Assignment: E-BUSINESS
Part 1
Assignment: Application of Value Curve Tool
Using PowerPoint or Excel graphic tools, develop a value curve for an industry context where there are both bricks and mortar and e-commerce players competing against each other. Specify the "dimensions of benefit" in the graph. Once you have developed your graphic model, briefly support why you placed data points of performance in each of the dimensions of benefit. In other words, what is the basis for the structure of your value curve in terms of each of the dimensions of benefit? Thus this assignment will contain two elements: (1) your value curve and, (2) a roughly 750 word essay supporting your decisions in constructing the value curve.
Value Innovation Brainstorm -
Write a 1250 - 1500 word essay addressing each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each bullet point. There should be five sections, one for each bullet below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) citations in your essay. Make sure to reference the citations using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page do not count towards the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment.
• Using a company of your choice, provide a set of recommendations to the CEO of this company to help it compete against existing competitors. Focus your recommendations on the six starting points for value creation as found in Exhibit 7.2. Be creative in this exercise and try to provide specific examples where additional value innovations could be generated using each of the six starting points shown in the framework.
For example, if you were using online education as your context, you might think about ways in which an academic institution might partner with corporation training units. This would promote creative thinking from "looking across substitute industries", i.e corporate training is a product substitute for university-based training. You might also apply the "looking across the chain of buyers" and decide that an innovative value creating initiative might involve developing a voluntary relationship with the student's employer and asking them what services might be applied to help this employee's career progress and perhaps ask the employer to financially support such services. Try to use all six of the value creating starting points. Again, this is an exercise where there are not necessarily "right answers", but rather, the activity emphasizes your own creative thinking so crucial to the value creation process.
Combine the two parts into one paper.
Part 2
Benchmark Assignment
This is a benchmark assignment for the School of Information Technology MISM, MSIS - Applications Development, MSIS - Web Development, and MSIT, Master's Program students. Store your submission with any grading feedback in your Professional's Portfolio and use the following tag:
Task
Ducati versus Harley-Davidson Case Study
Read the Ducati versus Harley-Davidson Case Study in the Jelassi et all text (pg. 389).
In a 1,250 word essay, respond to the following questions:
1. Compare and contrast Ducati's e-commerce strategies with those of Harley-Davidson. Where did the companies use similar strategies and where were the strategies different? What were the differences in the typical customers of Ducati versus Harley-Davidson and how did these differences impact the major decisions in their respective e-commerce strategies?
2. How did these companies attempt to align their internal processes with their e-commerce strategies?
3. This case was written in 2003. What kinds of e-commerce strategies do believe might be appropriate in the present day in light of the evolution of e-commerce platforms?
Business Case Analysis
This assignment focuses upon channel conflict as described in your readings. Select a business or industry that has experienced the phenomena of channel conflict as a result of new e-commerce initiatives. Do some web research to learn about common strategies and other suggestions for managing such conflict. (Examples often involve a conflict between existing bricks and mortar retailers and their associated e-commerce divisions). Pick an example and analyze the channel conflict from the perspective of the various analytical tools described in Chapter 9. Using the channel conflict matrix in Exhibit 9.6, where do you see the firm in question in relation to the channel conflict matrix. Do you believe that they perceived their channel conflict in the same way that you are proposing in your response? Are new ethical or social responsibilities issues at play? Critique their response to this channel conflict; do you think they developed an optimal solution? If not, what recommendations would you offer for a better solution to this channel conflict? (750 word essay)
Part 6
Assignment:
Case Study - 1,000 words
Select an organization that you believe to be particularly good at interacting with its customers and leveraging the power of social media. (See Facebook Ted Video above for an example). You could make this selection based upon your own experiences or do some web research to identify an exemplar. (If you have an interest in this area, you could use a not-for-profit organization for your case analysis). Specifically describe their customer interaction strategies. Provide specific examples to reinforce your argument that they represent an industry exemplar in this area. As you support your assertions, make sure to use the various models and frameworks described in your readings. Ideally, if you are a customer of this organization, include some of your own personal perspectives on the ways in which the firm's social media strategies and customer relationship management have created value for you. (750 words).
Consultative Case study - 1,000 words.
