E-Commerce Assignments

MBA-IV, BBA-VI

Note: If a question is big and difficult for an individual to handle then a group of two
or three students can opt it.

1. Visit Amazon.com, eBay, Yahoo! and Priceline.com. How do each of these companies
generate a majority of their revenues? Visit each site and comment on the sites navigability.
Which model would you be most likely to use when making a purchase? Why?

2. Visit Bottomdollar.com, Pricewatch.com and Deja.com each of these sites offer a

comparison-pricing service. At each site, search for a digital camera, a photo scanner and a
printer. Find the lowest price on each of these products at each site. Try to use the same brand
and model in each case. Make a chart with five columns and place the names of each product
type vertically in the first column. In the header row, list the name of each site. Under each
company write the appropriate product name and price for each specific product type. Add up
your total for each site. Now visit a traditional retailer such as circuitcity.com or
compusa.com, find the same products on one of these sites and list them in the fifth column.
Find a total cost of the products on from the retailers Web site. Which of the sites was able to
provide the lowest price on these products? Which site was able to offer price quotes from the
largest number of sources?

3. Enrononline.com is a B2B exchange for the energy industry. Take the free tour available on
the sites home page. How many energy products does enrononline.com offer? According to the
tour, how does a person initiate a bid on an energy commodity? What is the “All or Nothing”
option as described in the tour? Enron offers an alternative to the B2B exchange at the end of
the tour, what is this alternative buying method?

4. Spend one hour searching the Web for free products and services. List as many free
resources as possible. Estimate the value of each free item you find. Determine the total value
of all of the free resources you discovered. Write a short essay summarizing your search
efforts and discussing your findings. If you are working with a group, compare your findings
with those of others.

5. Make a spreadsheet containing a column for each of the following business models:
storefront model, auction model, name-your-price-model and B2B exchange model. In each
column, list three e-businesses that operate in the corresponding model. Visit the Web site of
each of the companies you have selected. Answer the following questions: a) Do the
companies operate with more than one of the defined business models (e.g., storefront and
auction)? If, so which models do they implement? b) Are the companies Internet-only
companies, or brick-and-mortar businesses? c) How do the companies generate revenue?

6. In this chapter, we discussed the importance of good Web-site design. Find a site on the
Web that you feel could be designed better. Plan the layout of the home page and three other
pages on the site for example, a contact page, a products page, an “about us” page or a
services page. You do not need to fully develop the content, as you are concerned only with
design here. What links will you provide? What resources will be listed? Where will you put
them? Then, choose a more effective domain name for this site. Why did you choose it? Visit
register.com to see if the domain name of your choice is available.
7. In this chapter, we explored several services on the Web that allows users to build their own
Web sites. Many of these services are free to use. Visit one of the sites listed and begin to build
your own site. Keep in mind design and layout. Add links and other features to make your site
easier to navigate. Have others visit your site and provide you with feedback.

8. In this chapter, we discuss online payment processes and some of the concerns related to
making purchases over the Internet. Security, privacy and accuracy are among the greatest
concerns. Poll your friends, family and professors. What percentage of people you talked to
had made a purchase online. Did they have any problems? Using the information provided and
additional research, decide which mechanisms are best suited for protecting credit-card
information. Consider both Visa and MasterCard’s approach. How do they compare? Be
prepared to discuss your answers.

9. In this chapter we discuss peer-to-peer payments. Visit the BillPoint demonstration at

www.billpoint.com/help/tutorial.html and answer the following questions.
a) According to the tutorial, which two links are necessary to use BillPoint Online Payments?
b) What is the action taken by the seller at the close of the auction?
c) Name three of the items required in the BillPoint invoice.
d) What are the two methods that can be chosen by the bidder for initiating payment?

10. In this chapter, we discuss e-billing. Visit the CheckFree demo at www.checkfree.com
and answer the following questions.
a) What are the four fields that must be filled out in the check payment process?
b) What feature allows you to make several payments at once?
c) What feature allows you to make repeated payments?
d) In the Payment Histories feature, what are the three status indicators?
e) What are the two programs that payment histories can be exported into?

