CS5267: eCommerce Systems and Applications (Semester 2, 2006/2007)

Lecture: 18:30 – 20:30 (Friday), Lecture Theater 34

 

Lecturer: Dr. BOCK, Gee-Woo (Gilbert)

Dept. of Information Systems, School of Computing

Email: bockgw@comp.nus.edu.sg

Phone: 6516-8978  Fax: 6779-4580

Office: SOC1 #04-09

Consultation Hours: 16:30 -17:30 (Friday) or by appointment

 

Course Objectives

 

The business news is replete with stories on how electronic commerce and e-business will and, in some cases, have already been revolutionizing processes, organizations, and markets.  These e-technologies are evolving at such a dizzying pace that it is difficult to comprehend the basic principles fuelling this revolution.  As a result, many managers are unclear on how their companies can survive and thrive in this new cyber-environment.  Recently, a number of business ventures and transformations of traditional processes have been shedding more light on best practices and opportunities in e-commerce and e-business.  This course is intended to expose students to these cases and to provide them with an in-depth understanding of the business opportunities and threats as well as the strategic and management issues that companies and managers face in the e-world.

 

Course Description

 

In e-commerce, business and technological issues are tightly intertwined.  Although this course recognizes the importance of both sets of issues, its content does not require prior knowledge of the underlying technologies.  After an overview of e-technologies, the course will focus on the issues underpinning today’s best practices in e-commerce and e-business, innovative strategies in the field as well as future trends, including the advent of mobile e-commerce (or m-commerce).

 

More specifically, the course will analyze the impact of e-technologies on marketplace transformation, business process redesign, and management approaches to e-commerce, with an emphasis on business-to-consumer and business-to-business applications.  Class sessions will be based on an in-depth discussion of actual case studies in textbooks.  These cases cover several industries and business sectors in different countries.

 

Prerequisites: None

 

Course Texts

 

Required textbooks

  1. Chaffey, D. E-Business and E-Commerce Management (3rd Ed.), Prentice Hall, 2006 (ISBN: 978-1-40584-706-3).
  2. Turban E., King, D., Viehland, D. and Lee, J.K. Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective 2006. Prentice Hall 2006 (ISBN: 0-13-197667-2).
  3. Premier e-Business Cases from Asia: Problem-Solution-Challenge-Impact Approach (edited by Lee, J.K., Siew, G.K. and Sethi, V.). Prentice Hall, 2007 (ISBN: 978-981-06-7690-2).
  4. Managing Emerging Technologies and Organizational Transformation in Asia (edited by Pan, S.L.). World Scientific Publishing, 2006 (ISBN: 981-256-592-2).

 

Supplementary readings

5.      Jelassi, T. and Enders, A. Strategies for e-business: Creating value through electronic and mobile commerce. Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2005 (ISBN: 0-273-68840-5).

  • Additional articles can be distributed/made available on reserve depending on interest and time.

 

Mode of Teaching and Learning and Assessment Scheme

 

Break up of CA and final assessment

 

#

Components

%

1

Class contribution (Individual)        

10%

2

Term paper (Team)  

20%

3

Case analyses and debates (Team)

30%

4

Final Examination (Individual)

40%

 

Total

100%

 

Class contribution (10%)

 

  • 5 points for full attendance and active participation
  • From the 2nd non-excused absence, each additional absence will result in a reduction of 1/10 of your total scores per absence.

 

Performance

Behavioral Anchor Rating Scale

5

Excellent

-Initiates information relative to topics discussed  

-Accurately exhibits knowledge of assignment content

-Clarifies points that others may not understand   

-Shares personal experiences or opinions related to topic

-Offers relevant  / succinct input to class              

-Demonstrates ability to apply, analyze, evaluate & synthesize course material

-Demonstrates willingness to take risks in attempting to answer unpopular questions

4

Good

-Regularly participates in discussions           

-Shares relevant information

-Gives feedback to classroom discussions   

-Consistently demonstrates knowledge of reading assignments

-Demonstrates ability to analyze/apply course material and willingness to attempt to answer questions

3

Fair

-Participates in discussions when asked                         

-Demonstrates knowledge of course material

-Offers clear, concise, “good” information on class assignments

-Offers input but tends to reiterate the intuitive

-Attends class regularly

2

Poor

-Occasional input, often irrelevant, unrelated to topic                      -Reluctant to share information

-Not following the flow of ideas                                                         -Personal applications only

-Drains energy from the class

1

Unacceptable

-Fails to participate even when specifically asked                         

-Gives no input to discussions

-Does not demonstrate knowledge of the readings                        

-Shows up to class: does nothing

-Distracts group / class                                                                  

-Irrelevant discussion

 

Case analyses and debates (30%)

·        Reports

For case analyses, you will form a 5 ~ 7 person team. Your team is asked to submit a one-page executive report (single-spaced) by the beginning of the class when it is due. In the report, you will analyze a given organization from an eCommerce perspective as follows:

-         Diagnosis of problems (what they are – symptoms, why they exist – causes, what happens if no action is taken – risk) and/or opportunities (motivation/need, obstacles, decisions to be made)

-         Alternatives (usually two or three) considered and costs/benefits of each.

-         Recommendations for actions: need to provide the basis for selecting one alternative over the rest.

