Unit(s) of Assessment

 Weighting Towards Module Mark (%)

Group project

50

Examination

50

Qualifying Condition(s)

E-Business demonstrates the ability of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) to transform the way organisations operate and create value for society in general. Future managers need to be equipped with new understanding to deal with the challenges associated with increasingly knowledge intensive and fluid business environments, which depend on the effective exploitation of ICTs. This module demonstrates the role of ICTs in supporting the efforts of managers for complete integration of business functions, as well as the ability to expand the organization into electronic and mobile channels. The course assignment addresses the operational aspects of managing technological innovation in the marketplace. Students select a specific market segment or technology and carry out of thorough analysis of the position of the major stakeholders companies and their relationship dynamics. Appropriate examples and cases emerge from a wide range of industries, including tourism, hospitality, retail, health and food as well as a wide spectrum of technologies necessary to run the modern digital economy.

The purpose of this module is to provide the student with understanding on the diversity of strategic and operational management perspectives associated with e-business and its use to empower organisations. The module will therefore illustrates how organisations can embrace innovative technologies for achieving strategic and operational competitive advantages as well as the inherent tradeoffs and problems faced by managers in their use. The module takes an organisational as well as a light technological approach, focusing upon the critical links between the demands of business organizations and the operationalization of various capabilities afforded by ICTs. Students should gain a critical awareness of the main issues/challenges, the frameworks for making strategic and tactical decisions regarding deployment and subsequent impact of ICT, and the ability to develop guidelines required to identify the critical factors to improve eBusiness and ICT enabled performance, while avoiding the pitfalls.

On successful completion of this module the students will be able to:

 Identify relevant factors which allow ICTs and innovative technologies to empower and transform eBusinesses

•  Be familiar with and critically apply the conceptual/analytical frameworks and methodologies.

•  Critically assess the impact of ICT and eCommerce on organisational performance and competitiveness.

•  Recognise the types of strategic and tactical advantage afforded by ICTs and determine where they can be deployed successfully.

•  Distinguish key ICT developments and specify such technology to develop information and knowledge architectures that support organisational goals.

•  Understand the way various elements make up technical architectures and infrastructure. Apply that understanding to the various domains and critical functions associated with business operations.

•  Plan out the steps necessary to develop and implement additional ICT capabilities.

•  In order to achieve the threshold standard for the award of credits for this module, the student must meet the following criteria related to the learning outcomes described above:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

• Appreciate the theories, conceptual frameworks and methodologies that underpin eBusiness

   

• Demonstrate the ability to synthesise business and ICT concepts within an analytical context.

   

• Demonstrate awareness of information and communication technologies (current and emerging) and their impact on organisational/business performance (foresight).

   

• Demonstrate evidence of background reading and research of the academic and practitioner literature relevant to eBusiness.

   

• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and specify solutions using relevant ICT factors within a specific eBusiness context, and create appropriate implementation plans for the proposed solutions

   

Infrastructures and basic IT Architectures 

Strategic planning and platform creation for information systems: enabling B2C and B2B.

•  Frameworks for assessing ICT adoption and impact (User acceptance, Diffusion of innovation)

•  Impacts of Hedonic Information Systems and Social Networks

•  ICT-based resource management and application : ERP Systems (Manufacturing and Accounting-based) and Supply Chain Management

•  IS implementation and deployment, of new systems

•  Outsourcing and Application Service Providers

•  Knowledge and the Knowledge Economy

•  Marketing based challenges for eCommerce and Online Payment Systems (Branding, eCRM)

•  Security and Safety Issues associated with eBusiness

•  Legal and Ethical aspects of eCommerce and the Knowledge-based economy

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to cultivate an understanding of the main issues and challenges; provide a coherent conceptual framework; develop a critical awareness of the various approaches to the strategic and operational management of ICT in manufacturing and service sector organisations.

  The teaching and learning methods include: one or more hour-long Lectures every as well as several student exercises. Guest lecturers will be sought to cover appropriate contemporary subjects. Web-based learning support and electronic resources will be provided.

 Assessment Strategy:

 - The first part of assessment is based on a group based project. Students are asked to apply concepts and frameworks from the eBusiness module to the study of a specific industry or information based technology oif their choosing.   During the course of the semester the students collect relevant information on their industry or technology, and then use one of the frameworks used in the module in order to identify the key factors in the competitive landscape and create an analysis and discuss inherent tradeoffs relevant for the topic. The objective of this assessment is that students show the ability to move beyond reporting of facts and show that they are able to formulate actionable suggestions for  decision-makers at the management level.
- The second assessment is 2 hour written exam where students have to choose FOUR out of SIX questions and write a short (1-2 page) answer for each question. The exam covers all key topics from the module with roughly half of the questions formulated to address factual recent developments in eBusiness and the general business environment (with each passing year the problems of this module move out of a technological niche to cover business at large). The objective of the assessment is that students demonstrate that they understand AND are able to apply the knowledge from the module to topics and problems faced by managers in their everyday business activities.    

Required Text

 Jelassi, T., and Enders, A., (2005).  Strategies for E-Business; Creating Value Through Electronic and Mobile Commerce.  New Jersey : Prentice Hall. 

  [THIS will probably Change]

  Other Indicative Reading

  Professional Venues

  The computing and industry trade press is a major source for current news and developments (Slashdot, Daily Tech, Ars Technica, Technology Review, Computing and Computer Weekly, notably).

  General Management – Economist, Business Week, Financial Times, Newsweek etc.

 Research Venues

  Students are also encouraged to look at the ICT and management journals both for general articles and any articles on hospitality/tourism/retail cases and issues (The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, International Journal of Electronic Commerce; Harvard Business Review, Journal of Information Technology, Long Range Planning are good academic journals). Hospitality/Tourism/Retail journals also have articles on IT issues (see for example the Information Technology and Tourism).