IS 671 Electronic Commerce (3 credits)
This course will analyze how organizations are using electronic commerce to streamline
operations, reach customers, and increase profitability. The technologies involved
in electronic commerce will be examined. The organizational, behavioral, social,
legal, security, and international aspects of EC will be discussed. The primary
emphasis will be on Web based technologies and issues. This course will reflect
the most current research and application. The course will mainly focus on
e-commerce from a B2B and CRM point of view.
Students must successfully complete IS 634 prior to enrolling for this course.
Example Syllabus - IS 671 Electronic Commerce
Each syllabus is an example of a course
structure and assignments and is subject to change at any time by
the course instructor or Program Director.
In this course the students will mainly learn about:
- The different concepts that drive e-business,
- What the underlying technologies that make
e-commerce possible look like,
- How the constantly-evolving Internet technologies
and their corresponding capabilities can be implemented on business
practices,
- The challenges of establishing business-to-business
(B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce relationships,
- The issues that need to be taken into consideration
for improving efficiency in e-business,
- National and global considerations of e-commerce.
Textbook (Required):
Electronic Commerce 2002: A Managerial Perspective
by Turban, Lee, Warkentin and Chung, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN 0-13-065301-2.
Some material from the book will be covered in depth while some
will be treated more lightly.
Grading Policy:
The class is planned to be interactive. Regular
and semi-regular discussion sessions will be arranged in the cyber-
environment. A “Current Events” section will allow you
to submit and discuss the current happenings in e-commerce environment.
Participating in this section is an integral part of your grade.
This will be a curved class, and the final cut-offs for the letter
grades will be decided at the end of the semester. All
assignments are due midnight in your time zone of the due date. The following events will take place to form your final grade:
Mid-Term: Given in class on or
around the 6th week (exact date & time TBA), about 1-1.5 hours
long, 10% of your total grade
Final Exam: Given as announced
in the Finals week, 1.5-2 hours long, 15% of your total grade
Exams will both have sections measuring your knowledge of the subject
as well as essay questions measuring your ability to implement the
obtained knowledge in practice.
Term Project: The term project
is the single most important part of your class grade, corresponding
to 60% of the overall grade. A detailed explanation is given below.
Homework Assignments: The tentative
plan is to have one assignment every two weeks, to be turned in
the following week, at the beginning of class. Assignments will
mostly be given from the book, be quite short in nature, and will
correspond to 10% of your grade. There will be no assignments due
on the weeks when there is an exam or a project due. All assignments
will be posted on the class Web page.
Participation & "Current Events
Section": There will be a "Current Events"
section and discussion board on the class Web page. Students are
encouraged to submit the latest articles from the media relevant
to the current week's class to this section and discuss and comment
on them. 5% of your overall grade will be based on participation
in this section and discussion group. You are also encouraged to
read at least one business publication such as Fortune Magazine,
Wall Street Journal or Business Week on a regular basis to keep
yourself up-to-date. Additionally, here
are a few Web pages to get you started (a constantly updated list
will be posted on the course Web page):
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
http://www.esj.com
http://ecommerce.internet.com
http://www-3.ibm.com/e-business/index.html
http://www.techweb.com/tech/ebiz/
Term Project Information:
Term projects will be prepared individually.
Content: The term project is
about a virtual e-commerce company you will establish. Each student
will study an existing business, analyze this business thoroughly
and build your company in this business with the goal of determining
how the Internet can be used for:
- Implementing a B2B marketplace,
- Implementing m-commerce,
- Implementing collaborative commerce
The first phase of the project will be about analyzing
the current business model being used. The second phase will be
to decide on a strategy to integrate the above-mentioned items into
your business. Based on the analysis, your company will develop
a new Internet-based system and also develop a user interface for
your Web site.
Project Grading: As indicated
before, the project will correspond to 60% of your overall grade.
There are two specific parts of the project: Report 1, and Report
2.
Important: Each student will
turn in a 2-3 page write-up of the business they have decided to
work on no later than Friday of the second week of the semester.
Report 1: Due the 7th week,
worth 30% of the overall project grade, will contain:
Analysis Phase
- Industry Analysis: What is the current business
model of this industry you chose? What are the technological challenges
in this current model? What are the emerging models? Who are the
leaders in your business, and what made them leaders? What are
the social, organizational, behavioral and legal issues surrounding
your industry?
- Infrastructure Analysis: What is the information
technology infrastructure required for your business? What would
be needed additionally in the B2B, mobile, and collaborative commerce
environments? What kind of infrastructure is being used by different
companies in your business (if possible)?
- Model Analysis: What are the common business
models used in your e-business? What additional models could be
necessary for your pending goals? What constraints do you have
concerning competition? How would different firms collaborate
in a model?
- Product or Service & Customer Analysis:
What are you selling? Whom are you selling it to? How do the products
differ among competitors in the same business? Who are your primary
customers? What do your customers think about your business’
strengths and weaknesses?
You will receive feedback about your first
report once it is graded.
Report 2: Will include both an
updated Report 1 and the additional section of E-Business Strategy in one comprehensive paper write-up, due last week of classes, worth
70% of the overall project grade.
E-Business Strategy
- Select a Model: Find a business model you would
like to use in your virtual company in order to expand your business
into mobile commerce, B2B marketplace, and collaborative commerce.
Why did you select this model? In which ways do you think this
model will be of benefit to your company?
- IT Strategy: Develop an IT strategy for your
company, taking the expansion into mobile commerce, B2B marketplace
and collaborative commerce into consideration . Develop a cost
estimate for it. How much budget do you need for it? Is it affordable?
