This course is designed to be a state-of-the-art course on a leading edge topic. You will learn almost all major topics related to the Internet, including e-commerce, supply chains, and other business applications.
Almost all companies expect their graduates to have expertise in this area. It is the instructor's belief that this course will give you a big competitive advantage on the job.
This course is very different from any other course you may have taken at the University of Baltimore on e-commerce or other business applications of the Internet. It is fully Web-based. Please do not get it confused with another MGMT 797 course Managerial Challenges of e-Commerce. Since the two courses are different, you can take both courses if you like.
Major Focus
This may be the most important topic for next 10 years of your career. Here you will learn about Internet strategy, Internet auctions, Internet retailing, Internet-based integration of value chains, the role of the Internet in infrastructure (banks, utilities, and so forth), strategic alliances, decision technologies, information goods, the status of brands in the Internet economy, and more. The term project will allow you to relate the course to your current job and to the Internet strategy of your employer.
Format
There is no math in the course and there are no exams, but it will be quite challenging. A student currently enrolled in the course wrote to the instructor: "I am learning more in your class than I expected to learn in 1 year." You will have opportunities for cooperative learning: an active and lively forum to debate current issues, helping one another in the term project, working in teams on new topics, and so forth. Some lively forum discussions on major issues that represent open questions: the role of brands in the Internet economy (business-to-consumer or B2C e-commerce) and the rate of growth of spot sourcing (business-to-business or B2B commerce). Other forum assignments include Internet strategies of a number of companies.
A Glimpse of Some Issues
The course will cover both business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce. The traditional (not electronic) B2B commerce is about 10 trillion dollars per year in the United States alone. Many companies are shifting to B2B electronic commerce. Various forecasts suggest that B2B electronic commerce will grow to more than one trillion dollars by year 2005. B2B electronic commerce has the potential of reducing product costs between 2% and 39% depending on the industry. There are also many new areas like B2B services.
Supply chains are an integral part of electronic commerce. The material flow from suppliers to manufacturers to wholesalers to retailers to customers presents a number of challenges in both traditional and electronic commerce. Complex processes govern the traditional commerce and it is constrained by informational inefficiencies, geography, and market hours. Electronic commerce creates new revenue streams, reduces costs, and reduces time to respond to the customers needs.
The topics covered in the course cut across the boundaries of a number of areas: strategy, marketing, finance, performance measurement (accounting) operations, decision technology, supply chains, knowledge management, information systems, and customer relationships.
Teaching Materials
We will use instructional material from a variety of sources: articles describing the most recent developments, real-world cases, reports from major consulting companies, and so forth. You will be provided electronic links to most of them. You will also be provided a list of readings for your future reference and self-study, again with electronic links. The textbooks are state-of-the-art, meaty, and full of real-world examples. I have written lecture notes for most of the chapters. State-of-the-art readings are also meaty, readable, and full of real-world examples. Some of the articles are so new that they are yet to be published.
Comments About the Instructor from Students Who Have Taken This Course Before
- Great
- Very responsive
- Was great and very adaptive to special student needs
- Excellent!! Would recommend course and instructor to any MBA student
- Very pleasant interaction. Kept me Apprised of my grades and praised my work
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the course, please contact the instructor:
Dr. K. Singhal
Phone: (410) 837-4976
e-mail: ksinghal@ubmail.ubalt.edu.