MACCT COM 515 E-business Spring 2005 Dr. Lairson 646-2166 e-mail   The "mechanical mind," a computer developed at MIT in 1927 An overview of e-business, focusing on the technology of e-business and the business models and strategies adopted by firms for the "new economy." Emphasis is given to detailed case studies of a variety of firms, e-commerce, new media, e-business operations in real-time firms, networks, innovation, business process offshore outsourcing, wireless, and future developments in e-business

Goals of the course: Develop a conception of and perspective on the economic and business implications of the changes being generated by information technology and the Internet Understand the dynamics of innovation and the organizational consequences of moving commerce to the Internet Evaluate the operations of a variety of Internet businesses Evaluate the various business models of Internet firms Enhance entrepreneurial skills related to using the Internet as a business location Understand the impact of electronic commerce on business strategy Develop a detailed sense of effective information sources about e-business Develop a working understanding of the technology of e-business

Grading Policy: My expectations of you are high. But expectations in the e-business marketplace are even higher. Earning an "A" requires a consistent demonstration of excellence. You will have been thorough, complete, and precise in answering questions and analyzing problems. A "B" is given for work that is of high quality and shows interest, effort, or originality. For a graduate course, this is the minimum expected. A "C" is considered failing. I do not grade on a curve; thus, everyone can receive an "A" but everyone also can receive a "C." A, A- = Excellent B+ = Good B, B- = Average C+, C, C- = Below Average Attendance policy: Attendance is mandatory for all classes. Missing any class in this course/program is a major problem. If you must miss, and a paper is due, you must turn that paper in on time. If you miss a class, you will need to make that up through additional class participation on other days.

Course Grade:

Final Exam	35%
Three Group Exercises	45%
Class Participation	20%

Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate what a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran language, the computer will be easy to use.
Now revealed to be a hoax, this picture still has value.
(thanks to Jacob Skubal)

Schedule of activities:

I. E-commerce (You should read the major readings and sample the remaining)

Goals for today's class

Notes on Technological Revolution

Notes on E-Commerce

Major Readings:

How Much Does Information Technology Matter?

How Much Does Information Technology Matter? Part 2

Internet and E-Business Trends in 2004

Hewlett Reports Advance in Molecular-Scale Device

Smaller Than a Pushpin, More Powerful Than a PC

Examine this link:

http://www.banktech.com/

Economist Survey of E-Commerce:

A perfect market
Santa's helpers
Click to fly
At the drop of a hammer
A market too far
Spiders in the web
Unlimited opportunities?

Short Articles:

US: Net shoppers rock retail sector

E-commerce companies are staging a comeback

Online Sales - 2003

Meet Me in Cyberspace

Why Harcourt Needs Groupware

Live Meeting
Groove

Business Models

E-commerce cases:

Ebay
Can eBay stay ahead of the pack?
Priceline.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com: Earth's Most Customer Centric Company: Differentiating with Technology
Sabre
WebMD
Freemarkets
Salesforce.com
Cars.com
The Akamai Story: From Theory to Practice
Netflix
Netflix II

Resources:

Tim Coltman, et al., E-Business: Evolution, Revolution or Hype? (pdf)

E-business technologies link
Emarketer
Computerworld
Survey of the Digital Future
Internet use
E-Commerce Dictionary

 

January 22

II. New Media

Goals for Today's class

Notes for New Media

Major Readings

The Web's New Currency - pdf
How Blogs are Changing the World
Bloggers Add Moving Images to Their Musings
Home-Brew IPod Ad Opens Eyes
Google:

What's Google's Secret Weapon? An Army of Ph.D.'s
What’s Next for Google
The Coming Search Wars
August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web
Web Search Sites See Clicks Add Up to Big Ad Dollars
Seeking Better Web Searches

David Kushner, "My Avatar, My Self," Technology Review, April 2004, 50-55.
South Korea could hold key to next generation of online computer games
Out of Hollywood, Rising Fascination With Video Games
Virtual-Reality Therapy: Patients can get relief from pain or overcome their phobias by immersing themselves in computer-generated worlds
Apple's 1984 MacIntosh Commercial "1984"
The Coming DVD Format War
For a Start-Up, Visions of Profit in Podcasting

Short Articles

VR - Games - Movies

A 3-D View of the City, Block by Block
Data you can virtually touch
Vitual Reality - Now Playing: Reality Without the Downside
Playing games with broadband
The Pitch: Dreamland Goes Digital
A Thin Line Between Film and Joystick
War Is Test of High-Speed Web
Can't Get a Tee Time? Try the Corner Bar
More Than Just a Game, but How Close to Reality?
Electronic Arts - The Sims
Smile, Gamers: You're in the Picture
With Goggles and a Joystick, Kasparov Takes On 'Fritz'
Voyager to a Strange Planet
Massively multiplayer worlds
World of Warcraft Keeps Growing, Even as Players Test Its Limits
Virtual Camp Trains Soldiers in Arabic, and More
A Face That Launched a Thousand Chips

