Dr Antonio Cordella MAR.4.35 and Dr Francesco Gualdi MAR.4.04

This course is available on the BSc in Management, International Exchange (1 Term) and International Exchange (Full Year). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course is not capped, any student that requests a place will be given one.

This course presents an analysis of the management, economics and information systems theories and practices in online business. This is a management information systems course and not a technical course. It is mainly directed at undergraduate students. It focuses on the study of the impact of digital technologies on business strategies and market configurations. Internet-based systems offer new means to operate businesses and to compete in the global marketplace and it is important for future executives and entrepreneurs to understand the economic and managerial implications of these transformations. Students will gain a good understanding of why and how successful companies are taking advantage of e-business, as well as an understanding of the main challenges and risks associated with different e-business models and strategies in a fast changing technological and business environment.

The course is structured into four main sections:

1. Strategic, technological, and economic foundations of e-business

2. E-business and its configurations: B2C and B2B

3. E-business: strategic and organisational challenges

4.  Implementation of e-business strategies’

Teaching hours in the LT will be commensurate with a usual half unit undergraduate course.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Lent Term, in line with departmental policy.

Students will complete a formative assessment which consists of a 500 word abstract of the final essay.

Each student will receive feedback on the approach, the structure of the presentation, and the argumentation they have proposed to frame the essay.

Aim of the formative work is to offer students the opportunity to self-evaluate their understanding of the subject, to test their preparation, to help them better understand what are the criteria of assessment, and to help them to better identify what is need to achieve the desiderated outcomes.

1. Chaffey, D., e-Business and e-Commerce Management, (Fifth Edition) Harlow, England: Pearson Education, (2011)

2. Cordella, A. "Transaction Costs and Information Systems: Does IT Add Up?'" Journal of Information Technology (2006) Vol. 21 (3), pp. 195-202

3. Garicano, Luis & Kaplan, Steven N, 2001. "The Effects of Business-to-Business E-Commerce on Transaction Costs," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 463-85, December

4. Hope Koch and Ulrike Schultze. 2011. Stuck in the conflicted middle: a roletheoretic perspective on B2B e-marketplaces. MIS Q. 35, 1 (March 2011), 123-146.

5. Kauffman, Robert J.; Li, Ting; van Heck, Eric (2010) Business Network-Based Value Creation in Electronic Commerce. International Journal of Electronic Commerce 15 (1) / Fall

6. Loebbecke, C. & Palmer, J.W. (2006) RFID in the fashion industry: Kaufhof Department Stores AG and Gerry Weber International AG, fashion manufacturer. MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol.5, No.2, 69-79

7. Mahadevan, B. (2003) Making sense of emerging market structures in B2B, California Management Review, 46(1) 86-101.

8. Novak, J. & Schwabe, G. (2009). Designing for Reintermediation in the Brick-and-Mortar World: Towards the Travel Agency of the Future. Electronic Markets, 19, pp. 15-29

9. Picot, A., C. Bortenlanger, et al. (1997). "Organization of Electronic Markets: Contributions from the New Institutional Economics." The Information Society: An International Journal 13(1): 107-123.

10. Pramatari, K., Evgeniou, T. & Doukidis, G. (2009) Implementation of collaborative e-supply chain initiatives: an initial challenging and final success case from grocery retailing. Journal of Information Technology, 24, 269-281

11. Rigby, D. (2011) The future of shopping. Harvard Business Review, December, 65-76.

12. Shapiro, C. and H. R. Varian (1998). Networks and Positive Feedback. Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Harvard, MA, Harvard Business School Press.

13. Zott C., Amit R., Massa L. (2011). The business model: Recent developments and future research. Journal of Management, 37: 1019-1042

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.
Group project (30%) and class participation (20%) in the LT.