MBAM/MBAT 6600
The Accenture Graduate Seminar in e-Business
Spring 2001
Class Hours: Tuesday 5:00-7.50 p.m.
Classroom: BUS 216
Instructors:
Dipankar Chakravarti (, BUS 412, 303-492-1311)
Ramiro Montealegre (, BUS 443, 303-492-0416)
COURSE OVERVIEW
The Internet is revolutionizing how firms do business. The Internet and its associated technologies are unleashing new forces and creating an upheaval that is leaving virtually no sector of the economy untouched. Indeed, the Internet is becoming the single most powerful force shaping markets and firms. Thus, it is significantly changing the way business leaders think about markets, customers, competitors, and partners as well as about management, strategy, and business design.
This graduate seminar (sponsored by Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting) is the first interdisciplinary course in e-business offered by the College of Business at CU-Boulder. It is designed to provide an advanced level analysis of key issues in e-business strategy. In some respects, the seminar builds upon MBAT/INFS 6150: “Competing with Information Technology and the Internet,” which provides an introduction to e-business. However, students who have not taken MBAT/INFS 6150 should be able to keep pace with this seminar with some supplementary reading in the initial weeks.
Although the rapid evolution of e-Business entails likely changes in the final set of topics to be covered, the current plan is to address nine specific topics using a contemporary text, recent articles and advanced e-Business cases. The topics are:
- Framing e-Business market opportunities
- E-Business models
- The customer interface for e-Business
- Communications and branding issues in e-Business
- Legal and privacy issues in the Internet age
- Logistical support for e-Business
- Valuation of e-Businesses
- Implementation of e-Businesses
- Metrics for evaluating e-Businesses
An additional critical element of the seminar is a team project that will allow students to log time on an e-Business setting to acquire a tangible sense of the economic transformation that is taking place. E-Business is not an abstract or theoretical principle to be contemplated over Powerpoint slides. Like the pilot who must learn to fly by logging hours in the cockpit, to fully understand the implications of e-Business, the seminar participants must experience it by grappling first-hand with an e-Business setting. In particular, in Spring 2001, the projects will focus particularly on what the information revolution means to traditional brick-and-mortar firms and to industries. We will focus on how business models are changing in a digital world and how global business environments affect and are affected by these changes.
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WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE
Given the seminar format and the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, enrollment is limited to fifteen MBA students and an additional ten graduate students who are specializing in related areas outside the College of Business. The weekly time commitment is estimated to be a minimum of 5 hours of independent work and 4 hours of teamwork (excluding classroom time). The serious student interested in focusing on an e-Business career will spend even more time reading and understanding the topics covered. Graduate students who have taken MBAT/INFS6150 with a final grade an A- or better and/or have an overall MBA program GPA 3.7 (or better) are encouraged to apply for enrollment in this course. These students should submit a statement (maximum 2 pages) explaining in specific terms why they want to participate in this seminar. Interested graduate students who are not enrolled in the College of Business may apply if they meet the same GPA criteria. These students should submit a statement explaining their interest and also submit a letter of recommendation from his/her academic advisor.
TEXTBOOK
Rayport, Jeffrey F. and Jaworski, B. (2001). “Electronic Commerce,” McGraw-Hill.
Three aditional books are highly recommended. They are very valuable references for any manager today, and are strongly recommended to students in this class. These books are:
- Amor, D. (2000). The E-business (R)evolution. Prentice Hall.
- Turban, E., Lee, J., King, D., and Chung, H.M. (2000). Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective, Prentice Hall.
- Keen, P. and McDonald, M. (2000). The e-Process Edge: Creating Value and Business Wealth in the Internet Era, McGraw-Hill.
However, rather than just learning about the topics of this seminar second- or third-hand, in many instances we will go right to the source. Whether it is hearing from leaders in the specific topic, or reading what leading consulting firms are saying, or learning about the latest research, we will also use the power of the Internet to learn about things first hand.
GRADING
Class Participation (attendance/contribution to discussions)20 %
Crossfire Presentation20 %
Class Project60%
(Phase I: 10%; Phase II: 20%; Phase III: 30%)
TOTAL 100 %
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CLASS PARTICIPATION
Students are expected to attend every class and to participate in the class discussions. Class participation grades are based on two aspects: your attendance in class and your contributions to the class discussions. Contributions to discussions will focus on the quality, not the quantity of the contribution, therefore students who participate often will not necessarily receive a better grade than those who participate less often. One must recognize, however, that there is an art to quality participation that is only learned by trial and error. Therefore, students are encouraged to begin contributing to the discussions early in the semester.
As this is a discussion-oriented class, your attendance at class sessions is critical to learning the material and to enhancing the discussions. Therefore, your participation grade will include your class attendance. If you are unable to attend a class, please email or call one of the instructors prior to the class. If you must miss a session, you may write and submit a THREE-page analysis of the issues discussed in the pre-assigned reading materials in order to avoid penalizing your participation grade. This analysis is due by the beginning of the next class and no late write-ups will be accepted.