Select an organization that you believe is significantly under-performing in terms of their social media and associated customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Assume that you are a consultant to this organization. Make sure that you specifically describe areas of under-performance using the models and frameworks described in your readings. Next, provide a set of recommendations that you believe would improve their overall performance in this area. What kinds of things could this firm do to improve their performance in interacting with their customers and potential customers using internet and social media technologies? Try to also leverage your learning from previous modules where we have discussed approaches to value creation and the associated capturing of value.
Part 7
Case Study: Please select only one of the options shown below. - approximately 1,250 word
Option 1: Choose a business having a substantial mobile e-commerce presence and one ideally with which you have had some experience. In 1000 word case analysis, critique the suite of services provided by the business by analyzing the advantages and possible deficiencies of this service. Ideally, if you use the service yourself, use your own personal experiences as data for this analysis, but also indicate how other people might have differing perceptions in regard to the value of these mobile services. Make sure that you use the frameworks and concepts articulated in your readings. Other questions to reflect on in this analysis include the following:
What specific value or customer needs are being served via these mobile services?
Do you find that you value the features offered by these mobile services? Support your position with specific examples.
How might the mobile services of this company be improved? Again, support your argumentation with specific examples.
Postulate how these mobile platforms in this specific company might evolve into what has been termed u-commerce in your readings. What kinds of functionality would be offered? Do you think customers would value such functionality? (if you need to segment potential customer populations please do so).
What ethical issues surround this deployment of mobile commerce?
Option 2: If you have little personal experience with a company having a significant mobile strategy you might choose this case-based option. Read Case 20 in the Jellasi et al text: NTT DoCoMo (Japan): Moving from a mobile phone operator to a lifestyle service provider.
Innovation and Creativity in the Mobile Space - approximately 750 words
Choose a business, not-for-profit or governmental unit that you use regularly that currently has no mobile e-commerce functionality. Assume that you are a consultant to this organization. Provide a set of recommendations specifically describing mobile e-commerce strategies that you believe would be valued by the majority of their customers. (If desirable, approach this analysis with a customer segmentation framework that enables you to speak about customer benefit from a more targeted perspective). As in the previous analysis, make sure that you incorporate the terminology and some of the various frameworks described in your reading that help you describe and analyze your recommended suite of services. Feel free to use your own home company if desired. Also, if you would like to place this analysis within the context of B2B, feel free to use this perspective versus the B2C perspective.
Part 8
Benchmark Assignment
This is a benchmark assignment for the School of Information Technology MISM, MSIS - Applications Development, MSIS - Web Development, and MSIT, Master's Program students. Store your submission with any grading feedback in your Professional's Portfolio and use the following tag:
Length: 1,000 word essay
What specific best practices have you learned in this course that might be successfully applied to improve existing competitive performance in an organization or industry of interest to you? Try to select practices that offer the most promise but are not yet widely accepted. First describe the industry or organization of interest and then describe two or three of these relevant best practices. Discuss how these practices might need to be tailored to the organization in question. What information technologies might be leveraged to produce higher competitive performance or organizational effectiveness? Why do you think such practices have not been widely deployed in the organization or industry you?
PowerPoint Development
Using current information available on the Internet, develop a PowerPoint (or equivalent) briefing for a group of C-level corporate executives at a company of your choice in regard to information security issues inherent in their e-commerce strategies and operations. Highlight points of potential vulnerability and some of the best practices being deployed to manage the risk of such security issues in the e-commerce context. Assume that these executives are rather lackadaisical about such security issues as they might have a devastating impact upon the companies brand. Given this attitude, how would you convince the senior managers that this is a problem truly warranting sufficient investment and leadership?
Verify with your instructor if the submission of the presentation as a slide deck should or should not be accompanied with a screencast presentation by you of the presentation materials. In general, we encourage all our students to develop their presentation skills both as an author as well as a presenter. If you do not have the tools to capture your presentation (which should be less than 10 minutes in length), you might consider various free screencast packages that are available.
Note that one of the reasons why specific materials are not addressed in your textbook or even supplementary written materials in this course module is that these security issues are changing literally day to day so it is incumbent upon the student to examine these issues as they are manifest at the point you are taking the course. A good source for such information is Enterprise Security Best Practices - Microsoft. Google "E-Commerce Security Practices" and you will find many reputable sources such as Symantec, McAfee, IBM, CNET, Intel who discuss the very latest threats.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.