BUSINESS ISSUES FOR E-COMMERCE
Instructors:
Sunny Marche and Phil McLellan
Description of the Module
The Business Module will address business and social issues associated with electronic commerce and the Internet
economy, with particular attention to electronic delivery of government services.
Topics include:
· Some brief historical perspectives
· Dynamics of the internet in the context of the organization, the sector, in time, and socioculturally
· B2C, B2B, G2C, G2G, G2B, Alternatively C2G, depending on where the leadership comes from.
· The driving forces
· Internet / intranet / extranet
· Internet for what purpose
· Disaggregate functions and services. Re-aggregate them.
· Disintermediation versus reintermediation.
· Where to look for leaders in technology uptake.
· What is the size of the internet? Number of transactions? Dollar volume of the transactions.
· Other interesting considerations
· Metrics, a new world
· The business case
· Content versus service delivery
· Value chain focus
· Data, information, knowledge economics
· Strategic issues around organization, marketing, legal and implementation
· The business of privacy
· Trends in the global Internet economy
· Business factors affecting electronic commerce
· Analysis of B2C and B2B market segments and industry sector trends
· New Internet opportunities: intermediaries and on-line communities
· Similarities and difference between private and public sector developments
· Citizen-centred service delivery
· Electronic commerce and electronic service delivery
· ESD and public sector reform
· Canadian government strategy
· Implication and issues for departments and agencies
Lecture Overheads (in PowerPoint format)
A. Rau-Chaplin
Phil McLellan
Part 1 (e-business)
Part 2a (e-government a)
Part 2b (e-government b)
Sunny Marche
Lecture
Evaluation of Business Assignment (also in Word .doc format)
Course Outline, Timetable and Readings
DAY 1 - Monday, February 7
09:00 Course Introduction, Overview, & Administrative Information (Andrew Rau-Chaplin)
10:00 Break
10:15 Overview of the Internet – a brief history of the technology. An overview of the technology. Basic vocabulary.
Separating hype/hope from reality. Question – how did we get here? (Sunny Marche)
12:00 Lunch
01:00 E-Business Trends, Impacts, & Implications (Phil McLellan)
- Understanding Electronic Commerce - Koziur
03:00 Break
03:15 E-Business Trends Impacts & Implications (cont'd)
04:00 Individual Assignments & Class Projects (Individual & Group Discussion)
05:00 End of Day 1
DAY 2 - Tuesday, February 8
09:00 Business Pragmatism and the Internet E-business in the larger organizational context. Questions – Where
are we today and what are the business issues? (Sunny Marche)
10:00 Break
10:15 (cont'd)Future considerations – Where might this constellation of technologies go and what are we going
to do about it?
12:00 Lunch
01:00 Electronic Service Delivery - Trends in Government Reform (Phil McLellan)
- Treasury Board Web Site: CIO and Service & Innovation Sector Sub-sites
- Government of Canada Web Site: Speech from the Throne (Oct.99)
Connecting Canadians
03:00 Coffee Break
03:15 Electronic Service Delivery (cont'd) - Canadian Strategy, Implications, & Issues
04:00 Individual Assignments & Class Projects (Individual & Group Discussion)
05:30 End of Day 2
Assignment:
Evaluation
The assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. (Please note that this evaluation is in addition to the business
aspects of the group project)
Assignment: Papers are due on March 5, 2000
The following exercise is to be done in the form of a memorandum to a Deputy Minister concerning improvements that
can be made to a department's web- site. Deputy ministers will not read lengthy memoranda, so that this exercise
has a MAXIMUM of 2500 words. The paper should be submitted as an RTF document by email attachment to Sunny
Marche.
In this assignment you are going to critique a government "electronic commerce" site.
One definition of electronic commerce states: "E-commerce supports the sales cycle (all stages of revenue
generation), everything from marketing, fulfillment and distribution to customer service and support of the products
and services." In the context of electronic service delivery of government services, how might you reword
this definition? Your memorandum should include your notion of electronic commerce in a government context.
Electronic commerce technologies in combination with data warehouses, databases, and data analysis support customer-centric
business models. In addition to serving the true end customers, electronic commerce techniques should support improved
use of available financial resources and organizational decision making.
For the site of your choice, your memorandum might
- consider the strategic context
- identify the underlying business or service model
- identify the mechanisms and/or technology used to support decision making and customer service and support
- identify mechanisms that support efficient business operation
- suggest improvements to the site and its underlying business model that will improve its utility / impact / ease
of use in the above areas.
Your memorandum should also include some discussion on any obvious social, political or legal implications for
the existing site and for the proposed improvements.
If you have any questions or if we can be of any help, please do not hesitate to e-mail Phil
McLellan, or Sunny Marche
NOTE: You are not being asked to design a web site. If your suggestions are adopted, they would probably form the
basis for the functionality of a web site and the system behind it.