Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Moderator
Rob Jack
Contact via rob.jack@mq.edu.au
E4A 643
Lecturer
John Edwards
Contact via john.edwards@mq.edu.au
E4A 218B
Thursday 9am to 12pm
Rob Jack
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
BUS651 or MKTG696
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit aims to provide students with a comprehensive framework for understanding e-commerce strategies and the skills and techniques for implementing these in the organisations in which students work or seek to work. Students will be required to critically evaluate different approaches to e-commerce, synthesise contemporary research findings and evaluate the utility of these when analysing different case organisations. A key component of the unit is the development of an analytical and strategic approach to e-commerce business problems and opportunities.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
---|---|---|
1. Report | 30% | Weekly (for Weeks 3-9) |
2. Assignment | 30% | Week 10 |
3. Final Examination | 40% | Exam Period |
Due: Weekly (for Weeks 3-9)
Weighting: 30%
This is an individual report, where students select one seminar topic and answer the questions relating to that topic.
The report topics and questions relate to the lecture topics from Week 3 to 9, and will be made available on the Monday. You will need to submit your report by Sunday evening.
Scholarly work is essential for deep analysis, but reputable professional /Industry reports/ marketing media / journalistic coverage of the topic must also be included. At least three peer reviewed articles and three industry reports need to be used for this report.
No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
References made in the report need to be made according to Harvard Referencing method. When completed upload the report onto Turnitin on iLearn. The maximum number of words is 3000 (this includes the Table of Contents but excludes the references and appendix). The report is to be typed and 1.5 spaced (a standard 12 point font should be used). Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in writing their plan. It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression.
Please read more details on iLearn.
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 30%
E-Commerce Strategy Plan
Individual assignment:
Purpose
This assignment requires your team to apply the learning from Weeks 1-10 in the development of e-commerce strategy, for an actual organisation to be advised in week 2. You may work on an organisation of your choice, but you must ensure that you have access to the information required to develop an e-commerce strategy. Please consult with your Lecturer about the appropriateness of this choice.
The context for the assignment is that you have been asked to develop and recommend a e-commerce strategy that the organisation’s CEO and the marketing/IT team should implement, to achieve corporate objectives. You will need to identify the organisation’s corporate objectives as part of the assignment. To make an appropriate recommendation, you must understand the current market and competition, and conduct segmentation and buyer behaviour analyses.
Instructions
You may use relevent publicly-available information (e.g. library databases, search-engine searches (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Baidu) about the organisation to formulate an e-commerce strategy.
Project content
Your project should address the three issues below.
Issue 1:
Organisation and environmental analysis (20% of assignment marks)
For your chosen organisation/offering, present SWOT and the 7Cs framework, to identify relevant business and e-commerce issues facing the organisation. Critique the organisation’s existing value proposition.
By addressing this issue, you will be demonstrating that you have interpreted the data and drawn conclusions about what is good about what the management of the chosen organisation/offering are currently doing, and what could be done more effectively. This issue should give you some ideas about how to frame the next two issues.
Issue 2: Developing an e-commerce strategy (40% of assignment marks)
Based on the market analyses in Issue 1,
Issue 3:
Developing an action plans (40% of assignment marks)
Recommend and justify a detailed plan to support the marketing strategy described in Issue 2. That is; explore the key support areas: Security, payment methods; Order fulfillment; customer service. Also detail the role of digital marketing; social commerce and mobile marketing in your plan. Finally, the legal and privacy area needs to be acknowledged in your plan.
No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.
References made in the plan need to be made according to Harvard Referencing method. When completed upload the project onto Turnitin on iLearn. The maximum number of pages is 15 (this includes the Table of Contents but excludes the references and appendix). The plan is to be typed and 1.5 spaced (a standard 12 point font should be used). Students are expected to maintain an appropriate standard in writing their plan. It should be checked for spelling, consistency and clarity of expression.
Please read more details and information on iLearn.
Due: Exam Period
Weighting: 40%
A final examination is included as an assessment task for this unit to provide assurance that:
The final exam is a 2 hour online open-book exam.
You will be notified of the exam day and time by email and this will also be posted on the BUS800 iLearn site.
The Macquarie university examination policy details the principles and conduct of examinations at the University. The policy is available at: http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/examination/policy.htm
Please read more details on iLearn.
Classes
The on-line program is conducted through Macquarie University's e-Learning management platform (iLearn). When studying on-line, your computer/laptop/tablet is the classroom. iLearn is the platform where:
Also, live online classes (using the e-learning application called Zoom) are held every week. Further details of the dates/times are posted on iLearn.
