5600 City
Avenue
Philadelphia,
PA 19131-1395
eCommerce & Web Technologies
(MIS 2531)
Draft Syllabus ‡
Instructor Name:
Office Location:
Tel. No.:
Fax No.:
Email Address:
Homepage:
Class Meetings:
Starting Date:
Office Hours:
Rubén A. Mendoza
Mandeville Hall 378
(610) 660-1639
(610) 660-1229
RMendoza@sju.edu
http://www.sju.edu/~rmendoza/
Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, 12:00Noon-12:50pm, MV 206
January 21st, 2004
Monday & Wednesday, 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Other times by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the impact of electronic commerce technologies on business strategy through the study
of basic economic principles. The emphasis is on understanding proven free-market concepts, their
implications for organizations wishing to participate in the Internet age, and on the proper context for
contemporary Internet technologies. After completion of this course, students will be able to analyze
emergent and contemporary Internet technologies for their capabilities and organizational fit, and not
simply on their promise or hype. Topics covered include the economics of information, Business-toBusiness (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) business models, the competitive
impact of complex network technologies, standards, and collaboration, and specific contemporary
technologies.
COURSE GRADING POLICY
Final course grade will be assigned based on the scale shown below. Please note that extra-credit work is
not available at any point during the term.
In-Class Exams
 Lowest grade worth 15%
 Remaining two worth 20% each
Technology Presentations
 2 @ 10% each
 Group work
 Details announced in class
In-Class Participation
 See scale below
 Case Study discussion included
Final Presentation
 Group work
 Details announced in class
55%
20%
15%
10%
1
TOTAL
100%
Technical Presentations
Students will work in groups to present a particular technology of their choosing in class. Technology
topics are subject to instructor approval and may vary from term to term. Additional details about the
length and format of the presentation, as well as a partial list of acceptable topics, will be posted on MySJU
and announced in class.
Use of Blackboard & University email
Blackboard will be the preferred method of communication for class-related announcements, events,
changes, etc. All course materials will be posted there. It is the student’s responsibility to check
Blackboard and his/her University email account regularly.
In-Class Participation Grading Scale *
Student contributions should be
 Original
 Relevant
 Timely
 Thoughtful
 Appropriately brief
Student contributions, as defined above, will be graded as follows:
15 pts. - Regular contributions
10 pts. - Frequent contributions
7 pts. - Occasional contributions
4 pts. - Rare contributions
1 pt.
- No contributions made
0 pts. - Disruptive classroom, computing, telephone behaviors
* In-between scores at instructor’s discretion
TEXTBOOK(S)
Required:
 Information Rules. C. Shapiro & H. Varian. (Harvard Business School Press; November 1998). ISBN:
087584863X
 Other readings as listed in syllabus and/or announced in class
HONOR CODE POLICIES
Students are expected to adhere to University and Haub Business School rules and guidelines for student
behavior.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you have a documented disability (learning, physical, psychological) for which you are or may be
requesting reasonable academic adjustments, you are encouraged to contact Services for Students with
Disabilities, 113 Science Center, 610-660-1774 or 610-660-1620 as early as possible in the semester.
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COURSE SCHEDULE ‡
Dates
Jan 21
Jan 23
Jan 26
Jan 28
Jan 30
Feb 2
Feb 4
Feb 6
Feb 9
Feb 11
Feb 13
Feb 16
Feb 18
Feb 20
Feb 23
Feb 25
Feb 27
Mar 1
Mar 3
Mar 5
Mar 8-12
Mar 15
Mar 17
Mar 19
Mar 22
Mar 24
Mar 26
Mar 29
Mar 31
Apr 2
Apr 5
Apr 7
Apr 9
Apr 12
Apr 14
Apr 16
Apr 19
Apr 21
Apr 23
Apr 26-30
‡
Topic(s)
Readings/Activities
Course Overview/Introduction
Video: The Internet – Behind the Web
The Information Economy
What is eCommerce/eBusiness?
