this assignment – these may support your argument,

however are not marked directly.

Class exercise: review of articles:

1. "LinkedIn", The Economist Aug. 16, 2014
2. "Society: The New Dating Game", Time Feb 17, 2014
3. "M-health", The Economist Feb 1, 2014
4. "Newspaper vs Google" The Economist Nov 10, 2012
5. "Designing mature internet business strategy, by Angehrn (1997). European Management Journal.
6. "Digital economics and the e-business dilemma" Business Horizon July-August 2004
7. Kudo. 2010 "e-government as strategy ..." Financial Accountability and Management 26(1)

Also study carefully the following articles:

1. Porter (2001) Strategy and the Internet, Harvard Business Review.
2. Boyd and Ellison (2007) Social network sites, Journal of Computer-mediated communication 13(1)
3. Clemons (2009) The complex problem of monetizing virtual electronic social network, Decision Support Systems 48(1)
4. Phan (2003) e-Business development for competitive advantage, Information and Management 40 (6)
5. Zott, Amit and Massa. 2011. The Business Model, Journal of Management 37(4)

Questions to considers: (presentation in 20 min.)

1. Which parts of the article you find informative and inspiring; which not?
2. Which viewpoints of the article you agree and which not?
3. What e-business concepts and theories can be employed to examine the paper?
4. What e-business examples can be employed to illustrate the ideas from the article?
5. Make some e-business recommendations for improved management practices and/or consumer activities based on your review of the article.

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