Course Syllabus and Schedule Fall 09

August 17, 2009

Course Syllabus and Schedule Fall 09

MET TM 648 INTRODUCTION TO ECOMMERCE

BOSTON CAMPUS - HYBRID

DR. KIP BECKER (www.bu.edu/goglobal)

Please read the complete syllabus as you are responsible for all dates, assignments and issues covered.

KIP BECKER

Dr. Kip Becker is an Associate Professor and the Chairman of the Department of Administrative Sciences. He has published over thirty articles and book chapters both nationally and internationally in the areas of international management, Electronic Commerce, strategy, marketing and global service sector issues. He is on the Board of the International Management Development Association and the Editor of the Journal of Transnational Management. He is on the editorial review boards of: Advances in Competitiveness Research. Scientific Journal of Administrative. Strategic Outsourcing, The Journal of Teaching in International Business, The Journal of Transition Management and the Journal of Business and Information Technology. He has owned a waterfront restaurant and is president of Northwind Management International which conducts management training and consulting with companies, governments and associations worldwide. Prior to entering academe' Dr. Becker's experience included positions with: TDX systems of Cable and Wireless Ltd. in marketing, the U.S. Department of Justice, a special task force in the Regan administration and as a U.S. army helicopter pilot during Viet Nam and Desert Storm. He holds a second degree black belt in TKO Karate. For a complete resume with publications see: www.bu.edu/GoGlobal

Hybrid Format

The hybrid format is designed to combine the flexibility and technology features of on line education with the personal instruction advantages of the classroom. The class will meet in the classroom, computer lab and will have on line sessions. We will have 6.5 class sessions, 3 online sessions and 4.5 lab sessions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The objective of the course can be summed up quickly as helping you to appreciate the rapid growth associated with internet enabled business as well as some of the difficulties. It is my objective to introduce you to the general issues, technical (security, WEB and Internet systems, payment mechanisms, etc) and non-technical (strategy, marketing, business development, etc.). In addition I will want you to become acquainted with some development tools. One such tool is the Blogger which is a general communications tool. Blogger is being used by teenagers and private publishers to discuss everything from a teen’s favorite record to comments by private individuals (and now companies) concerning your company. Politicians, TV anchors and firms have underestimated the power of the Blog. Several have been very sorry for this underestimation. Blogs are easy and kind of fun. They are a rapidly growing national and international communications medium and something you should understand.

Throughout the course the student is introduced to the Ecommerce environment relating to B2B, B2C as well as B2G. We will also briefly discuss the controversial, and rapidly growing, area of P2P. In pursuing these objectives, the course will employ the following:

1.  On line Lectures reviewing text information in a valued added manner with enhanced discussions of chapter topics

2.  Present Ecommerce related simulations to assist in the better understanding of specific Ecommerce issues.

3.  Development of a Blog

4.  Interaction in discussion groups to communicate about on-going text, lecture and discussion questions.

5.  Development of a draft ecommerce website (for profit or not for profit) with explanations of the design, purpose, audience and interactions.

6.  Readings from text, cases and recent information sources

In an effort to:

1.  Combine theory and practice

2.  Combine the strategic with the tactical

3.  Use relevant concepts to analyze and assess complex Internet enabled business situations.

4.  Gain an understanding of the different areas of the company that are affected by internet enabled technologies.

COURSE MATERIALS:

I am very much aware of the climbing cost of text so have attempted to reduce your costs by reducing the number of books we will use and offering online digital text and options in ordering.

The material for the textbook and cases is provided below and the University Bookstore has the text and cases. I do want to point out a caution should you decide to order a used text online. I have found that ordering times can greatly vary if you are not ordering directly from source. In some cases students have not received text or they have been too late to be of use. Be careful if you select to go to other sources for your text that you are sure that you will receive it in sufficient time for the course. You must have the book the first day of class as we start off with a lengthy reading assignment the first week. No excuses! There is some merit to checking with the sender as to when you will receive the book if time is short.

E-commerce: Business,Technology,Society 2009, Be sure you have 5th Edition E-Commerce 2009, 5/E
Kenneth Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver, Azimuth Interactive
ISBN-10: 0136007112
ISBN-13: 9780136007111 Publisher: Prentice Hall Copyright: 2009

FOR THOSE WHO PREFER A DIGITAL BOOK YOU CAN ORDER ONE DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER IN TWO FORMATS

NOTE: eTextbook $87.50 (180 day subscription)

Compare Online & Downloadable

CASES: (COURSE PACKAGE FROM BU BOOKSTORE)

NOTE: You MUST have this material by the beginning of the course as # 1 is required reading for the first weeks.)

1.  Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan (bh 281/0007-6813)

2.  Connecting the real and the virtual world: Sony BMG’s market entry into second life (507-138-1)

3.  Air France (KEL 319)

4.  How eBay got outbid: Initial Failure and Market Re-entry in Japan (309-077-1)

5.  A plan to Invent the Marketing We Need Today (management review reprint summer 2008 v 49.n4 reprint #494111) NOTE: this case is in the BU Library and not in the course package..

Instructions to locate and read this article: Go to http://www.bu.edu/library/ejournals/index.html Enter the Journal name (MIT Sloan Management Review) and click the Search button. A list of providers will result on the page. Choose a provider (the first one, ABI/Inform Global offers complete text and is easy to use). Login with your username and Kerberos when prompted, and then select the issue you are looking for, (Summer 2008, Vol., 49, Iss. 4). Use the search function to find the article within the issue.

COURSE GRADING:

Your final grade will be based upon the following:
Note: some weeks have two discussions or assignments and in those cases they will be averaged to provide one discussion or assignment grade for the week.

