1. Why were so many entrepreneurs drawn to start businesses in the online retail sector initially?
Because it was one of the largest market opportunities in the U.S. economy. Most believed it was easy to enter the retail market; however they were mistaken.
2. What frequently makes the difference between profitable and unprofitable online businesses today?
Profitable online businesses involves having a central location in order to attract a larger number of shoppers, charging high enough prices to cover the costs of goods as well as marketing, and developing high efficient inventory and fulfillment systems so that the company can offer goods at lower costs than competitors and still make profit.
3. Which segment of the offline retail business is most like online retailing? Why?
The service sector is the segment of the offline retail business that is most like online retailing.
4. Name the largest segment of U.S. retail sales. Explain why businesses in this segment have achieved and continue to dominate online retailing.
The service sector. Businesses in this segment have achieved and continue to dominate online retailing because services employ about 108 million people.
5.Name two assumptions e-commerce analysts made early on about consumers and their buying behavior that turned out to be false.
Two assumptions e-commerce analysts made early on about consumers and their buying behavior that turned out to be false were industry consolidation and the movement toward integrated financial services.
6. Why were customer acquisition costs assumed early on to be lower on the Web? What was supposed to reduce those costs?
Customer acquisition costs were assumed early on to be lower on the Web because people thought it would be harder than what it actually is to develop a business online.
7.Explain the distinction between disinter mediation and hyper mediation as it relates to online retailing.
Disinter mediation is the displacement of market middlemen who traditionally are intermediaries between producers and consumers by a new direct relationship between manufacturers and content originators with their customers. Hyper mediation is when it is much higher than intended.
8. Compare and contrast virtual merchants and bricks-and-clicks firms. What other type of online retailer is most like the virtual merchant?
Virtual merchants are a single-channel Web firm that generates almost all of their revenue from online sales. Bricks-and-clicks are companies that have a network of physical stores as their primary retail channel, but also have introduced online offerings.
9. What is the difference between a supply-push and a demand-pull sales model? Why do most manufacturer-direct firms have difficulty switching to one of these?
A supply-push sales model is when products are made prior to orders received based on estimated demand. A demand-pull sales model is when products are not built until an order is received.
10. What are five strategic issues specifically related to a firm’s capabilities? How are they different from industry-related strategic issues?
The five strategic issues specifically related to a firm's capabilities are consolidation, diversification, localization, job search engines/aggregation and social networking.
11. What are some of the difficulties in providing services in an online environment? What factors differentiate the services sector from the retail sector, for example?
Some of the difficulties in providing services in an online environment is if your selling a product, your not able to physically see the product. Also, there can be the thought that some customers have of their identity being stolen so they choose to not shop online. The retail sector is more or less products while the services sector is a service you are offering.
12. Compare and contrast the two major types of online service industries. What two major features differentiate services from other industries?
financial services and travel services.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Chapter 7 HW
1.Explain the difference between marketing and marketing communications.
Marketing communications has a dual purpose; branding and sales. One purpose of marketing comm. is to develop and strengthen a firm’s brands by informing consumers about the differentiating feature of the firm’s products and services.
2.What are some reasons why online advertising constitutes only about 9 percent of the total advertising market?
Some reasons why online advertising constitutes only about 9 percent of the total advertising market is because consumer, financial services, computers, telecommunications and media account for 80% of all online advertising.
3.What kinds of products are most suited to being advertised online?
Products that are most suited to being advertised online are ones that are able to be in display ads, have rich media ads, and video ads.
4.What is the difference between an interstitial ad and a superstitial ad?
An interstitial ad is a way of placing a full-page message between the current and destination pages of a user. A superstitial ad is a rich media ad that is pre-loaded into a browser’s cache and does not play until fully loaded and the user clicks to another page.
5.What are some of the reasons for the decline in click-through rates on banner ads today? How can banner ads be made more effective?
Some reasons for the decline in click-through rates on banner ads today are because banner ads display different images in relatively quick succession, creating an animated effect and uses Flash video.
