OPIM 300 Electronic Commerce, Spring 2004

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Course Overview

Despite the dotcom meltdown electronic commerce (EC) has become, and will continue to be,  an integral part of the new economy.  Electronic commerce is reshaping strategic business alliances, creating new processes, and challenging existing business relationships. This course will emphasize the key business, economic and technological issues that are associated with electronic commerce, as well as examine their interactions. 

We will be concentrating on the economic and business issues that are pertinent for managing electronic commerce.  Topics to be included in the course include information transport, , economics of information goods, offshoring, online markets, the theory of the firm,  price competition, price discrimination, auction theory, and Internet related privacy and regulatory policy issues. I will also provide necessary background on relevant Internet technologies, such as encryption when relevant.

The students who derive most value addition out of this course will be those who engage actively in the class with relevant, high quality insights. These will primarily come from delving into the class readings and from taking ownership of your own ideas.

A key component of the course will be projects and in class presentations that will enhance your understanding of the impact of e-commerce on a variety of industry segments. I will hope to draw on your prior professional experience as well as you investigative and analytic skills to enhance everyone's learning.

Required Textbook: "Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy" by Carl Shapiro, Hal R. Varian. 

Required Readings:

• There is no printed course packet or text for this course.  All required readings are available via links on the OPIM 300 Schedule page.  Core readings will be made available at least 2 weeks ahead of time. Given the dynamic nature of our learning environment (I have assigned articles as recent as Jan 14, 2004 and will continue to do so), changes to the reading schedule are common and will likely occur during the course of the semester.  It is your responsibility to keep track of this website to monitor any changes. A majority of the readings are recent and this is probably the most dynamic business environment around. Such a fast changing environment does not resonate with lagging text book publishing cycles, and hence we don not have a text book! Some readings may be photocopied & distributed in class. 
• We will be using a virtual E-Commerce e-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/opim300s04/ and a class mailing list opim300s04@yahoogroups.com to disseminate information from time to time. Please make sure you are a member of this group and have set up your preferences correctly for the virtual classroom.
• I will also be using the OPIM-300 public folder on the School of Business Exchange server to share information and files.

Optional Readings and Virtual Discussion Forum

Everyone is encouraged to contribute, respond, and interact with any material that is relevant to the class. The e-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/opim300s04  allows you to add bookmarks and share electronic files. You can initiate your search with this list of  news sources.

Each week there are interesting articles assigned for discussion (refer to the detailed schedule). The e-group should be used as a vehicle to comment, criticize and discuss these articles before and after class. Your activity level on the e-group will be monitored by me and will give you credit in the class participation portion of your grade. 

As graduate students, all of you are on the verge of re-embarking on your professional careers.  Please treat your class obligations as you would any other business commitment.  It is expected that all students will attend all classes, arrive on time and prepared, and actively participate in discussions.  Be prepared to be cold-called throughout the semester.   It will happen, and will impact your class participation grade. Arriving late is a disruption - please show your classmates the courtesy of minimizing such disruptions by being on time.  

Active participation in class is mandatory and a significant portion of your course grade. Questions are welcome and encouraged.  Its an easy way to participate in the class. There is nothing like a 'stupid question.' In all likelihood, someone else is probably having the same doubt, so you increase the learning of everyone by raising it. Your collective experiences are substantial and valuable to others, so don't be shy about sharing!  Occasionally, to keep us focused and on topic, I may request that a topic be handled outside class or will post a related article in e-group. 

In order to facilitate efficient communication please use the following communication guidelines. In general, email is preferred over voicemail because I have a record of what your request is, and in most cases give a better answer. You are always welcome to call me at work or IM me. 

Communication Guidelines

EMAIL 

1) Begin your subject line with "OPIM 300". Then end with a brief description of your issue, e.g. "E-group Problem" A sample subject line could look like "OPIM 300: Project Submission Problem" 

VoiceMail 

1) Please make sure you leave a number that I can call you back. If possible also send an email or leave an email address.

Grading:

Grades earned will be determined by two exams, a group project, and class participation.  The  final grade will be determined as per the weighting scheme below.

Class participation (including the timely completion of projects and effective preparation for all of our class meetings) is a basic expectation for all. 

Attendance is mandatory on all project presentation days. Plan ahead.

Project/In Class Presentations:

There will be 2 teams, of 2 to 3 students each, that will be created.  Each team will work on a major project. In addition I may assign individual in class presentation topics towards the second half of the course.

The project  will provide you with an opportunity to apply what you learn in the class room and will replicate activities that many of you will perform during your careers.  Expect to learn a lot from this project.

See project page for details and timeline.

Penalties for Missed Exams and Projects

Missed exams will be assigned a grade of zero for the particular exam that has been missed. Only in extraordinary circumstances (e.g. doctor certified medical illness, death of a near relative etc. - read your student handbook for details) will the grade of zero not be assigned for the particular exam missed. In such cases the students' grade will be determined from the remaining data points that make up the eventual final grade. For instance, if student x misses Test 2 for a valid emergency than his/her grade will be determined based on the performance in Test 1, Project and Class participation. No make up exam will be given under any circumstance.

Students are expected to attend all classes, to arrive on time, and to have completed all assigned reading prior to attending class.  Examine the course schedule ahead of time and notify the instructor immediately if you can not make a particular date or assignment. 

Academic Integrity:

Each student is individually responsible for the integrity of their own work. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each homework assignment is an individual assignment and does not permit cooperation between students. In any assignment (group or individual), if parts of the submitted work relies on other people's work, this has to be stated clearly in each instance and a proper reference has to be provided. Not giving proper credit to others' work constitutes plagiarism and is a serious violation of the University's honor system. Similarly, turning in the same work for credit in two different courses constitutes fraud and is also a serious violation of the University's honor system. Any detected improprieties, including cheating on exams, plagiarism and other fraudulent behavior, will be pursued to the maximum extent permitted by the University policy on academic dishonesty.

Acknowledgements:

In the true "open" spirit of the web I draw on a variety of open sources for material in this course. My acknowledgements go to:
1. Prof. Alok Gupta at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.
2. Prof. Michael Rappa's Open Courseware project at the NC State.
3. Prof. J. Gallaugher's Week in Geek project at Boston College.