The instructors reserve the right to cold-call on students, particularly on students who have not participated in a while. Students who are shy or uncomfortable with participation are encouraged to make an appointment with at least one of the instructors. This discussion should take place early in the semester to minimize the impact on the student's participation grade.
Note: Students missing 2 consecutive classes (without prior permission from the instructor) anytime during the first 3 weeks will be automatically withdrawn from the course.
CLASS RESEARCH TOPIC
Each student in the class is required to participate in a working team. Each team will select a topic on the course syllabus. The team should research in-depth the topic, prepare a presentation, and facilitate the discussion of that topic. The presentation should be interactive, informative and innovative. Think about creative ways to present topic and facilitate class discussion. Team members' skills, experience and knowledge, as well as new stories that relates to the topic should add to the presentation and class discussions. The rest of the class should be prepared to engage the team in a lively discussion and debate of the topic. This means that everybody in class has to be prepared and should participate (thus contributing to the presenters' grade and their own class contribution grade). Working teams, therefore, will serve as a forum where students test and refine their analysis of the topic addressed. The working teams may be particularly useful in providing students with a sense of their increasing expertise in the application of research and problem-solving skills and methodologies that are developed by a "student-centered" learning approach.
The presentation will be graded on the following criteria:
1.contribution to knowledge (this means we have to learn something from what the team investigated; it might be because of the material presented, but also because ideas were put in a new perspective, or made connections between different topics that had not been made before)
2.completeness (it must be a thorough job on the topic selected and researched)
3.clarity (this means all the usual things—effective presentation, appropriate format and style, etc.)
4.creativity andlevel of class participation generated (the team should also be creative in thinking about how to facilitate the class discussion)
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PROJECT
The team project is a crucial part of the course. More detailed information about this project will be provided later. In order to receive feedback from other class members, each project team will give a presentation on its progress in class. Project presentation dates will be determined in the indicated time frame and in consultation with the clients. Students must meet agreed-upon deadlines. The project paper can be submitted to the instructors for evaluation as often as desired.
COURSE MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Class participants are governed by the CU-Boulder code of academic integrity in this course. The following issues pertain to managing teamwork.
- Ability to function effectively inteams is key to learning in this course. Teams will be formed during the first and second weeks of classes based on a combination of student preferences and instructor assignments based on availability. Each team must establish its own equitable work norms to meet client and instructors expectations. Team members must abide by these rules in completing course work. The instructors normally assume that each member has contributed a fair share to each task. Hence, grades typically will not vary among team members.
- If this assumption appears to be breaking down in your team, first discuss the problems with your team immediately. If no quick resolution is reached, contact at least one of the instructors without further delay (and definitely before, rather than after submitting graded assignments e.g., the research presentation or the project reports). Only written complaints are actionable. The instructors will discuss the issues raised with those involved and determine the resolution and penalties (grade/other) if any. These decisions are subject to applicable grade appeal procedures at CU-Boulder.
- The project sponsors will make available significant time and proprietary information. This is essential for the project to be a meaningful learning experience for you and to provide useful information to the client. You must respect the client’s time constraints. However, in the absence of reasonable turnaround, please contact the instructors for help. Proprietary information is confidential and should not be shared with others (inside/outside the university) without instructors and sponsor approval. Project expenses must be pre-approved by the instructors.
- During the project, you may come in contact with the sponsor’s customers, suppliers and other business associates. In such meetings, you represent both CU-Boulder and the sponsor and are accountable for the highest norms of professional conduct. If any problems arise during such interactions, contact the instructors immediately.
ELECTRONIC CONFERENCING
An e-conference (FTP site and discussion group) will run during the course for announcements. Students can discuss questions relating to the course with the lecturer, teaching assistant and other students:
To download class materials and announcements, use your browser to point to this address:
To subscribe to the course discussion group, write the following statement in the body of a message:
SUBSCRIBE MBAT6600 YourFirstName YourLastName
Send the message to: (you will receive a confirmation).
To send messages to the discussion group, address your message to:
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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS
Dipankar Chakravarti is Professor of Marketing and The Ortloff Professor of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He holds a B.Sc. with Honors in Physics from the University of Calcutta, India and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University. Dr. Chakravarti joined CU-Boulder in 1995 and has held prior faculty appointments at the University of Florida, Duke University, and at the University of Arizona, where he was Professor of Marketing & Psychology, and the Thomas Faculty Fellow. He served as Interim Dean of the College of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder during 1998-99, and as Head of the Department of Marketing at Arizona during 1988-92. Prior to his academic positions, he was an executive with Delhi Cloth and General Mills, India with responsibility for marketing planning and control for a nationally distributed line of consumer products. Dr. Chakravarti has written extensively on managerial and consumer decision making in marketing contexts and is among the most published and cited authorities in top-tier marketing and consumer behavior journals. His papers appear in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Science, Management Science, Competitive Intelligence Review, and in scholarly books such as the Annual Review of Psychology. He has received several research awards from the American Marketing Association and the Association for Consumer Research, including the prestigious 1994 ACR/JCR award for the best article to appear in the Journal of Consumer Research during 1991-93. He is a member of the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Marketing Research, The Quarterly Journal of e-Commerce and Psychology and Marketing and has recently completed a twelve-year term on the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Research.
