Tutorial 13 (Chapter 14)

Tutorial 13

Chapter 14

End of Chapter Questions (p.878)

1. How has the Internet impacted the content that newspapers can offer? (Question 8)

Almost any information can be found on internet, even more than those newspapers can cover, because newspapers has limited pages of information whereas internet will never be limited.

With the technology of search engine, people can just type in any information they want and the links will be listed and users can jus click and find the information they need.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of e-book content? (Question 11)

Advantages:

Can be accessed by people anywhere, anytime, without time and place boundaries.

Easy to search for keywords.

Easy to carry (e-book files can be saved into any portable media or e-mails).

Easy to navigate

Disadvantages:

Must be viewed using media such as laptops, PDAs, Handheld mobile devices, computers, etc.

Projects

1. Examine and report on the progress, if any, made with respect to the delivery of movies on demand over the Internet. (Question 4)

Tutorial 12

Chapters 8 & 13

End of Chapter Questions, Chapter 8 (p.485):

1. What is the difference between an interstitial ad and a superstitial ad? (Question 5)

Interstitial ad : a way of placing a full-page message between the current and destination pages of a user

Superstitial ad : a rich media ad that is pre-loaded into a browser’s cache and does not play until fully loaded and the user clicks to another page

2. What are some of the advantages of direct e-mail marketing? (Question 9)

è Low cost (sending e-mail is free)

è Fast & worldwide

è Sent to interested users

3. List and describe some Web site design features that impact online purchasing. (Question 15)

Compelling experience: provide interactivity, entertainment, human interest, site is dun to use.

Editorial content: provide helpful content, opinions, features on subjects of interest to visitors in order to increase stickiness.

Fast download times: quicker is better, if longer, provide amusement.

Easy product list navigation: consumers can easily find the products they want.

Few clicks to purchase: the shorter the click list, the greater the chance of a sale.

Customer choice agents: recommendation agents/configurators help the consumer make quick, correct choices.

Responsiveness: personal e-mail response; 1-800 phone capability show on Web site

End of Chapter Questions, Chapter 13 (P. 808):

1. What is personalization or personal value pricing and how can it be used at the beginning of a product’s life cycle to increase revenues? (Question 1)

Personalization / personal value pricing : adjusts prices based on the merchant’s estimate id how much the customer truly values the product.

For example, Web merchants may charge committed fans of a musician a higher prices for the privilege of receiving a new DVD before its official release to retail stores.

2. What is an affinity community and what is its business model? (Question 2)

Statistical aggregrates of people who self-identify with one another to some material extent in their attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviour.

Affinity group tends to offer less well-known brands in their business compared to general purpose portals.

3. Why did most communities in the early days of e-commerce fail? What factors may enable some online vertical communities to prosper today? (Question 13)

In the old days, not many companies goes online, so the online shops offered limited products and not everyone in the old days trust online products and online transactions (safety reason).

Nowadays, you can find anything online, and the online shops provide the safe online transaction so many consumers start to buy things online and they find it easy, convenient and secure.

Tutorial 11 (Chapter 12)

Tutorial 11

Chapter 12

End of Chapter Questions (P. 739)

1. List at least five potential benefits of B2B e-commerce. (Question 3)

• Lower administrative costs
• Lower search costs for buyers
• Reduced inventory costs by increasing competition among suppliers and reducing inventory carried
• Lower transaction costs by eliminating paperwork, automation
• Increased production flexibility by ensuring just-in-time parts delivery
• Improved quality of products by increasing cooperation among buyers and sellers
• Decreased product cycle time by sharing of designs and production schedules
• Increased opportunities for collaborating with suppliers and distributors
• Greater price transparency

2. Explain the difference between a horizontal market and a vertical market. (Question 7)

Horizontal market : markets that serve many different industries

Vertical market : one that provides expertise and products for a specific industry

Projects Chapter 12

1. Examine the Web site of one of the e-distributors listed in Figure 12.11, and compare and contrast it to one of the Web sites listed for e-procurement Net marketplaces. If you were a business manager of a medium-sized firm, how would you decide where to purchase your indirect inputs – from an e-distributor or an e-procurement Net marketplace? Write a short report detailing your analysis. (Question 2)

Tutorial 9 (Chapter 10 & 11)

Chapter 10

Retailing on the Web

End of Chapter Questions:

1. Why were so many entrepreneurs drawn to start businesses in the online retail sector initially? (Question 1)

n Greatly reduced search costs on the Internet would encourage consumers to abandon traditional marketplaces in order to find lower prices for goods

n Market entry costs would be much lower than those for physical storefronts, and online merchants would be more efficient than offline competitors

n Traditional offline physical store merchants would be forced out of business

n Some industries would become disintermediated as manufacturers built direct relationship with consumer

n Ultimately, few of the above assumptions proved to be correct, and structure of retail marketplace in the U.S. has not be revolutionized

2. Explain the distinction between disintermediation and hypermediation as it relates to online retailing. (Question 9)

3. What are five strategic issues specifically related to a firm’s capabilities? How are they different from industry-related strategic issues? (Question 14)

n Strategic factors that pertain to firm include:

§ Firm value chain

§ Core competencies

§ Synergies

§ Technology

§ Social and legal challenges

Chapter 11

Online Service Industries

End of Chapter Questions:

1. Compare and contrast the two major types of online service industries. What two major features differentiate services from other industries? (Question 2)

n Within service industry groups, can be further categorized into:

§ Transaction brokers

§ Hands-on service provider

n Services industry features:

§ Knowledge- and information-intense, which makes them uniquely suited to e-commerce applications

§ Amount of personalization and customization required differs depending on type of service

2. Define channel conflict and explain how it currently applies to the mortgage and insurance industries. Name two online insurance companies or brokers. (Question 6)

3. Explain how global distribution systems (GDSs) function. (Question 13)

Merchants who buy reservations from suppliers, and then resell the “inventory” to agencies, which then retail the inventory to customers or create vacation packages that are then sold to retail.

