BABSON COLLEGE
MIS-7570 - Emerging Technologies: Electronic Commerce
Home Page for MIS-7570

Spring Semester, 1999

DRAFT SYLLABUS: Posted: January 18, 1999*

(* Revisions may occur during the semester)

Instructor: Dr. Robert H. Reck

Office Address: Babson Hall 216E, or
Kendall Consulting Group
35 Farrwood Drive, Andover, MA 01810
(Best Phone) = 978-683-2600 days
Fax 978-470-1490
E-mail: reck@babson.edu
Bio: See course web site.

Class Meets: Wednesday, 6:30 pm-9:00 p.m., Room TBD

Course Web Site http://faculty.babson.edu/reck/mis7570

Course Summary and Objectives

This course studies the rapidly growing phenomena of electronic commerce from four perspectives:

  1. Technology underpinnings for Electronic Commerce (EC), including languages, hardware, software, networks, Internet, EDI, standards and protocols.

  2. Impact on other information systems within a business, including impacts on Intranets, management information systems, and other operating systems that provide fundamental support to all elements of the value chain within a business. The relation to Knowledge Management will also be discussed.

  3. Impact on business design and strategy (and vice versa), including how business strategy shapes and is now being shaped by threats and opportunities in EC.

  4. Impact on the industries and markets, including use of extranets, and how some industries are being forced to change almost overnight to respond to the impact of EC, particularly some intermediaries and distributors.

Audience

The course is aimed at those business and management information systems graduate students who already have an understanding of the fundamentals of MIS, and who want an in-depth understanding of the issues and fundamentals regarding the use and conduct of electronic commerce. Further, the course is being designed to especially appeal to those students with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Complementary Course in Marketing: MKT-7570 - Direct Marketing and Electronic Commerce

Prof. Larry Isaacson of Babson's Marketing Department is teaching a course that complements this one. Students may take both courses for an indepth concentration in electronic commerce. Prof. Isaacson's syllabus and prior course materials may be viewed on the Babson faculty server under his name and course number at "http://www.faculty.babson.edu". His course will particularly emphasize the business and marketing impacts of EC.

Class Approach and Student Evaluation

Classroom participation, two short papers, a personal web site, and a team EC project are the basis for the course grade. (Project team grade will be shared by all team members.)

Participation will be evaluated on the basis of understanding and using assigned readings and study findings, contributing to insight on analysis and action recommendations for the case or topic being discussed, and taking into account others' inputs.

Papers are to be an analysis and recommendations for a class or class topic(s). The papers are to take into account not only the assignment materials for the classes to that point, but also the class discussions and insights reached after the class. Students are encouraged to discuss material for classes and papers, but are individually responsible for the final products. Arrangement will be made so that students can post papers on the Babson class web site. Class participation will be 35% of the final grade, short papers 7.5% each, web site 10%, and team project 40%.

We recognize that some students may need to miss an occasional class due to personal, job or CCD activities. This will put them at a disadvantage in terms of class participation. In lieu of being in class, those students that have to miss class are encouraged to write and submit to the instructor a brief memo addressed to the person or character of their choice (including persons in the case study or the instructor) on the subject of the missed class. These papers will receive a check plus, check, or minus to indicate their recognition towards your participation grade by the instructor.

Course Materials

In addition to the course packet and materials that will be posted on or selected from the web, there are two books and other materials, which will be assigned on the web, or made available on the course web site. The books are:

[K&W] Ravi Kalakota and Andrew B. Whinston, Electronic Commerce, Addison Wesley Longman, 1997 (paperback)

[T&S] G. Winfield Treese and Lawrence C. Stewart, Designing Systems for Internet Commerce, Addison-Wesley Co., 1998 (paperback)

Books will be or are available from the Babson Bookstore or from amazon.com. The course pak will be available in the Bookstore near the start of the course; it will contain cases and articles referenced below that are not available for free from the web.