The full resources of Macquarie University are available to students.
Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials
There is no prescribed textbook for this course.
Reading material and the latest articles has been developed for this unit and are set up as Hyperlinks within iLearn.
Students are strongly encouraged to read widely in the E-Commerce area and to particularly use the World-Wide Web as a powerful source for research in this subject. Students should be aware that apart from the conventional business, IT and marketing journals, there are many online journals and websites covering the latest developments in electronic marketing and electronic commerce.
A list of e-commerce industry news websites and resources can be found on iLearn.
Technology Used and Required
This unit:
If you are having troubles, please contact the Lecturer.
Unit Web Page
The web page for this unit can be found at: http://www.handbook.mq.edu.au/2016/Units/PGUnit/BUS800
The course material is available on the learning management system (iLearn).
The web page for this unit can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/
Macquarie University timetable information can be found at: http://students.mq.edu.au/student_admin/timetables
Teaching and Learning Activities
iLearn and Zoom is the key e-learning platform for communication to students undertaking the online BUS800 E-Commerce Strategy unit.
You access iLearn via the Macquarie University website and log in using your student ID and password. The Zoom weblinks are posted inside the BUS800 iLearn site.
The learning & teaching activities include:
Learning & Teaching Activities | Learning Outcomes |
Read and view the weekly learning materials | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Participate in the weekly live online sessions (Zoom) | 1,2,5 |
Research materials for the report and project | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Studying for the final exam | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Assessment Items:
Communication with Students/Lecturer will be conducted either by email, or through iLearn.
This includes:
Zoom:
A live online classroom will be held every week using ZOOM. Details of the day and time will be forwarded to the students by email and posted onto iLearn.
The Lecturer will post audio and video recordings of each session on iLearn of all the lecture topics for downloading, listening and viewing.
BUS800 E-Commerce Strategy Schedule – Session One 2016
WEEK NO. |
LECTURE TOPIC |
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Week 1 w/c 29 Feb |
Introduction to E-Commerce and E-Marketplaces |
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Week 2 w/c 7 March |
Developing and launching online businesses and E-Commerce projects |
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Week 3 w/c 14 March |
E-Commerce Business Models Business to Consumer (e-tailing) |
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Week 4 w/c 21 March |
E-Commerce Business Models Business to Business (B2B); C2C; C2B; O2O, and other E-Commerce Models |
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Week 5 w/c 28 March |
Mobile Commerce |
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Week 6 w/c 4 April |
Social Commerce |
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w/c 11 April and w/c 18 April |
RECESS (2 weeks) |
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Week 7 w/c 25 April |
Digital Marketing and Advertising | |
Week 8 w/c 2 May |
Cyber Security and Fraud | |
Week 9 w/c 9 May |
Electronic Payment Methods | |
Week 10 w/c 16 May |
Online order Fulfillment and logistics Project due: Sunday 22 May at 11.55pm |
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Week 11 w/c 23 May |
Legal and Privacy issues - conducting business online | |
Week 12 w/c 30 May |
E-Commerce Case Study - execution and measuring your performance | |
Week 13 w/c 6 June |
Course Review and Exam Brief |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
New Assessment Policy in effect from Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html. For more information visit http://students.mq.edu.au/events/2016/07/19/new_assessment_policy_in_place_from_session_2/
Assessment Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Research and Practise:
This unit uses research from external sources.
This unit gives you practice in applying research findings in your assignments.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Our postgraduates will be able to demonstrate a significantly enhanced depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content knowledge in their chosen fields.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be capable of utilising and reflecting on prior knowledge and experience, of applying higher level critical thinking skills, and of integrating and synthesising learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments. A characteristic of this form of thinking is the generation of new, professionally oriented knowledge through personal or group-based critique of practice and theory.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our postgraduates will be capable of systematic enquiry; able to use research skills to create new knowledge that can be applied to real world issues, or contribute to a field of study or practice to enhance society. They will be capable of creative questioning, problem finding and problem solving.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Changes to the Last Offering of this Unit in S2 /2015 include:
There are 3 assessment tasks for S1 2016 (department policy). In S2 2015 there were 4 assessement tasks. The participation assessment has been excluded in S1 2016.
Content is updated, reflecting the dynamic nature of this course.
This unit prepares students for a globalised world of scientific and technological advance. In this unit, students will learn about the dynamic world of digital marketing. They will develop knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of e-business marketing principles, which they can implement to support the strategy, desired goal and sustainable growth for both organisations and society at large.
This unit gives you practice in applying research findings in your assignments and projects.
This unit gives you opportunties to conduct your own research and apply it in your assessment items.