Name:……………………………
Teacher:…………………………
Date started: ……………………
Deadline date: …...……………..
22
2010 Course
It is recommended that a minimum of 60 hours should be spent working on this brief.
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Your work should;
1) be saved in an ordered folder/directory structure
2) contain a front page with relevant information (name, course, centre number etc..) and have your name and centre number in a footer on every printout.
3) contain a detailed action plan dated with meaningful comments.
4) be very well ordered with a contents page
5) have every task completed and signed by yourself and your teacher .
6) contain before and after screen shots fully explained showing development.
7) contain no more that 4 screen shots per page.
8) contain detailed annotation throughout (on screen preferably)
9) contain in depth reports and evaluations (where applicable).
10) be presented in a treasury tagged portfolio.
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Produce an Action Plan detailing the order you will complete each section. Use the grid below to help you.
It is vital that you complete this action plan task by task rather than attempt to complete it at the end.
Task
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Task Description
Produce an Action Plan
P1
P2 - outline the planning issues to consider when setting up a business online.
P3
- describe online business activities.
- describe the potential risks to an organisation when operating online.
P4 - explain the operational and financial issues for an online business.
P5 - explain how small businesses can benefit from a web presence.
M1 - identify suitable website types for different businesses.
M2 - discuss staffing options for different business website types.
M3 - assess the benefits of an online presence for an identified business.
D1 - recommend a website type for a specified business
Date Comments
10
D2 - suggest ways in which a business could prepare for, and overcome, some of the risks associated with an online presence.
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Congratulations! You have gained a two week work experience placement at the prestigious Scunthorpe office of a national newspaper named ‘ B usiness Online’ . In addition to the Scunthorpe office the paper has other branches nationally.
Your editor, Mr R Bishop, has asked you to write a series of articles centering on the advantages and disadvantages of businesses going online.
Unfortunately for you Mr Bishop makes Piers Morgan look like a pussy cat. His nickname
‘J. Jonah Jameson’ is well earned, he suffers fools about as gladly as scrooge accepts
Christmas presents.
Mr Bishop expects you to look at several organisations and produce a series of mini articles which reflect the importance of having an online presence.
Good luck, you’ll certainly need it.
That you:

understand different online business activities.

understand the business feasibility of going online.

understand the operation of an online business.