6.Why are some affiliate relationships called “tenancy” deals? How do they differ from pure affiliate relationships?
Some affiliate relationships are called tenancy deals because they allow a firm to become a long-term “tenant” on another site. They differ from pure affiliate relationships because an affiliate relationship is only a permit to be a tenant, and a tenancy deal is long term.
7.There is some controversy surrounding paid placements on search engines. What are some of the issues surrounding paid placement search engines? Why might consumers object to this practice?
The Achilles’ heel of search engine marketing is “click fraud”. Just as spam has greatly reduced the utility of e-mail marketing, so has click fraud raised the costs and reduced the attractiveness of search engine marketing to merchants. Some of the issues surrounding paid placement search engines are that anyone including competitors can click on search engine ads, driving up a merchant’s costs, without ever purchasing anything. Consumers may object to this practice because you can increase your revenue by having friends and relatives click on the ads Google or Microsoft place on your site without even purchasing anything
Marketing communications has a dual purpose; branding and sales. One purpose of marketing comm. is to develop and strengthen a firm’s brands by informing consumers about the differentiating feature of the firm’s products and services.
2.What are some reasons why online advertising constitutes only about 9 percent of the total advertising market?
Some reasons why online advertising constitutes only about 9 percent of the total advertising market is because consumer, financial services, computers, telecommunications and media account for 80% of all online advertising.
3.What kinds of products are most suited to being advertised online?
Products that are most suited to being advertised online are ones that are able to be in display ads, have rich media ads, and video ads.
4.What is the difference between an interstitial ad and a superstitial ad?
An interstitial ad is a way of placing a full-page message between the current and destination pages of a user. A superstitial ad is a rich media ad that is pre-loaded into a browser’s cache and does not play until fully loaded and the user clicks to another page.
5.What are some of the reasons for the decline in click-through rates on banner ads today? How can banner ads be made more effective?
Some reasons for the decline in click-through rates on banner ads today are because banner ads display different images in relatively quick succession, creating an animated effect and uses Flash video.
6.Why are some affiliate relationships called “tenancy” deals? How do they differ from pure affiliate relationships?
Some affiliate relationships are called tenancy deals because they allow a firm to become a long-term “tenant” on another site. They differ from pure affiliate relationships because an affiliate relationship is only a permit to be a tenant, and a tenancy deal is long term.
7.There is some controversy surrounding paid placements on search engines. What are some of the issues surrounding paid placement search engines? Why might consumers object to this practice?
The Achilles’ heel of search engine marketing is “click fraud”. Just as spam has greatly reduced the utility of e-mail marketing, so has click fraud raised the costs and reduced the attractiveness of search engine marketing to merchants. Some of the issues surrounding paid placement search engines are that anyone including competitors can click on search engine ads, driving up a merchant’s costs, without ever purchasing anything. Consumers may object to this practice because you can increase your revenue by having friends and relatives click on the ads Google or Microsoft place on your site without even purchasing anything
Chapter 8 HW
1. What basic assumptions does the study of ethics make about individuals?
The basic assumptions the study of ethics make about individuals are that individuals are free moral agents who are in a position to make choices.
2. What are the three basic principles of ethics? How does due process factor in?
The three basic principles of ethics are responsibility, accountability, and liability. Due process is the ability to appeal to a higher court to make sure the law was applied correctly.
3. Explain Google’s position that YouTube does not violate the intellectual property rights of copyright owners.
Google’s position is Google do not allow the users to make money off the downloads to You Tube.
4. Define universalism, slippery slope, the New York Times test, and the social contract rule as they apply to ethics.
Universalism is if an action is not right for all situations, then it is not right for any situation. Slippery Slope is if an action could not be taken repeatedly, the it should not be taken at all. The New York Times test is assume that the results of your decision on a matter would be the lead article in the New York Times the next day. The Social contract rule is would you like to live in a society where the principle you are supporting would become an organizing principle of the entire society.