11. In this chapter, we introduced the EBPP service offered through the U.S. Postal Service.
Visit the online demonstration and answer the following questions.
a) Name the four ways you can add a new payee to your payee list.
b) How is the Payment Activation Code distributed to the user?
c) A list of your paid, cancelled and failed checks can be viewed at what location

12. Check out three of the Internet Service Providers listed in Fig. 5.2 of chapter no 5
in the book that provide free Internet access.
a) Compare the features of their service with that of one or more fee-based Internet
services.
b) What do these sites companies require of you in exchange for free service?

13. Investigate the availability and price of each of the following Internet access
services in your
area:
a) T1
b) T3
c) DSL
d) ISDN
e) Broadband cable Internet access.

14. Visit the GNU General Public License Web site, at www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
What do you perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of distributing
software under this licensing agreement?

15. In chapter no 6 of the book , we presented a few examples of how wireless technology will
help disabled
people. Describe three other ways in which the technologies will help disabled people in their
everyday activities.

16. Review the differences between the WAP using WML, Web clipping and Microsoft’s Pocket
Internet Explorer. Which technology do you perceive to be the best solution for wireless Web
browsing, and why?

17. Study the Bluetooth Web site at www.bluetooth.com. Describe how the technology will
be used in the near future.

18. Describe how GPS technology can be used in the following devices:
a) clock
b) PDA
c) car
d) car keys
e) pen
f) mobile phone
g) laptop computer

18. List the four problems addressed by cryptography, and give a real-world example of each.

19. Compare symmetric-key algorithms with public-key algorithms. What are the benefits and
drawbacks of each type of algorithm? How are these differences manifested in the real-world
uses of the two types of algorithms?

20. The Visa International Web Site includes an interactive demonstration of the Secure
Electronic
Transaction (SET) protocol that uses animation to explain this complicated protocol in a way
that most people will understand. Visit Visa at www.visa.com/nt/sec/no_shock/intro_L.html
to view the demo. Write a short summary of SET. How does SET differ from SSL? Why are
digital wallets important? How are they used? If you were asked to choose between the two
protocols, which would you choose, and why? (2 people group)

21. Go to the VeriSignWeb site, at www.verisign.com.Write an analysis of the features and

security of VeriSign’s digital certificates. Then go to five other certification authorities and
compare the features and security of their digital certificates with that of VeriSign.

22. Research and compare three different online advertising agencies.

a) What forms of media does each company offer for advertising?
b) Do any of the sites offer demonstrations? Explain any demonstrations that you can view.
c) Which company has the most appealing and navigable site? Which company would you
choose for your advertising campaign. Why?

23. Choose a traditionally marketed product or service, and create an Internet marketing
strategy for it. Discuss how you would perform each of the following for the product or service,
discuss the importance of each and give examples:
a) direct e-mail
b) cross-media advertising
c) banner advertising
d) target market
e) public relations
f) promotions
g) Internet marketing research
h) search-engine registration (for a group of 3 people)
Basically, a free Internet service provider (ISP) is like a TV network offering you free
viewing. Free ISPs also get something out of their offered free service. So in that sense,
it’s not really free.
Still, it’s good to have a free ISP than pay something for it. However, you should be
aware of the downsides. You’ll pay something for that free in a form of ad banners that
might invade Internet surfing, surveys before you can get the free Internet access, usage
tracking, tech support, restricted Internet hours, limited monthly allotments, reduced
bandwidths, limited services, and temporary trials.
If you’re ready for these downsides, then you’re ready to evaluate free ISPs. Evaluating
free ISPs is more like evaluating paid ISPs. Here are the factors to consider when
comparing and evaluating different providers:

• Internet Plan. What are your goals why you want to get free ISP? What is your
specific plan for using the Internet? Do you need an unlimited access to the
Internet or are you okay with the limited access?

• Internet Speed. Since it’s free, don’t expect to get optimum Internet speed. At
least, the ISP should offer you decent data transfer speed. You don’t want to
spend your life waiting for a page to download.

• Cost. What are the things in exchange of the free Internet connection? It could be
invasion of your privacy, answering surveys, watching ads, or very limited
Internet access.

• Support. Even if it’s a free ISP, it should still offer tech support and customer
support. You don’t want to be left hanging there watching your monitor to load up
the page. You need to know what to do in case of technical problems or in case
you have some queries. Better ask around how good are the technical skills of the
ISP. The better their technical skills, the better service you can expect.