Electronic Markets: Economics & Evolution
HTML Tutorial – I
Pricing & Versioning Information
Preface
HTML Tutorial – II
Introduction to EDI
HTML Tutorial (in-class; laptop required)
Borthick & Roth 1993, Kalakota & Whinston 1996
Chapter 1, Grossman et al. 2003
Heng 2003, Sahlman 1999, 2001, Fonda 2003
TBA
HTML Tutorial (in-class; laptop required)
Chapters 2, 3, Surmacz 2003
Introduction to XML
Technology Reports
Rights Management
Video: Life on the Internet 2.0: Copyright
Exam 1
Guest Speaker
Kristin Thomson, Organizer/Researcher
Future of Music Coalition
http://www.futureofmusic.org
B2B Exchanges
Lock-In
Spring Break. No Class.
Networks & Positive Feedback
Technology Reports
Standards
Chapter 4, Rainie et al. 2004
Tumolo 2001, Sawhney 2002
Chapters 5, 6
Chapter 7
Chapters 8, 9, Allen & Sriram 2000
Technology Reports
Web Services
Exam 2
Guest Speaker – TBA
Security
Technology Reports
Easter Break. No Class
EasterBreak. No Class.
Guest Speaker
Joseph McKairnes, BEA Systems
Policy
Exam Review
Exam 3
Group Work
Final Presentations
SeeBeyond 2002, Gralla 2003a, b
Chapter 10, Simmers 2002
Contents and dates subject to change. Guest Speakers may be featured during the term, depending on
availability and appropriateness to the topics being discussed.
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Required Readings* :
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*
Allen, R. H., Sriram, Ram D. (2000). "The Role of Standards in Innovation." Technological
Forecasting and Social Change 64(2-3): 171-181.
[On Reserve at F.A. Drexel Library]
Borthick, A.F., Roth, Harold P "EDI for Reengineering Business Processes," Management
Accounting (75:4), October 1993, pp 32-37.
Fonda, D. (2003). Will Wal-Mart Steal Christmas? TIME. 162: 54.
Gralla, P. (2003a). What is Service-Oriented Architecture? searchWebServices.com, May 6.
Gralla, P. (2003b). What is Service-Oriented Architecture? Part Two. searchWebServices.com,
May 20.
Grossman, L., Buechner, Maryanne Murray, Thottam, Jyoti, Friedhoff, Stefanie, Roston, Eric,
Taylor, Chris (2003). Search and Destroy. TIME. 162: 46.
Heng, M. S. (2003). "Understanding Electronic Commerce From a Historical Perspective."
Communications of the Association for Information Systems Volume 12, pp. 104-118.
[On Reserve at F.A. Drexel Library]
Kalakota, R., Whinston, Andrew B. (1996). Electronic Commerce: A Manager's Guide, AddisonWesley Longman, Inc – Chapter 9 – Interorganizational Commerce and EDI
[On Reserve at F.A. Drexel Library]
Rainie, L., Madden, Mary, Hess, Dan, Mudd, Graham (2004). The impact of recording industry
suits against music file swappers. Washington, D.C., The Pew Charitable Trust Internet &
American Life Project: 6.
(http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_File_Swapping_Memo_0104.pdf)
Sahlman, W. A. (1999). "The New Economy Is Stronger Than You Think." Harvard Business
Review: 99.
Sahlman, W. A. (2001). "In Praise of Irrational Exuberance." Harvard Business Review: 2.
Sawhney, M. (2002). "Putting the Horse First," CIO Magazine.
(http://www.cio.com/archive/051502/netgains.html)
SeeBeyond White Paper (2002). Web Services
(http://www.seebeyond.com/products/whitepapers/WebServicesWhitepaper.pdf)
Simmers, C. A. (2002). "Aligning Internet Usage with Business Priorities." Communications of the
ACM 45(1): 71.
Surmacz, J. (2003). The Personalization Myth, CIO.com.
(http:// www2.cio.com/metrics/2003/metric621.html)
Tumolo, M. (2001). "Business-to-Business Exchanges." Information Systems Management 18(2):
54-62.
Links to readings will be available via Blackboard unless otherwise noted.
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