BUAD 884: Marketing and Electronic Commerce, Spring 1999

Last updated, May 2, 1999
But the most current Ecommerce class is here!!

Contact Information

Class Webpage: http://learn.at/buad884

Instructor: Alex Brown
Phone: 215-898-3454
Email: alex@udel.edu

Course Description

This course is designed to familiarize students with the emergence and importance of electronic commerce. The course will give students a clear understanding of the field of electronic commerce as well as the skills to develop electronic commerce applications (on the web).

Course Schedule

The following course schedule is tentative and subject to change. Change should be anticipated given the nature of this course and the availability of guestspeakers.

Each session will also include issues relating to:

The remaining class sessions will be used for class presentations.

Session Number Session Title Readings Tasks Guest Speakers/Sites to Discuss
1 Emergence and Importance of Electronic Commerce HTML Intro. 1 Demystifying the Internet Buy Texts NA
2 WWW as a Medium WWW as a medium, Why the Web, WWW Information HTML Intro. 2 Bye-Bye Go Ahead, Kill Your Television, NBC is Ready Spacecubes Discussion; Spacecubes to date NA
3 WWW Advertising Models/Community Development HTML Intro. 3 Promotion 1, Promotion 2 & Promotion 3 CyberAtlas: Advertising Rename.net discussion; Rename.net to date. Book 1, 1 & 2, Resume Ass. NA
4 Customer Service & Product Development Issues Customer Support, Intra/Extranets The Cathedral and Bazaar A Breakthrough for Linux Halloween Memo w/o Raymond Open-Source Software Development Methodology What is Zope? Setting Up Shop Open Source Definition HTML Intro. 4 Book 1, 3 & 4 SmartFrog
5 HTML Intro. 5 Design Tips 1 Book 1, 5 & 6, Resource Guide Ass. David Shepherd, General Manager, netWatchinc
6 Retailing, Payment Issues Retailing 1 & Retailing 2 Online Stores Lacking Holiday Shopping Will Soar in '99 Online Retailing Revenue up 300% Design Tips 2 HTML Intro 6 HTML Intro. 7 TRUSTe Privacy Partnerships CyberCash Cryptography and SET Book 1, 7 & 8 NA
7 Anatomy of a Virtual Business Geometrek | Monorail This "Virtual" Company Is For Real Who's writing the Book on Web Business? Book 1, 9 & 10 Carl Jacobson, University of Delaware
8 Anatomy of the Marketplace Who is online? CyberAtlas GVU's WWW User Surveys In Search of the Perfect Market, Economist My Obession BargainFinder Agent Price Watch Priceline.com A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce The Management of Internet Names and Addresses: Intellectual Property Issues Book 1, 11 & 12 AllAdvantage.com
9 Presentations Book 2, Chaps 1 - 6 (E), Amazon.com (F) Book 1, 13 & 14 NA
10 Presentations Book 2, Chaps 7 - 10 (C), Geocities.com (B) Book 1, 15 & 16 NA
11 Presentations Book 3, Chaps 2 - 4 (D), AOL.COM (E) Book 1, 17 & 18 NA
12 Presentations Book 3, Chaps 5 - 7 (A), cdnow.com (C) Book 1, 19 & 20 NA
13 Presentations Book 3, Chaps 8 - 10 (B), hotmail.com (D) Book 1, 21 & 22 NA
14 Presentations redhat.com (A)Microsoft.com (F) Book 1, 23 & 24 NA

Course readings

The class requires the texts:
Jaclyn Easton: StrikingItRich.com CommerceNet Press 1
Kevin Kelly: New Rules For The New Economy Viking 2
Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian: Information Rules Harvard Business School Press 3

Optional texts to increase understanding:
Jeremy Hope and Tony Hope: Competing in the Third Wave Harvard Business School Press
Walid Mougayar: Opening Digital Markets CommerceNet Press

Additional readings from the webbook:
Cybersolve: Marketing and the Internet

Various readings will also be assigned prior to the classes. If there is an assigned reading for a session number, the reading must be completed before the session.
To add for next year:
Internet Time-Line Project
An Atlas of Cyberspaces
As We May Think
In The Beginning was the Command Line
Branding and Usability
Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design
Open Source: Voices from the Opensource Revolution
VerticalNet
Knowledge@Wharton

WWW Resources

General readings: Highly Recommended: Business 2.0 | HotWired | Fast Company
Remainder:Advertising Age - Articles and Opinions | News.com | Internet World | Web Marketing Today
Web/HTML Guides: WebMonkey | A Beginner's Guide to HTML | The Bare Bones Guide to HTML | Web Site Garage
Graphics: CopyRight Free Graphics | Web Safe Colors Chart
WWW Counter:Web Counter

Course Assignments

Assignment 1: Develop a resume to be posted on WWW.
This assignment serves two purposes.
  1. It familiarizes you with writing web documents.
  2. It will augment your impending job search (full-time students).
This assignment should be completed by the third session of the semester. For additional information on writing your web document and hosting it on your own account you can use the following Web Publishing Resources.
If you are a part-time student, and do not wish to develop your web-resume, then you should create a phantom resume.
No grade, but must be completed in order to receive the resource grade.

Assignment 2:Business Resource Page
Develop a business web-page that looks at information gathered from the web focusing on a particular type of business/interest/hobby. This assignment is designed to familiarize you with the effective use of search engines on the web. This is due by the fifth session of the class.

The resource page should include links to appropriate sites with a descriptive statement regarding the site as a resource. The guide must link to at least 10 resources. The resource guide can focus on a particular industry, product, hobby or country. The choice must be approved by Alex.
20% class grade

Class Resource Pages

Assignment 3: Group projects
Chapter Presentations
You will be assigned a group. Each group will be assigned a section from either New Rules for the New Economy or Information Rules. You will be responsible for presenting the material to the class and relate it to issues that have previously been covered in class. After a 45 minute presentation, you will open the class for discussion.
30% class grade

WWW business analysis
Your group is responsible for analysing a nomimated web business. You should summarize its history, analyze its current strategy, complete an exhaustive competitive analysis, and make recommendations for its future.
30% class grade

Assignment 4: Take-home final
You will be given a take-home final paper a week before classes finish. This paper will draw from all the material covered in the class and requires familiarity with all aspects of electonic commerce.
20% course grade