1.  In Class/On-Line: interaction & discussions 15%

2.  Weekly Assignments 20 %

3.  Functional Specifications Site Project 10 %

4.  Web Project 15%

5.  Midterm Exam 20%

6.  Comprehensive Exam 20 %

TOTAL 100%

GRADING PROCESS:

While there is no fixed absolute number of grades in any one level, it is important to note that high grades reflect an excellence in the understanding of class material and organization of thought. In addition, as an important aspect of any class, whether on line or in a classroom, is the shared thoughts and insights of the class members grades will also reflect an individual’s contributions to the class. I will follow the Boston University, Metropolitan College, recommendations concerning grading standards. As such, A and A- grades are awarded for superior class work. I have no specific grading distribution other than to respect the college’s A level distinction and to award grades based on merit. Please note that the Department does not allow extra work to be used to change a course grade. This is considered “off syllabus” and not fair to the others in the class. Please do not ask for off syllabus work as you will be referred to this section of the syllabus.

Class Participation

You are asked to keep up on a weekly basis. The essence of this course is learning a set of ideas and knowing how they apply in international business situations. Mastering the material requires you to assess, think, and form judgments, so high quality on line participation is essential. High-quality participation includes substantive contribution to case discussions, insights into topics we are discussing, questions regarding relevant topics, and on-line interactions with others. There is not much time to accomplish quite a bit so it is essential that you do not fall behind. Please see timely presentation section regarding assignments and due dates. I would recommend that you attempt to keep ahead to provide some individual flexibility in case a problem arises during the course.

Please note that I expect you to participate in the weekly class when noted, online. Remember that online discussions should be like classroom discussions. That is to say they should be a discourse and on going throughout the week. Often students ask, “When should I post my discussion to the board?” The answer to that is you should be active throughout the week and post early to stimulate discussion and several additional times to respond to others. If everyone waited until the end of the week or Saturday, there certainly would not be much of a discussion. There would be a list of single postings. It would also not be possible to give much thought to other’s contributions. This would leave the discussion board without much enthusiasm or interactive spirit. I truly want you to be part of the Boston University community and the community of my classroom. I look forward to reading your postings and learning from them. I know that the other students do as well.

On Informed Contributions:

Informed discussion is not to be confused with opinion. Each student came into the class with an opinion on lots of things. I have rarely found a member of a class not to have opinions on most everything. Some are even strong opinions. Some of the opinions are founded in fact and some are treated as fact but are really judgments that have been formulated by association with printed or verbal inputs coming from newspapers, magazines, family and friends. Understanding what you believe is one important aspect of maturity. Understanding what others believe, and why they believe it, is equally (if not more) important and may be what education is really all about.

Weekly Discussions in the classroom and online Are Graded In The Following Manner

Discussion Grading Rubric

Score / Description for Scoring Each Week’s Discussions
Actively responding to another student’s initial submission means entering at least one response to another student’s initial submission. Short responses such as ‘I agree’, will not be counted as a response. You must provide the rationale on why you agree or disagree with another student’s initial submission.
A / Exceptional Participation – Met all of these conditions:
·  Submitted own initial contribution for each discussion topic,
·  Actively responded to several other students in week’s discussions for each topic of the week and did so in an engaging and frequent manner.
Exceptional quality of comments – Exceptional level of discussion which brings value to the discussion while building on others insights. It is a highly valued added discussion which brings in new insights, material and many citations with references. Of particular importance was that participation was early enough to have been read by the class and provoked others to explore the topic further. Author has explored the comments of many others and made contributions to their postings. There have been made several Exceptional level contributions during the week and student is the top 15% of the class for the week. (A level work). This level may be divided into A and A-.
B+ / High level Participation – Met all these conditions:
·  Submitted own initial contribution for each discussion topic,
·  Actively responded to several other students in week’s discussions for each topic of the week and did so in an engaging and frequent manner.
High quality of comments – Student explored others comments and built on others insights. The contributions are outstanding and represent a highly valued added discussion which brings in new insights, material and references. Author builds on discussions of others and has many several high level contributions during the week.
B / Average Participation – Met all of these conditions:
·  Submitted own initial contribution for each discussion topic,
·  Actively responded to a few other students in week’s discussions for each topic of the week. Tended to respond toward the end of the period so that it was more difficult for others to respond to the comments.
Average quality of comments – Author has been quite active in discussions during week and made many valuable contributions building on and enhancing other’s comments by providing contributions which include references and citations to works of others on the topic. These outstanding contributions would be considered to be in the top 70 to 80% of the class discussions for the week.
B- / Low Level Participation – Met all these conditions:
·  Submitted own initial contribution for each discussion topic but was not engaged in others submissions.
·  Limited responses to other students in week’s discussions for each topic of the week. Would be considered to be generally below the average contributions of the class.
·  Tends to be opinion rather than new material of a value added nature
Low quality of comments– Author has been active in discussions during week and made some valuable contributions building on and enhancing other’s comments by providing contributions which include references and citations to works of others on the topic.
C- / Minimal Participation
·  Submitted own initial contribution for each discussion topic
and either of the following:
§  Did not respond to another student’s submissions
§  and/or Low quality of comments
Minimal quality of comments – Author has been in the discussion during the week but tends to repeat others or make opinion related statements. Quite below Average postings.
F / Inadequate Participation
·  No participation or participation without contribution or recognition of others and would be considered failing level work.
Minimal quality of comments – Author is not active and postings would be considered to be of a person nature and do not contribute to the knowledge of the course. Postings are well below average as they restate or provide personal opinions.

ASSIGNMENTS:

You will have weekly assignments that will require you to answer specific questions, do practical assignments or discuss more fully specific aspects of the material that is being submitted that week. Please be sure to be complete in your answers but to the point as well. We are looking for informed responses not just opinions in assignments so back your work with references and data when appropriate and provide an informed discussion.