Guests

During the course, we will have several guest speaker on topics of interest to electronic commerce. These will be announced as far ahead as possible and suitable adjustments will be made to reading and case assignments.

Detailed Syllabus by Class

1. January 20, 1999 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce (And This Course)

Overview of course, contents of syllabus, and introduction of instructor and class to each other. Discussion of technology expectations for students. Discussion of grading criteria: participation, class papers and project (see also elsewhere in this syllabus). Formation of student teams.

Overview of Internet, EDI, VANs, MIS and internal corporate systems. Review of role of technology has played in commerce, including its role in strategic systems. Discussion of transaction types. Vocabulary and frameworks that will form the basis for analysis in this class.

No assigned readings prior to this class.

2. January 27, 1999 - EC Sites and the Internet

Review of the history of the Internet and Electronic Commerce (EC), including key historic milestones. Site ÒintensitiesÓ and the business and technology implications. Reasons for focusing on the Internet will be discussed. Discussion of whatÕs on the web and why; organizing principles. Major Internet components, including ISPs, portals, search engines, Internic, and other facets of EC will be explored.

Introduction to EC languages and tools. Basics of HTML (and perhaps Java) (Note: these topics will likely occupy a portion of the next few classes). Launching a web site into cyberspace. The desktop web site. Software products supporting site development; discussion and demonstration. Discussion of what you need to know as a business or technology manager.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapters 1, 3 (3.1 through 3.4) and 4
2. T&S, Chapters 1, 8 and 9
3. Case: Open Market (Case study questions will be posted one week before each case discussion)
4. Review the Open Market web site. Pay particular attention to their product offerings.

3. February 3, 1999 - Components of an EC Business

This session will address the technology, software, network connections, and business design and operating functions/models peculiar to EC businesses (e.g., www.amazon.com, cdnow.com). Models will be explored. Business positioning models will be discussed.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapters 2 and 3 (remainder)
2. T&S, Chapters 2 and 3
3. Case: WebSaver
4. HBR, Living on Internet Time
5. Case: Internet Securities: Building an Organization in Internet Time

4. February 10, 1999 - Components of an EC Business, Con't.

Continued discussion of EC businesses. This class will include discussion of the operating cost model for business case development with emphasis on three perspectives: supplier, infomediary, and buyer.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapter 9
2. T&S, Chapter 4
3. Case: Chemdex

5. February 17, 1999 - Issues and Red Herrings: Firewall and Security

Many of the key issues surrounding EC will be tabled. Specific focus will be on security and "hacker-proof" sites Ð hence, a discussion on protection of company systems and information by firewalls and security-limited access. This module explores these key features and includes how vital problems have been resolved with various hardware and software configurations. Protocols and features of EC software such as browsers that allow heightened security will also be discussed.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapters 5
2. T&S, Chapter 12 (scan only) and 13
3. Case: Open Market (Study of previous case from different perspective)

6. February 24, 1999 - EC and Banking

One of the key areas being developed that will have far-reaching impacts on business and EC is electronic banking. Attempted on-and-off for over 20 years with different technologies, now EB seems to be taking root. This session will explore the role of EC and the Internet in banking, as well as raise various payment and trade options such as micro-payments and digital cash. Many of the issues raised in the case also apply to other commercial enterprises.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapters 6 and 7
2. T&S, Chapter 14
3. Case: Wells Fargo (A) and (B)

7. March 3, 1999 - Online Communities and Their Role in EC

There are many ways that electronic communities or affinity groups influence a business and its EC functionality and design (and vice versa). Different designs have dramatically different impacts on both the technologies at play as well as the business design and impact.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapter 8
2. "Online Communities," HBR

8. March 10, 1999 - Linking Business Strategy and Electronic Commerce

How do existing businesses cope with the establishment of EC in their industries? This session will explore how businesses adapt to EC use. The customer resource life cycle will be introduced and related to EC. Benefits of an integrated approach will be introduced. Key strategic questions and relevant business processes will be presented.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapter 8 (Review)
2. T&S, Chapter 3 (Review)

9. March 24, 1999 - Linking Business Strategy and EC, Con't.

Continued discussion on business strategy, EC strategy and Internet strategy. Key points from recent authors will be raised. Making money on the Internet - various profitable endeavors.