Star Wars galaxies

Homestar

Interactive cinema

Convergence

Intel Reports a Research Leap to a Faster Chip
Comcast's Bid for Disney Ripples Through a Linked Industry
For Comcast, It's About Bundling Services
Jerky Pictures and Sound Are History. Videoconferencing Is All Grown Up.
AOL Time Warner
Leisure Pursuits of Today's Young Man
AT&T Joins Fray for Cheaper Calls Through the Web
Breaking Free of Cable's Stranglehold
Goodbye to the video store
Goodbye to movie theatres?
Cable or Satellite? Please Stay Tuned
Media conglomerates
Books as New Media
The Semantic Web (Quirky but detailed)
The Semantic Web: An Introduction (sort of) (straightforward and technical)
A Smarter Web (good but a little dated)
ERCIM The Semantic Web (challenging)

Music

Online Music Wings its Way to the Celestial Jukebox
Which Online Music Service Will Have the Longest Playing Time?
KaZaA
Copyright and Internet Music
A Hard Sell for Online CD Merchants
AOL Music
Paying the Piper, Round 2: The Repertory Grows

Pressplay
Rhapsody

 

Opte Project: Mapping the Internet

 

January 29

III. E-business

Goals for today's class

Notes for today's class

Major Readings:

The Real-Time Economy

The Internet and Supply Chain Management

Keeping Pace with the Accelerating Enterprise

RFID

Finding a better bar code

Case Studies

Dell as a Virtual Company

Who's Afraid of China?

GE's Drive to Real-Time Measurement
Jon Burke, "GE: The Last Internet Company" Red Herring

What's In Store for 7-Eleven?
7 11

Walmart

Cisco

NMS Communications

Proctor and Gamble: Agents of Change

Refurnishing the Furniture Supply Chain

Supporting Articles

Basics of ERP (pdf)

Who is to blame for ERP failure?

A Day in the Life of Celenese's Big ERP Rollup

Vicious and virtuous cycles in ERP implementation: a case
study of interrelations between critical success factors

Web Services and the Revolution in Software

I and II

Web Services: IBM vs. Microsoft

B2B Exchanges: The container case

Resources on Real-Time Infrastructure Providers

Real-Time Connected Supply Chains

Putting Brakes on Real-Time Enterprise

Business Intelligence: Analytics

Wal-Mart Hits Snags in Push to Use Radio Tags to Track Goods

Wal-Mart begins RFID trial in Texas

What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits

Forget Wal-Mart

Many Hospitals Resist Computerized Patient Care

Furniture Store Supply Chain Makeover

CRM Capabilities
Resources on Real-Time Infrastructure Providers

Example of final exam article

Group Project I: (Due February 2)

Develop a business plan that incorporates various elements of new media into a business so as to enhance capabilities and revenues. Alternately, you can design a new media business as a stand-alone enterprise? You will need to write a 6-10 page paper. An important part of the paper is showing a familiarity with and understanding of the readings on new media.

February 5 - No Class

February 12

IV. Business Process Outsourcing

Notes for today's class

Major Readings

Economist - Outsourcing

A world of work
Men and machines
A desperate embrace
Faster, cheaper, better
Into the unknown
Sink or Schwinn
A world of opportunity

Supplemental Readings

The Economist: Offshoring promises huge benefits to consumers

Business Processes Are Moving from the West to Other Parts of the World

What Works, What Doesn’t: Lessons from Two Companies that Outsource Back-Office Tasks

Managing the Extended Organization: Handling the Risks of BPO Relationships

Case Study: Inside the Progeon-Greenpoint Mortgage Transaction

The Case For, and Against, Shifting Back-office Operations Overseas

BPO in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore

Veritas in India

RosettaNet

 

Group Project II: (DUE February 16)

Your team has been given the responsibility for developing a plan for offshore outsourcing of a major business process of your organization. Your team should draft a plan that examines all of the important issues relating to this plan: identifies the business process, the location for outsourcing, the benefits and risks, and the schedule for implementation. An important part of the paper is showing a familiarity with and understanding of the readings on BPOO. You will need to write an 8-10 page paper.

 

February 19

V. Wireless

Goals for Today's class

Notes on Readings

Allen Kupetz's presentation

4G - A Look Into the Future of Wireless Communications (Kupetz and Brown)

A Master Model for Mobile Multimedia

The Wireless Industry's Killer B

A brief history of Wi-Fi

Philadelphia Hopes to Lead the Charge to Wireless Future

Where Entrepreneurs Go and the Internet Is Free

It's Not Enough to Be Just a Phone Company

WiFi

Wimax

The fight for digital dominance

In U.S. Market, Cellphone Users Are Often All Talk

Howard Reingold, Smart Mobs

Applications for the Mobile User

Christensen, Disruptive Technologies

Disruptive Technologies Video

Standards
The Wireless Internet

II
III
IV
V
VI

Business Bets on Wireless Internet

Group Project III: (DUE February 23)

Develop a business plan for a new or existing business that uses wireless in some important fashion to add value to the firm. You will need to write a 6-10 page paper.

Too Many Links

XML

XML and MS Office

February 26

Final Exam

Final Exam - makeup