What is the security you can show your creditors to pay it off?
What is the time required to implement that infrastructure?
Implementation Strategy & Comparison: How are you going to implement your new business plan in these three
new areas? What are the main differences between the old and new
plans? What are the newly introduced challenges and risks in your
new model? What does your new user interface look like (include
screenshots and other illustrations if necessary)?
Late Assignments and Exam Make-up Policy:
No late assignments are accepted and make-ups are only given if
there is an irresolvable conflict in the student’s schedule.
In the rare cases of medical emergency or loss of a relative, a
make-up or acceptance of a late assignment may be possible only
if the professor is notified prior to the exam or
assignment turn-in date. Written and unquestionable proof of the
excuse is required in these cases.
Objections to all grades must be in written format (commonly e-mail)
and must be submitted within one week after the return date of the
assignment.
Academic Integrity Issues:
Cheating in any form is not tolerated under any circumstance in
accordance with the UMBC Academic Regulations. Any form of plagiarism,
receiving inappropriate help in assignments or examinations, and
providing inaccurate information concerning an excuse is treated
as cheating, and it is the professor’s responsibility to take
the actions to the fullest extent of the regulations against the
student violating the academic integrity rules.
Statement On Academic Conduct:
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities
of an active participant in UMBC’s scholarly community in
which everyone’s academic work and behavior are held to the
highest standards of honesty and integrity. Cheating, fabrication,
plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms
of academic dishonesty and they are wrong. Academic misconduct will
result in disciplinary action that may include failure of the course,
suspension or dismissal.
Acts of Academic Misconduct are defined as the following:
- Cheating: Knowingly using
or attempting to use unauthorized material, information, or study
aids in any academic exercise.
- Fabrication: Intentional and
unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or
citation in an academic exercise.
- Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another
commit an act of academic dishonesty.
- Plagiarism: Knowingly representing
the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic
exercise, including works of art and computer-generated information/images.
To read the full policy on academic integrity, consult the UMBC
Student Handbook, Faculty Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section
of the UMBC Directory.
Scholastic Misconduct
Scholastic misconduct is defined broadly as including, but not limited
to: a) cheating on examinations or assignments; b) plagiarizing;
c) working with another student on an assignment designated as an
individual assignment; d) submitting the same paper or substantially
similar papers to meet the requirements of more than one course
without the consent of all instructors concerned; e) interfering
with another student's work; or f) any other misrepresentation of
your work. Please note that the appropriate authorities in the department
and the university will handle scholastic misconduct.
We will use turnitin.com as a tool to avoid misconduct in this class. For this purpose, you
will need to turn in an electronic version of your assignment to
this service. More details on how to use turnitin.com will be available
at the beginning of the semester.
Class Schedule
| Week
# |
Topic |
Reading* |
| 1 |
Introduction
to the Class,
Ch. 1-2: Introduction to E-commerce&
E-business Economy |
Ch.
1, 2, 3.1-3.5, 4.1-4.6 |
| 2 |
Ch.
3-4: B2C and E-tailing; Customer & Consumer Analysis: Digital Delivery, Consumer E-tailing Behavior, Business Models
in E-tailing, Auctions. |
Ch.
6 |
| 3 |
Ch.
6: Overview of B2B and B2B Software Technology: Supply
Chain Relationships, B2B Business Models, Selling and Buying
in B2B, Auctions in B2B |
Ch.
7 |
| 4 |
Ch.
7: E-Marketplace and B2B Exchanges: Third-Party Exchanges,
Dynamic Trading, Building New Marketplaces, Key to Success in
Exchange, International and Legal Issues |
Ch.
8 |
| 5 |
Ch.
8: Supporting B2B: What Can Be Offered?: Web Hosting,
Support Standards, Affiliate Programs, Syndication, Hypermediation. |
Ch.
9 |
| 6 |
Ch.
9: Dynamic Pricing: You Be The Boss (or can you say “priceline”?): Auctions, Benefits, Limitations, Economic Impact, Non-Internet
Dynamic Pricing |
Ch.
10, 12 |
| 7 |
Ch.
10: On-Line Publishing (brief)
Ch. 12: Building the E-commerce Infrastructure: Applications,
Architecture, Connecting to Databases, Site and Interface Management
Mid-term Exam |
Ch.
13.1-13.4 |
| 8 |
Ch.
13: E-commerce Security, Part I |
Ch.
13.5-13.8 |
| 9 |
E-commerce
Security, Part II |
Ch.
14 |
| 10 |
Ch.
14: Electronic Payment Systems: E-card, E-check, E-cash,
E-bill |
Ch.
15 |
| 11 |
Ch.
15: The OR Point-of-View: E-fulfillment and E-procurement: Supply Chain, Logistics, Order Fulfillment |
Ch.
16.1-16.8 |
| 12 |
Ch.
16: Implementing E-commerce: Models, IT Issues, Strategy
Implementation, Issues Concerning the Industry, the Company
and the Competition |
Ch.
16.9-16.16 |
| 13 |
Ch.
16 Continued: Strategic Planning, Strategy Implementation,
Project Assessment, Success Metrics |
Ch.
19 |
| 14 |
Ch.
19: Mobile Commerce: Already Here?: Benefits and Limitations,
Support, Mobile Marketing & Advertisement, Non-Internet
Applications in m-Commerce |
|
*: All reading assignments listed are assigned
in that particular week (row), due the next week.