5. Name some of the personal information collected by Web sites about their visitors.
Some of the personal information collected by Web sites about their visitors are name, address, phone number, zip code, email address, social security number, bank account, credit card numbers, gender, age, occupation, and education.
6. How does information collected through online forms differ from site transaction logs? Which potentially provides a more complete consumer profile?
Information collected through online forms are given voluntarily by the users for exchange for some kind of benefit, while the site transaction logs collect and analyze detailed information on page content viewed by users. Online forms provide a more complete consumer profile.
7. Name three ways online advertising networks have improved on, or added to, traditional offline marketing techniques.
Three ways online advertising networks have improved on, or added to, traditional offline marketing techniques are:
First, they have the ability to precisely track not just customer purchases, but all browsing behavior on the Web at thousands of the most popular member sites, including browsing booklist, filling out preference forms, and viewing content pages. Second, they can dynamically adjust what the shopper sees on the screen—including prices. Third, they can build and continually refresh high-resolution data images or behavioral profiles of customers.
8. Explain how Web profiling is supposed to benefit both consumers and businesses.
Profiling permits targeting of ads, ensuring that customers see advertisements mostly for products and services in which they are actually interested. Businesses benefit by not paying for wasted advertisements sent to customers who have no interest in their product or services.
9. How could the Internet potentially change protection given to intellectual property?
Once intellectual works become digital, it becomes difficult to control access, use, distribution, and copying.
10. What capabilities make it more difficult to enforce intellectual property law?
The Internet technically permits millions of people to make perfect digital copies of various works and then to distribute them nearly cost-free to hundreds of millions of Web users.
11. What are some of the tactics illegal businesses, such as betting parlors and casinos, successfully use to operate outside the law on the Internet?
The sites are located offshore so they can operate beyond the jurisdiction of state and federal prosecutors.
The basic assumptions the study of ethics make about individuals are that individuals are free moral agents who are in a position to make choices.
2. What are the three basic principles of ethics? How does due process factor in?
The three basic principles of ethics are responsibility, accountability, and liability. Due process is the ability to appeal to a higher court to make sure the law was applied correctly.
3. Explain Google’s position that YouTube does not violate the intellectual property rights of copyright owners.
Google’s position is Google do not allow the users to make money off the downloads to You Tube.
4. Define universalism, slippery slope, the New York Times test, and the social contract rule as they apply to ethics.
Universalism is if an action is not right for all situations, then it is not right for any situation. Slippery Slope is if an action could not be taken repeatedly, the it should not be taken at all. The New York Times test is assume that the results of your decision on a matter would be the lead article in the New York Times the next day. The Social contract rule is would you like to live in a society where the principle you are supporting would become an organizing principle of the entire society.
5. Name some of the personal information collected by Web sites about their visitors.
Some of the personal information collected by Web sites about their visitors are name, address, phone number, zip code, email address, social security number, bank account, credit card numbers, gender, age, occupation, and education.
6. How does information collected through online forms differ from site transaction logs? Which potentially provides a more complete consumer profile?
Information collected through online forms are given voluntarily by the users for exchange for some kind of benefit, while the site transaction logs collect and analyze detailed information on page content viewed by users. Online forms provide a more complete consumer profile.
7. Name three ways online advertising networks have improved on, or added to, traditional offline marketing techniques.
Three ways online advertising networks have improved on, or added to, traditional offline marketing techniques are:
First, they have the ability to precisely track not just customer purchases, but all browsing behavior on the Web at thousands of the most popular member sites, including browsing booklist, filling out preference forms, and viewing content pages. Second, they can dynamically adjust what the shopper sees on the screen—including prices. Third, they can build and continually refresh high-resolution data images or behavioral profiles of customers.
8. Explain how Web profiling is supposed to benefit both consumers and businesses.
Profiling permits targeting of ads, ensuring that customers see advertisements mostly for products and services in which they are actually interested. Businesses benefit by not paying for wasted advertisements sent to customers who have no interest in their product or services.