Ramiro Montealegre received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School in the area of management information systems. His Master’s Degree in computer science is from Carleton University, Canada. He holds a Bachelor in Engineering degree from the Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is regularly Invited Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, Instituto de Centro America de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE) in Costa Rica, the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, Instituto de Altos Estudios Empresariales (IAE) in Argentina, and Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain. In 1998 he received the “Joseph Frascona Excellence Award” the “1999 Graduate Professor of the Year Award,” and the “2000 MBA Professor of the Year Award” for outstanding teaching in the College of Business at the University of Colorado. Dr. Montealegre’s research focuses on the interplay between information technology and organization transformation in highly uncertain environments. He has been involved in studying projects of organizational change in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Central and South American regions. His research has been published in MIS Quarterly, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Management Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Information & Management, Information Technology & People and other journals. In 1997, he received the MCB University Press' Award for the "Most Outstanding" paper published in the journal of Information Technology & People. In 1998, he received the "Best Paper" Award of the Organizational Communication and Information Systems (OCIS) Division of the Academy of Management.
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COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS
Class 1. January 16
Activity 1: Course Overview and Logistics
Activity 2: Lecture/Discussion - Framing e-Business Market Opportunities
Read:R&J, Chapter 1
Kanter, “The Ten Deadly Mistakes of Wanna Dots.” HBR, Jan-Feb 2001.
Useem, “Dot-coms: What Have We Learned?” Fortune, October 30, 2000
Class 2. January 23
Activity 1: Project Team Formation
Activity 2: Project Sponsor Presentations
Signal Soft, Time Warner Telecom, Qwest
Activity 3: Team Meetings with Project Sponsors
Class 3. January 30
Activity 1: Case Discussion – BET.com
Read:R&J, Chapter 2
Activity 2: Project Sponsor Presentation - Level(3)
Activity 3: Team Meetings with Project Sponsors
Class 4. February 6
Activity 1: Lecture/Discussion - E-Business models
Read:R&J, Chapter 3
Werback, “Syndication: The Emerging Model for Business in the Internet Era,” HBR, May-Jun 2000.
Moon & Frei, “Exploding the Self-Service Myth,” HBR, May-Jun 2000.
Activity 2: Team Meetings with Instructors/Project Sponsors
Class 5. February 13
Activity 1: Case Discussion - Priceline Webhouse Club
Read:Wise and Morrison, “Beyond the Exchange: The Future of B2B.” HBR Nov-Dec 2000.
“Internet Pioneers – We Have Lift-Off.” The Economist, Feb 3, 2001
Activity 2: Team Meetings with Instructors/Project Sponsors
Class 6. February 20
Activity 1: Lecture/ Discussion - The Customer Interface for e-Business
Read:R&J, Chapter 4
Reichheld & Schefter, “E-Loyalty: Your Secret Weapon on the Web,” HBR, Jul-Aug. 2000.
Activity 2: Crossfire: Is Content King?
Read:Evans & Wurster, “Getting Real about Virtual Commerce.” HBR, Nov-Dec 1999
Kenny & Marshall, “Contextual Marketing: The Real Business of the Internet.” HBR, Nov-Dec 2000
Activity 3: Team Meetings with Instructors/Project Sponsors
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Class 7. February 27
Activity 1: Lecture/Discussion - Communications and Branding Issues in e-Business
Read:R&J, Chapter 5
Sinha, “Cost Transparency: The Net’s Real Threat to Prices and Brands.” HBR, Mar-Apr 2000
Activity 2: Case Discussion - Service and Value in e-Commerce
Class 8. March 6
Activity 1: Case Discussion - InSite Marketing Technology (A)
Read:Waite, Cohen & Buday, “Marketing Breakthrough Products.” HBR, Nov-Dec 1999
Davenport, Harris & Kohli, “How Do They Know Their Customers So Well?” SMR, Winter 2001.
Activity 2: Project Phase II Presentations
Level 3 - Global Portal Group
Level 3 - CRM Group
Signal Soft
Class 9. March 13
Activity 1: Lecture/Discussion - Legal and Privacy Issues in the Internet Age
Guest Speaker: Prof. Ed Gac, University of Colorado
Read:Gac & Carlson, Chapter 17: “Intellectual Property and Internet Law.”
Gac & Carlson, Chapter 18: “E-Commerce and Internet Law”
Shapiro, “Will E-Commerce Erode Liberty?” HBR, May-Jun 2000.
Activity 2: Project Phase II Presentations (Contd.)
Time-Warner Telecom
Activity 3: Team Meetings with Instructors/Project Sponsors
Special Session: March 19