Course Schedule

(Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10)

Week 1

Monday (March 30): Course Introduction

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Getting acquainted
2. Course overview, goals, and administrivia
3. Introduction to Electronic Commerce

Readings:

• Course Syllabus
• "It's a Flat World, After All," Thomas Friedman, NYT (4/3/05). (Watch (optional) video presentation; read interview)
• Bakos, Y., "The Emerging Role of Electronic Marketplace on the Internet," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41, No. 8, August 1998, pp. 35-42.
• Oreilly, T., "What is Web 2.0?" (9/05).

Other:

• The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models - World Economic Forum, 2007.
• Tech/Web Stats: InternetWorldStats, BusinessWeek, Clickz Stats, Tofocus, eStats
• Retail E-commerce Sales - US Department of Commerce
• E-Biz Strikes Again! Cover story, Business Week (May 10, 2004)
• Varian et al., "The Net Impact Study: The Projected Economic Benefits of the Internet In the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany," January 2002. (summary pp. 1-17)
• Digital Economy 2003, U.S. Department of Commerce. (Read the executive summary, Introduction, and Chapter 5)
• "Why CEOs still don't get the Net," Cnet (5/21/02)

Assignments:

• Experience Electronic Commerce -- do it right away

Wednesday (April 1): Internet Business Models

Topics (Session Slides):

B2C and C2C Business Models

B2B Business Models

Read:

• Rappa, M., "Business Models on the Web," NCSU, 2007.
• Kaplan, S. and M. Sawhney, " E-Hubs: The New B2B Marketplaces," Harvard Business Review, May-June, 2000.

Other:

• Patented Web Business Processes/Models
• The end of the free lunch? Again, the Economist, March 19, 2009
• Online Music: Rewriting the Score, BusinessWeek, May 30, 2005
• Jewelry Heist, Business Week, May 10, 2004
• Movies to Go, The Economist, July 9, 2005
• Directories of B2B Marketplaces: Forbes, Google, TradeXpro

Assignments:

• Dell Online

Week 2

Monday (April 6): eCommerce Technologies I: The Network Infrastructure for E-Commerce

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Wrap-up: Business Models on the Internet
2. Overview of Internet Architecture and Protocols
3. The Access Provider Industry
4. Basics of Telecommunications
5. How the Internet Works

Read:

• How Web Servers and the Internet Work, from howstuffworks.com
• The Internet Architecture -- a brief guide

Other Web Resources:

• Hobbes' Internet Timeline
• Akamai's "State of the Internet" reports
• Mapnet: Internet Backbone Visualization
• Internetworking Technology Handbook from CISCO
• Tools: DomainTools, DNSstuff, VisualRoute, NetworkTools, Domain Name Lookup
• Cyber Geography -- visualizing internet topology and traffic patterns.
• Internet Traffic Report
• DNS Lookup/Resources
• A note on Cybersquatting
• Directory of Internet Service Providers
• learn more about Internet2
• Internet Governance:
  • Concise Guide
  • Organizations: Internet Society, Internet Software Consortium, IAB (Internet Architecture Board), IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
  • IP Address Block Assignment: AINA
  • Domain Name Registration: InterNIC, ICANN
• Office/Home Networking: WiFi.org and WiFiPlanet.com (Wireless), Powerline
• Emerging Wireless Technologies: WirelessMAN , MBWA
• Beyond Wi-Fi (BW; Special Report; 6/05)
• Power Line Broadband

Wednesday (April 8): Discussion of Dell Online case (Slides)

Week 3

Monday (April 13): eCommerce Technologies II: The Web

Topics (Session Slides):

1. WWW protocol: HTTP
2. Markup Languages: HTML, XML
3. Java and Javascript
4. Web Services
5. Service-Orietned Architecture and Cloud Computing

Read:

• Web Services (Wikipedia)
• SOA (Wikipedia)
• Cloud Computing
• The Web at Your Service - BusinessWeek, March 18, 2002
• Amazon moves to front line of shaping 'Web services' - USA Today, September 30, 2003

Resources to Skim:

• Web Building Tutorials
• The World Wide Web Consortium
• Builders.com
• Java: Java Home
• CookieCentral
• Builder.com
• XML:
  • xml.org,XML.com,
  • XBRL: Trust and Data Assurances in Capital Markets: The Role of Technology Solutions - PWC Research Monograph
• Web Services
• The Way To A Google Office - BusinessWeek, October 31, 2005.