4. In addition to matching job applications with available positions, what larger function do online job sites fill? Explain how such sites can affect salaries and going rates? (Question 15)

Company Location, Salary offered by the company, Background and Overview of the company can be found through online job sites.

Tutorial Questions 8 (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9

Ethical, Social and Political Issues In E-Commerce

End of Chapter Questions (p. 565):

1. Name some of the personal information collected by Web sites about their visitors. (Question 6)

Name, Address, Phone Number, E-Mail Address, Bank Accounts, Education, Credit card accounts, gender, age, occupation, browser type, preference type, transaction data.

2. Explain how Web profiling is supposed to benefit both consumers and businesses. (Question 12)

To business: it is the most effective marketing tool available nowadays, because it targets the customers who prefer the particular products offered by online businesses.

To customer: it is easier for them to find particular products online.

3. How could the Internet potentially change protection given to intellectual property? What capabilities make it more difficult to enforce intellectual property law? (Question 14)

4. What are some of the tactics illegal businesses, such as betting parlors and casinos, successfully use to operate outside the law on the Internet?(Question 18)

Project (p. 566):

1. Go to Google’s Preferences page and examine its SafeSearch filtering options. Now surf the Web in search of content that could be considered objectionable for children, to see how the parental controls function works. What are the pros and cons of such restrictions? Are there terms that could be considered inappropriate to the software but approved by parents? Name five questionable terms. Prepare a brief PowerPoint or other form of presentation to report on your experiences and to explain the positive and negative aspects of such filtering software.

External Questions:

1. List some of the ways that the Internet can be used to collect information about individuals. (p.716, E. Turban, D. King, D. Viehland and J. Lee, 2006)

2. If you were in the process of establishing a commercial web site, would you need to investigate the bona fides of linked site(s) if you provided hypertext links to other web sites? Could you protect yourself from legal disputation arising from users who gained access to the linked site through your own? If so, how? (p.263, E. Lawrence, J Lawrence, S. Newton, S. Dann, B. Corbitt, T. Thanasankit, 2003)

Internet Commerce - Week 7 Tutorial Question

Tutorial Questions: Chapter 6

End-of-Chapter Questions (Page 351)

1. Compare and contrast stored value payment systems and checking transfers. (Question 3)

Checking transfer: funds transferred directly via a signed draft or check from a consumer’s checking account to a merchant or other individual

Stored value payment systems: account created by depositing funds into an account and from which funds are paid out or withdrawn as needed

2. Name six advantages and six disadvantages of using cash as a form of payment. (Question 53)

Advantages

Portable

No transaction fee

Low cognitive demands

Anonymous

Provides instant purchasing power

Private and difficult to trace

Disadvantages

Easily stolen

Limited to smaller transaction

Does not provide any float

When it is spent, it is gone

Purchases tend to be final and irreversible

Irrefutable otherwise agreed by the seller

3. Briefly discuss the disadvantages of credit cards as the standard for online payments. How does requiring a credit card for payment discriminate against some consumers? (Question 8)

Disadvantages:

• Merchants pay a hefty transaction fee of 3% to 5% of the purchase price to the issuing bank
• Risks of transaction (credit card fraud, repudiation of the transaction, or nonpayment)
• Once a card is reported stolen is reported stolen, consumers are not liable for any subsequent charges
• Credit cards have less finality than other payment systems because consumers can refute or repudiate under certain circumstances

Social equity: many people do not have access to credit cards (young adults, plus almost 100 million other adult Americans who cannot afford cards or are considered poor risk)

4. What are the primary differences between the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol and the SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) protocol? (Question 10)

5. Compare and contrast smart cards and traditional credit cards. (Question 14)

Project (Page 351)

1. Research the challenges associated with payments across international borders and prepare a brief presentation of your findings. Do most e-commerce companies conduct business internationally? How do they protect themselves from repudiation? How do exchange rates impact online purchases? What about shipping charges? Summarize by describing the difficulties between a U.S. customer and an international customer who each make a purchase from a U.S. e-commerce merchant. (Question 2)

Internet Commerce - Week 6 Tutorial Questions

Tutorial Questions: Chapter 5

End-of-Chapter Questions (Page 301)

1. Why are some online merchants hesitant to ship to international addresses? What are some of the risks of doing so? (Question 1)

2. What are some of the steps a company can take to curtail cybercriminal activity from within a business?(Question 11)

3. Compare and contrast firewalls and proxy servers and their security functions? (Question 14)

Firewalls : software applications that act as filters between a company’s private network and the internet itself, denying unauthorized remote client computers from attaching to your internal network.

Proxies : software servers that act primarily to limit access of internal clients to external internet servers and are frequently referred to as the gateway.

4. Identify and discuss the five steps in developing an e-commerce security plan. (Question 16)

1. perform a risk assessment - an assessment of the risks and points of vulnerability

2. develop a security policy - a set of statements prioritizing the information risks, identifying acceptable risk targets, and identifying the mechanisms for achieving these targets.

3. develop an implementation plan - the action steps you will take to achieve the security plan
   
   
4. create a security organization - educates and trains users, keep management aware of security threats and breakdowns, and maintains the tools chosen to implement security

5. perform a security audit - involves the routine review of access logs

Project (Page 302)

1. Given the shift toward m-commerce, identify and discuss the new security threats to this type of technology. Prepare a presentation outlining your vision of the new opportunities for cybercrime.