Discussion of team projects (as time permits).

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapter 10
2. Case: Air Products Internet Strategy

10. March 31, 1999 - Linking Existing Systems and EC Systems

What factors are involved with interfacing EC and traditional corporate systems? Particular emphasis will be placed on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as SAP or Baan.

Readings:
1. T&S, Chapter 16
2. TBA

11. April 7, 1999 - Knowledge Management and EC

To appreciate many EC initiatives, a background and understanding in knowledge management is important. This class will explore the various viewpoints on KM, relate these to EC, and then discuss Intranets and their roles in business operations. Implications for technology architectures of various KM approaches will also be discussed.

Readings:
1. K&W, Chapters 11, 12 and 13
2. Case: Ernst & Young Knowlege Management
3. HBPS, Note on Knowledge Management
4. TBA

12. April 14, 1999 - The EC Customer and Site Design Criteria

What makes for successful EC sites in the retail area? What criteria are there? How can you become a "destination" site? What role do value disciplines play in site design and development? How can you use background technology to establish a competitive beachhead? Discussion of collaborative filtering versus structured filtering. Discussion of search engine bias. Review of "best" and "worst" sites. Review of "favorites."

Readings:
1. TBA
2. Case: Firefly Network (A)
3. Case: Broadvision

13. April 21, 1999 - Class Team Presentations

Class teams will present their projects and discuss the business and technology situations they portray.

Readings:
1. TBD

14. April 28, 1999 - Class Team Presentations

Continued, class teams will present their projects and discuss the business and technology situations they portray.

Discussion of next steps in team projects receiving actual funding and/or implementation.

15. May 5, 1999 - Wrap-Up [???]

Summary of the major lessons and learnings in the course.

Short Papers

Two short papers will be done in the course. The first will cover classes 1 through 6, and the second classes 7 through 12. Each paper shall be a maximum of five pages. It should be written based on your view of any or all of the topics in the indicated classes. Preferably, the paper will be a letter or memorandum to (a) a visitor, (b) a colleague, (c) a character in case study, or (d) someone else who you think should should be the recipient of your memo. The papers are due one week after Class 6 and Class 12; late papers will suffer a one grade reduction for each day they are late to the instructor.

Personal Web Site

Your personal web site should be a professional endeavor, launched to help communicate key information about yourself to friends, relatives and prospective employers. The site should contain the following:

a. Resume (including downloadable version)
b. Picture(s)
c. Other pages of relevance (e.g., hobbies, clubs, professional societies, charities)
d. Links to other relevant web sites (e.g., former or current employers)

Team Project

Each team of four to six students will define an electronic commerce (EC) initiative. This may be any of the following types of projects:

a. Definition of a new EC initiative (EC product or service)

b. Reinvention of an established (but trouble plagued) initiative

c. Creation of an EC initiative for an established company (from a clean slate)

The team is to assemble a realistic and complete, written business case for their initiative (reference class notes from February 10, 1999 (and beyond) class. The case will also be presented to the class who will serve as venture capitalists or an executive team whose decision is whether to fund the initiative and for how much. Actual VC or exec team members may be present to augment the class discussion; the instructor may be thought of as a primary investor or funding source. (The instructor and each team will decide the appropriate attendees as the semester continues.)

The business case should address the key topics of relevance to the situation at hand, and should probably include at least the following:

Team results are to be presented to the instructor (and any other relevant parties) in written form as a prospectus or business case. This should include both prose as well as appropriate exhibits to help "sell" their initiative. (Be sure the entire team is named on the cover page.)

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