 

·        Role Play

For each case, two teams will be asked to play a role play. One team takes the role of the client organization’s top management. The other team plays the role of consultants for the client firm. The first, the client team plays the case scenario for about 5 minutes. Next, the consultant’s team makes 5 minute presentation. After the consultant team’s presentation, each team will have an opportunity for a client-consultant debate. The debate will last about 15 minutes and be conducted between members of both teams. After the debate, both team members will answer questions from the audience for about 15 minutes. The best team throughout the semester will have the honor of having their names engraved on the “Hall of Fame” plaque displayed inside the Dr. Bock’s office.

 

Term paper (20%)

  • Your team has a choice between writing a research paper on one of the topics covered during the semester and conducting a case study of a real company.
  • For the research paper, your team has to review the relevant literature (both academic and practical), come up with a suitable research topic among the issues covered in the course, assess the current state of the art in the issue, and suggest future directions/expectations. The paper can be either conceptual or empirical (based on data).
  • For the case study, write a HBS style business case for the firm of your team’s choice and attach a one-page case report following the weekly assignment format (diagnosis, alternatives, recommendation).
  • For both the research paper and case write-up, there is a 20 page (1.5 spaced) page limit which includes everything.
  • Term paper proposal
    • On the 1st page:
      • Provide the title and table of contents of the paper
      • Briefly describe the topic and its importance
    • On the 2nd page:
      • Provide the time table of the project (what your team did, what your team is doing, and how the rest of work will be done)
      • Provide the list of the references your team has gathered

 

Final examination (40%): 25 April, 2007. Open Book

 

Academic Integrity

  • Academic Integrity is a critical value of the University Community.  
  • Integrity violations destroy the fabric of a learning community and the spirit of inquiry that is vital to the effectiveness of the University.  
  • Academic integrity policies, the description of prohibited behavior, and the appropriate sanctions are described in www.comp.nus.edu.sg/students/code_of_conduct.htm

Course Outline:

#

Date

Topics

Assignments

1

12/01

Overview of the Internet Business & Introduction to the Course

-         Overview of the Internet

-         Overview of the E-Business

-         Introduction to the course

-      Buy textbook(s)

-      Read Chaffey Chapter 1

-      Form debate teams

Readings for the next session:

-      Chaffey Chapter 3

-      Jelassi Chapter 7&8

-      Turban et al Chapter 1&15

Assignment: Term paper proposal

2

19/01

E-Business Infrastructure

-         What is the Internet? How does it work?

-         Digital Economy

 

Readings for the next session:

-      Chaffey Chapter 5&10

-      Jelassi Introduction to Part 2, Chapter 3,5,6&10

-      Turban Chapter 2,14&8

 

3

26/01

E-Business Strategy

-         The E-Business Strategy Framework

-         E-Business Strategy Formulation

Organizational Setup for E-Business

-         Change Management

-         Changing the Organizational Culture for e-Business

 

Readings for the next session:

-      Lee et al Chapter 11 – Pioneering Community Portal Based on Web Services: BigTrumpet.com

Assignment: Executive Summary of the Case

4

02/02

Case debate: BigTrumpet.com

Case Summary Due

Readings for the next session:

-      Chaffey Chapter 4,8&9

-      Jelassi Chapter 4

-      Turban Chapter 3&4

 

5

09/02

E-Marketing & Customer Relationship Management

-         B2C Business Models

-         E-Marketing

-         Customer Relationship Management

By a Guest Speaker

Readings for the next session:

-      An Overview of the Emerging C2C Electronic Market in China (will be available in IVLE)

Assignment: Executive Summary of the Case

6

16/02

- Case debate: C2C Market in China

Case Summary Due

Readings for the next session:

-      Chaffey Chapter 6&7

-      Jelassi Chapter 9

-      Turban Chapter 5,6&7

 

18/02~22/02 Mid-semester Break

7

23/02

Supply Chain Management and e-Procurement

-         B2B Concepts and Types

-         Supply Chain Management

-         E-Procurement

Term paper proposal due

 

Readings for the next session:

-      Lee et al Chapter 6 – Transition from a Buyer’s Agent to a Procurement Service Provider in B2B: iMarket Korea

Assignment: Executive Summary of the Case

8

02/03

Case debate: iMarket Korea

Case Summary Due

Readings for the next session:

-      Chaffey Chapter 10&11

-      Jelassi Chapter 10

-      Turban Chapter 15&16

 

9

09/03

Transforming Organizations

-         Transforming your business processes

-         Economics of e-business

 

Readings for the next session:

-      Pan Chapter 3: Enterprise Resource Planning Project Failure in Maxima Inc.

Assignment: Executive Summary of the Case

10

16/03

- Case debate: Maxima Inc

Case Summary Due

Readings for the next session:

-      Turban Chapter 9&17

 

11

23/03

Legal issues of eCommerce

By a Guest Speaker

Readings for the next session:

-      To be announced (will be available in IVLE)

Assignment: Executive Summary of the Case

12

30/03

Case debate on legal issues

Case Summary Due

Term paper due

13

06/04

Good Friday

 

 

The course schedule is subject to change depending on pace of class. It is the collective responsibility of all class members to take note of any course changes to the syllabus as well as to assist the course to move at an acceptable pace. Please periodically check IVLE for messages and / or presentation materials.