9. How could the Internet potentially change protection given to intellectual property?
Once intellectual works become digital, it becomes difficult to control access, use, distribution, and copying.
10. What capabilities make it more difficult to enforce intellectual property law?
The Internet technically permits millions of people to make perfect digital copies of various works and then to distribute them nearly cost-free to hundreds of millions of Web users.
11. What are some of the tactics illegal businesses, such as betting parlors and casinos, successfully use to operate outside the law on the Internet?
The sites are located offshore so they can operate beyond the jurisdiction of state and federal prosecutors.
Chapter 6 HW
1.Other than search engines, what are some of the most popular uses of the Internet?
Researching products and services, hobby-related information, seeking health information, and reviewing financial information.
2.Would you say that the Internet fosters or impedes social activity? Explain your position.
I think that the Internet fosters social activity because it allows people to stay connected easier and network. For example with Facebook and e-mail, you can get in touch with about anyone that you wanted to.
3.Why would the amount of experience someone has using the Internet likely increase future Internet usage?
Because the more they know about it now, the easier it will be for them to build on top of that in the future. The internet is always going to change and if you aren't aware of how to use it now, then as time goes on it will be a harder process for you to learn how to use it.
4.Research has shown that many consumers use the Internet to investigate purchases before actually buying, which is often done in a physical storefront. What implication does this have for online merchants? What can they do to entice more online buying, rather than pure research? Name four improvements Web merchants could make to encourage more browsers to become buyers.
This means that customers are going to research many different websites before actually buying a product. They could compare them to other competitors to see how their information is laid out, what the price is, how easy it is to order, the reliability of the website, etc. Four improvements Web merchants could make to encourage more browsers to become buyers are use net for health, use net for news, months on internet, and how much product information they have to share.
5. Name the five stages in the buyer decision process, and briefly describe the online and offline marketing activities used to influence each.
The five stages in the buyer decision process are awareness of need, search for more information, evaluation of alternatives, the actual purchase decision, and post-purchase contact with the firm. Online-awareness of need is targeted banner ads, interstitial, and targeted event promotions. Search is search engines, online catalogs, site visits, and targeted e-mails. Evaluation of alternatives is search engines, online catalogs, site visits, product reviews and user evaluations. Purchase is online promotions, lotteries, discounts, and targeted e-mail. Post-purchase is communities of consumption, newsletters, customer e-mail, and online updates. Offline- awareness of need is mass media, TV, radio and print media. Search is catalogs, print ads, mass media, salespeople, product raters, and store visits. Evaluation of alternatives is reference groups, opinion leaders, mass media, product raters, and store visits. Purchase is promotions, direct mail, mass media, and print media. Post-purchase is warranties, service calls, parts and repair, and consumer groups.
6. What are the components of the core product, actual product, and augmented product in a feature set?
The core product is the core benefit the customer receives from the product. The actual product is the set of characteristics designed to deliver the product's core benefits. The augmented product is a product with additional benefits to customers beyond the core benefits embodied in the actual product.
7. Name some of the drawbacks to the four data mining techniques used in Internet marketing.
A few of the drawbacks to the four data mining techniques used in Internet marketing are there may be millions of rules, many of them nonsensical, and many others of short-term duration. The rules need extensive validation and culling. Also, there are millions of affinity groups and other patterns in the data that are temporal or meaningless. The difficulty is isolating the valid, powerful patterns in the data and then acting on the observed pattern fast enough to make a sale you would otherwise not have made.
8.Which of the four market entry strategies is most lucrative?
The most lucrative market entry strategy is to extend their businesses and brands by using a mixed bricks-and-clicks strategy in which online marketing is closely integrated with offline physical stores.
9.Compare and contrast the four marketing strategies used in mass marketing, direct marketing, micro-marketing, and one-to-one marketing.