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• Services. More than the usual things that ISPs provide, evaluate other things that
the ISPs in your list are providing. These could be email, online storage facilities,
FTP, and chat.

• Requirements. What do you need before enjoying the free ISP? Maybe you need
to purchase an expensive device you will buy from them before you can have
Internet access. Make sure you check this out because there could be some hidden
expenses.
Now, you are ready to evaluate free ISPs. You can start evaluating the top free ISPs today
like MetConnect, NoCharge, Basic ISP, NetZero, and Juno. Your effort and time doing
the evaluation will surely be worth it especially if you’ll end up with the perfect free ISP
that can answer your needs.
You can even try the free ISPs one by one and see which works best in real life. After all,
you’ve got nothing to lose. You did not pay anything yet you got the chance to
experience a free service. That experience alone is already a great reward that will soon
be helpful in case you ended up getting a paid ISP.

Free Internet Access

Something for Nothing
First Published: September 2000
Last Update: April 2002
Author: Computer Partners

The volume of people around the world connecting their computers to the internet is
increasing at an amazing rate. Despite the availability of High Speed Connections like
DSL and cable the vast majority of people still use modems and regular phone lines for
access. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) who connect these people to the internet are
in a highly competitive market. It isn't getting any friendlier. In the last year, companies
around the world have started offering unlimited internet connections free to subscribers.
This new wave of ISPs have started to change how the world accesses the net.
In return for providing free access, at least one ISP pops-up advertising at a regular
interval which users must respond to. Another doesn't display advertising but subjects its
users to monthly surveys. Almost all the other ISP's, a clear majority, use a more passive
approach. For the duration of a users net connection a portion of their screen is dedicated
to the display of banner ads. Users don't have to click on ads but they can't hide them.
,
If you don't mind the advertising you may be wondering what else you lose out on with a
free ISP. The good news is that connection speeds, features like email accounts, web
space and online technical support are all offered. Where most free ISPs fall short is the
lack of live telephone technical support. Larger paid ISPs will often offer this round the
clock. With the free ISP's you are most likely on your own to solve problems.
Another limitation of the free ISPs is that in addition to your web browser, you must run
a program to display advertising. If the program is not available for your operating
systems, you can't use the service. Windows 95/98 is almost universally supported but
Windows NT/2000, Mac OS and Linux support is less common. If your computer is low
in memory or processor speed, the extra burden of running the program while online may
slow it down to the point of being unusable. See our test results below.
All of the free services are limited geographically. For example, some are only available
in the U.S. If there are services available in your country there may not be a local access
phone number for your area. This is something you will have to investigate if you do not
live in a major city. Some free ISPs have more local access numbers than others.
There are too many to mention then all here. There is an excellent directory on the web
complete with user reviews. Click here to view. Note that about half of the U.S. options
also serve Canada and only the ones that unique to Canada are listed for it on the
international page.
At the time of preparing this article we tested half a dozen free internet options and found
them all to work similarly. Our experience confirmed that you do need a Pentium
computer with 32 megabytes of RAM for acceptable performance. The interruption of
loading new advertising banners can slow upload/download time. With a 56k modem,
connections speeds were comparable to those of paid ISP we are familiar with. We rarely
got busy signals and always connected within two attempts. Connection availability and
speed will vary by area.
The services that used banner ads only steel a small amount of screen space on a 17"
monitor, around 10% vertically at 1152x864 resolution. This didn't interfere with our
surfing. However, when we switched to 800x600 for a 15" monitor we found the loss in
screen space lead to a lot of scrolling in the browser. Most people would find a minimum
resolution of 1024x768 provides a comfortable balance of advertising and browser space.
The most annoying "feature" we encountered was the tendency of free ISPs to terminate
connections when they are inactive for relatively short periods of time like 10 minutes.
Even if you are reading a page in your browser you may lose your connection if you don't
click refresh within 10 minutes. If you aren't the type who stays on one page for a long
while this wont affect you.
In summary, our research and testing shows free internet is a viable option for dial up
internet access. The advertising and other limitations are tolerable considering the
monthly savings of $10-$20.