Wednesday (April 15): Discussion of Monster and eBay Cases (Slides)

Read:

• Network Effects (Wikipedia)
• Wolf, J., and W. A. Muhanna, "Adverse Selection and Reputation Systems in Online Auctions: Evidence from eBay Motors," Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems, December 2005. (focus on introduction and conclusion)

Other:

• Arthur, W. Brian,"Positive Feedbacks in the Economy," Scientific American, Feb. 1990.
• Liebowitz, S.J., and S. E. Margolis, "Network Externalities (Effects)," The New Palgraves Dictionary of Economics and the Law, MacMillan, 1998.

Week 4

Monday (April 20): Tech III: Technologies for Secure E-Commerce

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Start with slides from session4
2. Firwalls and Network Security
3. Encryption and Transaction Security
4. Digital Signature
5. Technologies: SSL, PGP, PKI

Read:

• Introduction to Cryptography (Chapter 1 which comes with PGP; skim)

Other:

• The WWW Virtual Library on Cryptography, PGP, and Your Privacy
• The Strength of the Internet Proves to Be Its Weakness, NYT, February 10, 2000.
• SSL FAQ
• Spyware: Spyware Runs Rampant (PCWorld; 4/15/04), How To Stymie The Snoop In Your PC (BW; 4/5/04)
• Note on Digital Signatures
• International PGP

Wednesday (April 22): discussion of B&K Case (Slides)

Supporting Materials:

• Jeffrey, M., "Return on Investment Analysis for E-Business Projects", Technical report, Northwestern University, 2006.
• A note on Sensitivity Analysis Using Excel

Week 5

Monday (April 27): Technologies for Secure E-Commerce (Cntd)

Wednesday (April 29): discussion of Yahoo & Google's cases (Slides)

Supporting Materials:

• On the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo Merger. More here.
• Google AdWords and AdSense Programs.

Week 6

Monday (May 4): Midterm Exam

Wednesday (May 6): Tech IV: Electronic Payment Systems

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Online Credit Card-Based Systems
2. Digital Checks
3. P2P payment systems
4. Micropayment Mechanisms and Digital Cash
5. Smart Cards and Mobile Payment Solutions

Read:

• E-Money, S. Holly, Internet Business.

Other:

• Money - Past, Present & Future by Roy Davies
• Smart Card Players: American Express (Blue), Mondex, Visa
• Virtual Credit Cards and Digital Wallets: Visa, Google Checkout (demo)
• P2P Payment Solutions: PayPal
• Shopping PayPal or Google Checkout (7/06)
• BillMeLater (related story)
• Mobile Payment Solutions (Wikipedia), Examples: Zong, Paymo and Mobillcash.

Week 7

Monday (May 11): eTailing

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Measuring the Opportunity
2. Online Retailing Issues and Challenges
3. M-Commerce
4. Overview of Online Marketing (Slides)

Read:

• Alba, J. et al., "Interactive home shopping: Consumer, retailer, and manufacturer incentives to participate in electronic marketplaces," Journal of Marketing, July 1997.
• Wolf, J., Arkes, H., and Muhanna, W., "The power of touch: An examination of the effect of duration of physical contact on the valuation of objects," Judgment and Decision Making, 3:6, August 2008. (see corresponding university Press Release; media mention: NPR, The Toronto Star, Times, MSNBC, and many others.)
• Lee, Y. et al., "Coping with Internet channel conflict," Communications of the ACM, 46:7, July 2003.
• Skim:Ratliff, J. M., "NTT DoCoMo and its i-mode Success: Origins and Implications," California Management Review, Spring 2002.