One-to-one marketing is segmenting the market based on a precise and timely understanding of an individual's needs, targeting specific marketing messages to these individuals. Mass marketing is based on national media messages aimed at a single national audience and with a single national price, it is appropriate for products that are relatively simple and attractive to all consumers in a single form. Direct marketing is based on direct mail or phone messages and aimed at segments of the market likely to purchase and which has little variation in price, is most often used for products that can be stratified into different categories. Micro marketing is aimed at geographical units or specialized market segments is the first form of true database marketing.
10. What are some of the reasons that freebies, such as free Internet service and giveaways, don’t work to generate sales on a Web site?
After someone is given a freebie, in order for it to actually work and generate sales on a Web site the customer has to pay for premium or add-on services and hopefully will then pay or all the free riders on the service. Also, people switch from one free service to another at the very mention of charges, so unless everyone does it; its likely not to work.
11. Why do companies that bundle products and services have an advantage over those that don’t or can’t offer this option?
Companies that bundle products and services have an advantage over those that don't by if you bundle things, customers are going to be more likely to think "hey, this is a good buy or a good idea" because it is more than one item for a fixed product.
Researching products and services, hobby-related information, seeking health information, and reviewing financial information.
2.Would you say that the Internet fosters or impedes social activity? Explain your position.
I think that the Internet fosters social activity because it allows people to stay connected easier and network. For example with Facebook and e-mail, you can get in touch with about anyone that you wanted to.
3.Why would the amount of experience someone has using the Internet likely increase future Internet usage?
Because the more they know about it now, the easier it will be for them to build on top of that in the future. The internet is always going to change and if you aren't aware of how to use it now, then as time goes on it will be a harder process for you to learn how to use it.
4.Research has shown that many consumers use the Internet to investigate purchases before actually buying, which is often done in a physical storefront. What implication does this have for online merchants? What can they do to entice more online buying, rather than pure research? Name four improvements Web merchants could make to encourage more browsers to become buyers.
This means that customers are going to research many different websites before actually buying a product. They could compare them to other competitors to see how their information is laid out, what the price is, how easy it is to order, the reliability of the website, etc. Four improvements Web merchants could make to encourage more browsers to become buyers are use net for health, use net for news, months on internet, and how much product information they have to share.
5. Name the five stages in the buyer decision process, and briefly describe the online and offline marketing activities used to influence each.
The five stages in the buyer decision process are awareness of need, search for more information, evaluation of alternatives, the actual purchase decision, and post-purchase contact with the firm. Online-awareness of need is targeted banner ads, interstitial, and targeted event promotions. Search is search engines, online catalogs, site visits, and targeted e-mails. Evaluation of alternatives is search engines, online catalogs, site visits, product reviews and user evaluations. Purchase is online promotions, lotteries, discounts, and targeted e-mail. Post-purchase is communities of consumption, newsletters, customer e-mail, and online updates. Offline- awareness of need is mass media, TV, radio and print media. Search is catalogs, print ads, mass media, salespeople, product raters, and store visits. Evaluation of alternatives is reference groups, opinion leaders, mass media, product raters, and store visits. Purchase is promotions, direct mail, mass media, and print media. Post-purchase is warranties, service calls, parts and repair, and consumer groups.
6. What are the components of the core product, actual product, and augmented product in a feature set?
The core product is the core benefit the customer receives from the product. The actual product is the set of characteristics designed to deliver the product's core benefits. The augmented product is a product with additional benefits to customers beyond the core benefits embodied in the actual product.
7. Name some of the drawbacks to the four data mining techniques used in Internet marketing.
A few of the drawbacks to the four data mining techniques used in Internet marketing are there may be millions of rules, many of them nonsensical, and many others of short-term duration. The rules need extensive validation and culling. Also, there are millions of affinity groups and other patterns in the data that are temporal or meaningless. The difficulty is isolating the valid, powerful patterns in the data and then acting on the observed pattern fast enough to make a sale you would otherwise not have made.
8.Which of the four market entry strategies is most lucrative?
The most lucrative market entry strategy is to extend their businesses and brands by using a mixed bricks-and-clicks strategy in which online marketing is closely integrated with offline physical stores.