know the benefits of an online business presence.
Follow the tasks in this booklet to build your evidence file
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Know about the different business activities
Activities range from
Retail such as shops: commercial services such as insurance : government services such as the job centre : information services such as connections : advertising, marketing or education.
Know what to consider when planning setting up an online business
Planning deadlines: budget for site: domain name: resources can it be done by people in or outside the organization, hardware, staff training, extent of the operation local, national, is the website site partially or fully interactive.
Understand the operations of an online business
Potential outsource of key elements such as the running and updating of the website
Who will deal with service break downs
Who will deal with distributing and delivery if you are selling and what about fragile goods
Who will deal with custom liaisons
Who will deal with insurance quotes
Understand the benefits of online business
Marketing benefits much wider potential audience
Think about poor transport locations
Tracking of the orders
24 hour visibility
Equality of presence
Rapid customer response
Low cost location, low cost labour, low overheads, rapid payment no cash handling easy entry into the business reduced stock holding or shop lifting
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Mr Bishop has asked you to write a mini editorial on how various organisations operate online, outlining their various activities. Produce a document (or a PowerPoint presentation if you wish) which describes online business activities below o o o o o o o o retail, commercial services, government services, information, internet services, advertising, marketing, education
For each type take a screen shot and copy and paste the URL. You need to describe both the business, and its activities online.
For example - ‘X is a banking organisation which is involved in lending and investing money’ might be a simple description, whereas ‘they allow online banking where customers can move money between accounts, pay bills and arrange loans online’ is a simple statement of activity.
Outline the planning issues to consider when setting up a business online.
(P2)
Mr Bishop now wants you to investigate the planning and implementation issues they would need to consider before going online and report back to them. You can choose either a presentation or a report to achieve this.
Write a paragraph by answering the following:
Is the business suitable for an online operation? Say whether or not they could benefit i.e. get more customers or members by having a website.
What will be the extent of online operations eg will it be informational only , will there be partial interactivity or full interactivity
Have the potential risks be identified and where possible addressed?
What sort of budget is available?
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What deadlines does the business need to work to e.g. to be ready for peak periods such as
Christmas
1.
What domain name could it have? Use the link to choose a domain name and explain why you have chosen the one you did. (The domain name is the name of the website e.g. www.hmv.co.uk). NB. Large companies such as Microsoft will buy all the different extensions to their name (e.g. .com, .net, .biz) so that other people cannot use them either.
Try some well known company names and see who owns the different URL extensions.
2.
Should the website be run by the business or should it be outsourced which would mean they would pay another company to run it for them? What is included in the price? For another example of a web design service click here . In your work compare the costs of a basic site and an online shop.
3.
What resources would the business need to cope with increased or global demand? For example would they need more staff to answer the phone? Would they need to increase production/move to bigger premises?
4.
What hardware and software does the company need to develop and run the online business?
5.
Does the business have the skills (IT, customer service, marketing) needed to run an online business?
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Mr Bishop is impressed with your report but has raised concerns about possible risks involved in operating online. You have offered to explain what the risks are and how the business can avoid or overcome these risks.
Once a customer has given his/her personal and credit card details to the business, they need to have confidence that the company will recognise the threats to this data. You need to describe these threats and assess the risk posed by them. Examples of threats are: o o o o o
IT failure eg hardware, software, data loss; global selling eg labelling, language, liabilities, unfamiliar trading conditions; customer risk eg payment security, ordering errors, losing information; hostile attack eg denial of service, website hijacking, fraud
Computer Crime
Denial of service attacks e.g. wiki-leaks http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/08/anonymous-4chanwikileaks-mastercard-paypal http://malwaredatabase.net/blog/index.php/2010/12/07/anonymous-attackagainst-anything-anti-wikileaks/ http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/12/08/WikiLeaks-Operation-
Payback.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
Mr Bishop now wants you to investigate the planning and implementation issues they would need to consider before going online and report
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back to them. You can choose either a presentation or a report to achieve this. Then complete the table
Operational issues:
1.
Staffing eg potential outsourcing of key functions,
2.
call centres; maintenance eg when, who;
3.
review points;
4.
dealing with service breakdowns;
5.
partner relationships eg financial services,
6.
distribution, deliveries;
7.
customer liaison;
8.
updates eg user specification, service levels;
9.
distribution of goods eg scaling up, cost, fragile goods;
10.
service distribution eg online insurance quotes, booking flights, hotel rooms
Example table; one row has been completed.
Operational Issue
(Potential problem)
Example
Payment Security
Customers need reassurance that payments done online will be secure.
Payments are carried out by established payment systems.
If systems such as ‘paypal’ are used, ensure staff know these systems well.
Associated Risk
Fraud
Theft
Lack of customer confidence
Unfamiliar trading conditions
(i.e. now trading online)
Errors in ordering
Misuse of personal information
Potential of electronic attack
Can you think of any more?
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Explain how small businesses can benefit from a web presence
.
(P5)
Mr Bishop now has a clearer idea about the potential risks of developing an online business. In order that he can get a balanced picture you need to explain what the benefits would be for a small business.
Identify suitable website types for different businesses (M1)
Make a PowerPoint presentation. Produce slides covering different websites types:
1.
online services eg online banking, music downloads
2.
offline services eg mail order
3.
interactive services eg digital image processing tools, blogs, wikis
4.
informational eg news websites
Discuss staffing options for different business website types
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Assess the benefits of an online presence for an identified business of your choice .
.
Recommend a website type for a specified business
Choose 4 different businesses and suggest the type of website that would be suitable for each of them. Make sure that you choose different sorts of business e.g. a large multinational company, a sole trader etc. Some businesses may need a website which has more than one purpose e.g. information and commercial services. Give reasons to support your suggestions
Task 10: Suggest ways in which a business could prepare for, and overcome, some of the risks associated with an online presence.
(D2).
Describe the measures that a business can take to counter these threats.
Describe the effectiveness of these measures. Examples are: o o o o o
Risk analysis o
Human error o o o
Physical threats unauthorised access who has access to the internet etc whether employees work off-site or travel with laptops o
Passwords
Access levels
Backup
Anti-virus measures
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o o o o o
Training
Firewalls
Secure electronic transactions
Encryption
Electronic security
See also this video:http://commoncraft.com/secure-websites-video
The table below shows the assessment criteria used.
Grading criteria
To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to:
To achieve a merit grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass criteria, the learner is able to:
P1
P2
- describe online business activities
- outline the planning issues to consider when setting up a business online
P3 - describe the potential risks to an organisation when operating online
P4 - explain the operational and financial issues for an online business
P5 - explain how small businesses can benefit from a web presence
M1 - identify suitable website types for different businesses
M2 - discuss staffing options for different business website types
M3 - assess the benefits of an online presence for an identified business
To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and merit criteria, the learner is able to:
D1 - recommend a website type for a specified business
D2 - suggest ways in which a business could prepare for, and overcome, some of the risks associated with an online presence.
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