Other:

• Retail E-commerce Sales - US Census Bureau
• Tech/Web Stats: InternetWorldStats, Clickz Stats, Tofocus,
• The ultimate marketing machine, The Economist (7/06).
• Location-Based Services: two views.

Wednesday (May 12): Market and Organizational Implications

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Transaction Costs Economics
2. Markets vs. Hierarchies

Read:

• Malone, T. W., "Electronic Markets and Electronic Hierarchies," Communications of the ACM, 30:6, June 1987, pp. 484-497.
• Muhanna, W. A. and J. Wolf, Jr. "The Impact of E-Commerce on the Real Estate Industry: Baen and Guttery Revisited," The Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 8:2, pp. 141-152, 2002.

Other:

• E-Biz Strikes Again! Cover story, Business Week (May 10, 2004)

Week 8

Monday (May 18): Disintermediation and Cybermediation

Topics (Session Slides):

1. discussion of AutobyTel Case
2. Disintermediation and Cybermediation

Read:

• Sarkar et al., "Cybermediaries in Electronic Marketspace: Toward Theory Building", J. Business Research, 41:3, pp. 215-221, March, 1998.
• Gallaugher, J. M., "E-commerce and the undulating distribution channel," Communications of the ACM, 45:7, July 2002.

Other:

• Muhanna, W. A. and J. Wolf, Jr. "The Impact of E-Commerce on the Real Estate Industry: Baen and Guttery Revisited," The Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 8:2, pp. 141-152, 2002.
• Atkinson, R. D., "The Revenge of the Disintermediated," January 2001.
• E-Biz Strikes Again! Cover story, Business Week (May 10, 2004)

Wednesday (May 20): Internet's Impact on Pricing and the Nature of Competition

Topics (Session Slides):

1. The eMarket Efficiency Hypothesis
2. Impact of Reduced Search Costs

Read:

• Bakos, Y., "The Emerging Role of Electronic Marketplace on the Internet," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41, No. 8, August 1998, pp. 35-42.
• (skim) Smith, M., J. Bailey, and E. Brynjolfsson, "Understanding Digital Markets: Review and Assessment," 2000.
• (skim) Campbell, C., G. Ray and W. A. Muhanna, "Search and Collusion in Electonic Markets," Management Science, March 2005.

Other:

• Second Sight, The Guardian (UK), 3/24/05. (Story on our research)
• Frictions in cyberspace, The Economist, 11/20/99.
• Good-Bye to Fixed Pricing?, Businessweek, 5/4/98.
• The Hotelling Beach Model

Week 9

Monday (May 25): Memorial Day - no classes

Wednesday (May 27): BrightCove and the Future of Internet TV

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Guest Speaker (1st 45 minutes): Gauthier Vasseur, Director Global Performance Management at Google
2. Discussion of BrightCove case

Read:

• Eisenmann, T. R., G. Parker, and M. van Alstyne, "Strategies for Two-Sided Markets," Harvard Business Review 84:10, October 2006.
• The Long Tail

Week 10

Monday (June 1): Strategies for the Digital Age

Topics (Session Slides):

1. Pricing Digital Goods
2. Strategy for the Digital Age

Read:

• Porter, M. E., "Strategy and the Internet," Harvard Business Review, March 2001.
• Shapiro, C. and H. R. Varian, "Versioning: The Smart Way to Sell Information," Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1998.

Other:

• Weiss, R., and Mehrotra, A., "Online Dynamic Pricing: Efficiency, Equity and the Future of E-commerce," Virginia Journal of Law and Technology, 6:11, Summer 2001.
• Zhu, K., and MacQuarrie, B., " The economics of digital bundling: the impact of digitization and bundling on the music industry," Communications of the ACM, 46:9, September 2003.

Wednesday (June 3): Project Presentations

Back to AMIS 658 Home Page

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Waleed A. Muhanna / wmuhanna@ cob.ohio-state.edu