9.Compare and contrast the four marketing strategies used in mass marketing, direct marketing, micro-marketing, and one-to-one marketing.
One-to-one marketing is segmenting the market based on a precise and timely understanding of an individual's needs, targeting specific marketing messages to these individuals. Mass marketing is based on national media messages aimed at a single national audience and with a single national price, it is appropriate for products that are relatively simple and attractive to all consumers in a single form. Direct marketing is based on direct mail or phone messages and aimed at segments of the market likely to purchase and which has little variation in price, is most often used for products that can be stratified into different categories. Micro marketing is aimed at geographical units or specialized market segments is the first form of true database marketing.
10. What are some of the reasons that freebies, such as free Internet service and giveaways, don’t work to generate sales on a Web site?
After someone is given a freebie, in order for it to actually work and generate sales on a Web site the customer has to pay for premium or add-on services and hopefully will then pay or all the free riders on the service. Also, people switch from one free service to another at the very mention of charges, so unless everyone does it; its likely not to work.
11. Why do companies that bundle products and services have an advantage over those that don’t or can’t offer this option?
Companies that bundle products and services have an advantage over those that don't by if you bundle things, customers are going to be more likely to think "hey, this is a good buy or a good idea" because it is more than one item for a fixed product.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Chapter 5 HW
1. Why is it less risky to steal online? Explain some of the ways criminals deceive consumers and merchants.
It is less risky to steal online because the Internet makes it possible to rob people remotely and almost anonymously. A few of the ways criminals deceive consumers and merchants are by Trojans, phishing, data theft, or identity theft.
2. Give an example of security breaches as they relate to each of the six dimensions of e-commerce security. For instance, what would be a privacy incident?
Integrity (ability to ensure that information being displayed on a Web site or transmitted or received over the Internet has not been altered in any way by an unauthorized party), Non repudiation (the ability to ensure that e-commerce participants do not deny their online actions), and Authenticity (the ability to identify the identity of a person or entity with whom you are dealing on the Internet).
3. How would you protect your firm against a Denial of Service attack?
By assigning a duty to part of my company to watch for these attacks that start coming in and block them immediately.
4. How does spoofing threaten a Web site’s operations?
Spoofing threatens a Web site's operations by hackers redirect customers to a fake Web site they can then collect and process orders, effectively stealing business from the true site.
5. What are some of the steps a company can take to curtail cybercriminal activity from within a business?
Using firewalls or a proxy server so that they will be caught before they are able to destroy everything.
6. Identify and discuss the five steps in developing an e-commerce security plan.
Five steps in developing an e-commerce security plan is perform a risk assessment (an assessment of the risks and points of vulnerability), develop a security policy (a set of statements prioritizing the information risks, identifying acceptable risk targets, and identifying the mechanisms for achieving these targets), develop an implementation plan (the action steps you will take to achieve the security plan goals), create a security organization (educates and trains users, keeps management aware of security threats and breakdowns, and maintains the tools chosen to implement security), and perform a security audit (which involves the routine review of access logs).
7. What are tiger teams, who uses them, and what are some of the tactics they use in their work?
Tiger teams are groups of hackers that are used by corporate security departments to test their own security measures. White hats are the good hackers who help organizations locate and fix security flaws. Black hats are hackers who act with the intention of causing harm, Grey hats are hackers who believe they are perusing some greater good by breaking in and revealing system flaws.
8. How do the interests of the four major payment systems stakeholders impact each other?
The interests of the four major payment systems stakeholders impact each other because the stakeholders may have different preferences with respect to the different dimensions. The main stakeholders in payment systems are consumers, merchants, financial intermediaries, and government regulators.
It is less risky to steal online because the Internet makes it possible to rob people remotely and almost anonymously. A few of the ways criminals deceive consumers and merchants are by Trojans, phishing, data theft, or identity theft.
2. Give an example of security breaches as they relate to each of the six dimensions of e-commerce security. For instance, what would be a privacy incident?
