MARKETNG 462: Electronic Commerce

Syllabus | Links | Calendar

This section contains the outline of the class, broken down by individual class sections. Click on a link on the table of contents below to see the contents of a particular session.

Class

Class Date

Thursday, January 17
Thursday, January 24
Monday, January 28
Thursday, January 31
Monday, February 4
Thursday, February 7
Monday, February 11
Thursday, February 14
Monday, February 18
Thursday, February 21
Monday, February 25
Thursday, February 28

Class 1

Introduction

In class we will discuss the flow of the course to enable you to start early planning for your group presentation and essays. Chapter 1 in our text provides a good overview of its focus-to understand the role of e-commerce to current businesses. The case note "Online retailers," offers one of the best available accounts of the reason for the e-commerce bubble in the e-retailing sector. Respond to at least one of the following questions on the discussion board for the first class.

  1. In what general ways has and will the Internet change society?
  2. A major theme of Weill and Vitale text is that the Internet will alter the ways all companies do business. Elaborate on an aspect of those changes.
  3. A major hypothesis of Eisenman and Brown in "Online Retailers" is that the Get Big Fast strategy was accounted for the speculative bubble in e-retailing. Do you agree or disagree?
  4. Very smart people were mistaken by Internet hype. What can we learn from that and how can we avoid making the same kind of mistakes in the future?
Readings:
Chapter 1, Place to Space
"Online Retailers"

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Class 2

The Cost of Transition

Case:

InPart

  1. To be successful InPart requires the integration of three groups: parts manufacturers, CAD vendors and designers. Detail the costs and benefits for any one of these groups and implications to InPart's system with respect to (1) segmentation, (2) pricing and (3) selling strategy. There will be a separate discussion thread for each of three groups.
  2. Build an e-business model schematic such as those in Chapter 2 of Place to Space. What insights can you gain from the schematic? PowerPoint is quite good for building such schematics. In your schematic, note who owns the transaction, the data, and the relationship in the system. If you build a schematic with PowerPoint, send it directly to me via the submission system.
  3. Do a search for what happened to InPart, putting your results in the Case Update discussion board.
  4. Discuss the framework for Place to Space developed in chapters 1-3. Why is their framework useful? How is it different from what you have seen before? This is a discussion board topic. We will leave this discussion board open for future comments or elaborations on Place to Space.
Readings:
Chapter 2, Place to Space

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Class 3

Due: Your first essay topic is due today. You also need to turn in your group identity and project topic.
Case:

Charles Schwab Corp (A)

This case chronicles Schwab's strategy as it moved from a storefront to a web-based company. Please come to class with the price Pottruck should charge to regular and electronic companies, and how, if at all, services should be allocated. We will begin class by putting your prices for electronic trades on the board. In addition to preparing for the class electronically submit one of the following:

  1. Following, chapters 2 and 3 in Place to Space, build a business schematic for e-Schwab. Note who owns the relationship, the data and the transaction in each case. Submit your schematic directly to me via the submission system. (Note, this is a good assignment for a team). What do you conclude from the schematic?
  2. The discussion board for this session has three threads: customer needs, competitive threats, and company requirement. Post a comment in one of these areas.
  3. What has happened to Schwab following the market and dotcom meltdown? Follow up on Schwab and electronic trading generally and place it on the Case Update thread.
Readings:
Chapters 3-4, Place to Space

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Class 4

Revolutionary E-businesses

Case:

Priceline.com: Name Your Own Price

This case covers airline tickets, hotel rooms, home financing and new cars. We will constrain our discussion to the first two. Priceline acts as an intermediary between consumers and suppliers of these services. The discussion board will have sections for both air travel or hotel rooms discuss the benefits and costs of Priceline's innovative system to the supplier and the consumer.

  1. What are the costs and benefits of Priceline's innovative system to the supplier and the consumer?
  2. Discuss Priceline's revenue model. What are its growth prospects?
  3. What happened to Priceline? How do you evaluate its prospects today?
Readings:
Chapter 7, Place to Space

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Class 5

Evaluating Web Sites

  1. Evaluate the current website for Schwab or Priceline or their competitors using some of the criteria for direct to consumer on page 108 of your text.
  2. Participate in an auction or Priceline bidding process and report your experience on the Auction Experience discussion thread.

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Class 6

Bringing Buyers and Sellers Together

Overview: Today we will consider how the pattern of social relationships in a firm affects the flow of information and the accumulation of power. The article by Burt argues that certain locations within network patterns bring benefits to the person who occupies that position. In our case, we will see how a middle level manager leveraged a backwater network position into a base of power.
Case:

ChemUnity.com

This case is also available as an electronic case. Information on how to reach it is on the discussion board for this session. Please test the electronic version. We need to know if this will work in the future. We expect to have a representative from ChemUnity in electronic contact during the class.

  1. What is ChemUnity's value proposition for suppliers and buyers?
  2. What is your view of ChemUnity's revenue generation model?
  3. What should ChemUnity do about their future challenges?

In addition, examine the website of at least one of their competitors (e.g. Chemconnect.com, Fobchemicals.com, CheMatch.com). Describe the ecological niche in which this competitor competes. To what extent does it pose a threat to ChemUnity?

Readings:
Chapter 10, Place to Space

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Class 7

Community Sites

Assignment:

First essays must be in before this session.

Case:

Alloy.com

  1. Report on a competitive (Gap.com, Guess.com, Daisymaze.com, jcrew.com) or possibly allied site (Yahoo.com, aol.com). What unique features does the site have that can either complement or threaten Alloy.com?
  2. Criticize the current Alloy.com website (remember it is not aimed at you!). What are its strengths? How could it be improved? Use the criteria found on pages 219-220 in Place to Space.
  3. Give arguments for and against the AOL deal.
  4. Evaluate Alloy's business model. What is the appropriate role of their website in that model?
Readings:
Chapter 9, Place to Space

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Class 8

Content Providers

Case:

Bizrate.com

There are two reasons we are studying the BizRate case. First, it is very useful when you want to evaluate shopping sites. For example, use it to evaluate how others view the Alloy, Priceline or the Schwab website. Second, as business case it reflects the changes that a dotcom must suffer in response to market and fiscal pressures.

  1. What are the costs and benefits of BizRate to participating companies it evaluates?
  2. What are the benefits to consumers of the BizRate's system, how could it be improved from the consumer's perspective?
  3. Consider the options given on page 10 of the case. Give arguments as to which you would do. How would you lead BizRate through this fork in the road?
  4. Contrast BizRate's website at the time of the case and now. How has it changed? What do you infer about BizRate's strategy from that change? Do you agree with the changes?
Readings:
Chapter 8, Place to Space

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Class 9

Essay Evaluations

You will be assigned 5 essays for which you will provide feedback to the authors. Send the authors a e-mail indicating what you like about the essay, how it could be improved and any extensions elaborations on what they found. Examples of feedback for essays are provided in Example Essay folder.

During class we will have presentation of selected essays or group projects.

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Class 10

Due: Group projects due today.
Live Case:

SciQuest.com

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Class 11

Web Intermediaries

Case:

Autobytel.com

  1. What are the costs and benefits to consumers of Autobytel's system?
  2. What is its value proposition for dealers?
  3. Evaluate Autobytel's revenue generation model. How much can they grow?

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Class 12

Wrap Up and Group Presentations

Due: Second individual essays due today

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