The University of British Columbia

Course Outline BAIT 513: Implementing e-Business in the Organization Period 1, 2007
Instructor: Office: Email: Phone: Location & Time: Dr. Ronald T. Cenfetelli HA 670 cenfetelli@sauder.ubc.ca 604-822-9552 Henry Angus 213; Wednesdays, 18:00-21:30.

Course Description:
E-Business continues to have a dramatic impact on how business is conducted with both strategic and operational implications. In fact, e-Business is now experiencing a more mature second act as it enters its second decade. With that in mind, this course is intended to explore e-Business from a general management perspective to address some questions, such as: Does e-Business matter to my business? How does it change my business model? How do I deal with the security of my data and intellectual property? Can I avoid angering my channel partners? How does a company use e-Business to enhance its business even if it does not sell anything online? These are only some of the questions to be addressed in the course. To emphasize the point, this will be a managerially focused, rather than technically focused course. The nature of e-Business means we must cover some technology (e.g. PKI) but only in terms of what would matter to a manager.

Topic Structure
E-Business: Fad or Phenomenon? Determining whether e-Business matters as a business channel. Customer, Inter-organizational and Intra-organizational domains also known as B2C, B2B and B2E. These domains share the Internet environment but have many important differences in terms of strategic and operational issues. Customer service and interface design are key aspects to B2C while channel partner and system integration dominate B2B considerations. B2E presents the opportunities and challenges of telecommuting, virtual teams, and knowledge management. Infrastructure & Security What are the basic nuts and bolts of the platforms for conducting e-Business? What are the security threats, their nature, and what can be done to address these issues? Intellectual Property Rights, Privacy, and the Law The Internet has had a huge impact on IP and other related legal issues with music sharing only the tip of the iceberg. That button on your website might be patented by someone else expecting you to pay for the privilege of using it.

Content:
I have drawn the readings primarily from relevant popular press articles, executive journals and business cases. You will find some of these readings in the BAIT513 Course Readings Packet, available in the Sauder copy center. Other readings will be provided electronically. I also have plans to have two e-Business leader from the local business community to speak to us about their e-Business experiences.

Evaluation
Participation Three case write-ups Final project 30% 45% 25%

Class Participation
Little needs to be said on this point to those well along in the MBA program. A graduate level business course is most successful on all dimensions when there is active, thoughtful participation by each and every member. The course evaluation provides an incentive to encourage participation.

Case Write-ups
There will be three business cases used during the course. As with participation, everyone should be familiar with the pedagogical purposes and expectations associated with business cases in a graduate business program. The write-ups are somewhat heavily weighted and serve two purposes. One is the educational value in the analysis and development of recommendations. The second purpose is to ensure a worthwhile discussion of the case in class. Your case write-up will take the form of a memo to a key constituent in the case (e.g. the CEO). This memo will be one page in length but can be appended with meaningful attachments (i.e. pro-forma income statement, org chart, etc.). I will provide an example. All three cases are published in the course readings packet available in the Sauder copy center.

Final Project
The final presentation is designed to synthesize the topics covered in the course and analyze the impact of e-Business on a particular firm. We will organize into teams consisting of 3 to 5 individuals (contingent upon class size). Assume that your team has been retained to consult on a web strategy for the firm. The goal of this project is to develop an in-depth analysis of the firm and the industry in which it is situated, and develop an e-business plan that would allow the firm to succeed in the new environment. Qualitative, as well as quantitative, analysis is required. It is important that you limit the scope of the project to a manageable size; it is recommended that you either chose to work on a small firm, or when working on a large firm restrict the scope of the project (either geographically, or to one specific division/unit). Good access to information sources for the project will be vital. Thus it is highly recommended that you base your analysis on external resources (reports about the industry and the company), as well as internal resources (preferably interviews, etc. with an insider). I highly encourage projects that serve a real world need. The first task for the project is setting up a team. Youll need to form into teams, choose a firm to study, and ensure that you have access to information about the firm. Registration of groups is done through an online mechanism.

The final presentation will take place during the exam week. Twenty-four hours prior to the presentation, you will submit a brief synopsis of your overall plan. This can be your presentation in outline form, a one-page memo, an email or whatever you find convenient. For the final presentations, I will request 3 hours with the idea that each team will be given 20 minutes to present and 10 minutes for questions. I am not going to dictate an exact template for the presentation but there are some key points to bear in mind: Internal and external analysis - youll want to consider the industry and the other external factors determining success in that industry. Also, youll want to consider the firm, their business, customers and suppliers. You will need to identify the drivers for that industry, the firms strategy, and the specific business processes the firm should focus on in order to stay competitive. Recommendations and deployment Youll be presenting an e-business plan, by focusing on the critical business processes identified above. In this part you will develop a detailed plan for using the Internet and the web to gain competitive advantage. You will need to describe the business process under investigation. The plan should be linked directly to the business goals identified above. The time limit will be strictly enforced. Twenty minutes goes by quite quickly so keep your message clear and succinct. I will be evaluating the presentations on various criteria: Succinct summary of present situation Logic and flow of presentation Plausible but novel recommendations Considerations for cost and deployment issues Clarity, overall appeal and did the presentation maintain interest?

Peer evaluation will also be used in the evaluation process to ensure that credit is allocated in proportion with effort towards the finished product.

Course Homepage for readings, Team Sign-ups, etc.: http://isr.sauder.ubc.ca/bait513/menu.asp

BAIT 513 (2007 Period 1) e-Business Course Plan

Meeting January 10 Topic Readings/Comments A) Course introduction; E-Business: Learn about Prosper.com (see the course website Fad or Phenomenon? http://isr.sauder.ubc.ca/bait513/menu.asp). We will also begin the course with the challenge of whether e-Business actually matters to business (please read the Porter and Tapscott debate found in the reading packet) B) B2B e-Business: EAI, Supply Chain and Markets Customer Service Functionality, Cenfetelli, Benbasat & Al-Natour (see the course website). The following readings are in the reading packet: Workflow and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), John E. Mann; Supply Chain Management Primer, John Babb; Open to the Public, Christopher Koch; Turban et al Ch 6 (6.1-6.5, 6.8-6.10) Business Case: Global Healthcare Exchange Canada: Trade Exchange Adoption (Case write-up due at start of class) NOTE: All three business cases are in the reading packet Re-review: Customer Service Functionality, Cenfetelli, Benbasat & Al-Natour (see the course website); I will provide other readings as needed. Mr. Dan Brodie, Head of IT, BuildDirect, Inc. Eat2Eat.com, Ivey Publishing, 9B06A018 (Case write-up due at start of class) (Project team membership needs to be finalized) I will provide you with relevant online links. No readings Mr. Arvind Ramkrishnan, Business Objects Business Case: BMG Entertainment (Case write-up due at start of class) (Course Evaluations) Group Presentations (Date to be determined)

January 17

A) B2B Applied B) B2C e-Business: Customer Service and Interface considerations

January 24

A) e-Business Guest Speaker B) B2C Applied

January 31

A) Infrastructure and Security B) Intellectual property and the law

February 7

A) e-Business Guest Speaker B) Putting it all together Wrap-up case

Week 6

Final project