Integrity (ability to ensure that information being displayed on a Web site or transmitted or received over the Internet has not been altered in any way by an unauthorized party), Non repudiation (the ability to ensure that e-commerce participants do not deny their online actions), and Authenticity (the ability to identify the identity of a person or entity with whom you are dealing on the Internet).
3. How would you protect your firm against a Denial of Service attack?
By assigning a duty to part of my company to watch for these attacks that start coming in and block them immediately.
4. How does spoofing threaten a Web site’s operations?
Spoofing threatens a Web site's operations by hackers redirect customers to a fake Web site they can then collect and process orders, effectively stealing business from the true site.
5. What are some of the steps a company can take to curtail cybercriminal activity from within a business?
Using firewalls or a proxy server so that they will be caught before they are able to destroy everything.
6. Identify and discuss the five steps in developing an e-commerce security plan.
Five steps in developing an e-commerce security plan is perform a risk assessment (an assessment of the risks and points of vulnerability), develop a security policy (a set of statements prioritizing the information risks, identifying acceptable risk targets, and identifying the mechanisms for achieving these targets), develop an implementation plan (the action steps you will take to achieve the security plan goals), create a security organization (educates and trains users, keeps management aware of security threats and breakdowns, and maintains the tools chosen to implement security), and perform a security audit (which involves the routine review of access logs).
7. What are tiger teams, who uses them, and what are some of the tactics they use in their work?
Tiger teams are groups of hackers that are used by corporate security departments to test their own security measures. White hats are the good hackers who help organizations locate and fix security flaws. Black hats are hackers who act with the intention of causing harm, Grey hats are hackers who believe they are perusing some greater good by breaking in and revealing system flaws.
8. How do the interests of the four major payment systems stakeholders impact each other?
The interests of the four major payment systems stakeholders impact each other because the stakeholders may have different preferences with respect to the different dimensions. The main stakeholders in payment systems are consumers, merchants, financial intermediaries, and government regulators.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Chapter 4 HW
Chapter 4
1. Name the six main pieces of the e-commerce site puzzle.
Human resources, site design, organizational capabilities, hardware architecture, software, and telecommunications.
2. Define the systems development life cycle and discuss the various steps involved in creating an e-commerce site.
system analysis/planning, systems design which is a description of the main components in a system and their relationship to one another, building the system which is outsourcing, testing which contain unit testing, system testing, and acceptance testing and implementation is the last step in the cycle which is putting it to work.
3. What are the three main factors to consider when choosing the best platform for your Web site?
Page deliver, page generation and page content.
4. Why is Web server bandwidth an important issue for e-commerce sites?
To make sure that there is enough room for all of the customers to hit the site at the same time.
5. Compare and contrast the various scaling methods. Explain why scalability is a key business issue for Web sites.
Horizontal scaling is when you are employing multiple computers to share the workload. Vertical scaling is increasing the processing power of individual components. Scalability is a key business issue because it refers to the ability of a site to increase in size as demand warrants.
6. What are the eight most important factors impacting Web site design, and how do they affect a site’s operation?
functionality (pages that work, load quickly, and point the customer toward your product offerings), informational (links that customers can easily find to discover more about you and your products), ease of use (simple fool-proof navigation), redundant navigation (alternative navigation to the same content), ease of purchase (one or two clicks to purchase), multi-browser functionality (site works with the most popular browsers), simple graphics (avoids distracting, obnoxious graphics and sounds that the user cannot control), and legible text (avoid backgrounds that distort text or make it illegible)
6. Name and describe three tools used to treat customers individually. Why are they significant to e-commerce?
Personalization which is the ability to treat people based on their personal qualities and prior history with your site, customization which is the ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer and speaking directly to the customer on a one-to-one basis.
7. What are some of the policies e-commerce businesses must develop before launching a site and why?
Privacy policy and ability to access your account
1. Name the six main pieces of the e-commerce site puzzle.
Human resources, site design, organizational capabilities, hardware architecture, software, and telecommunications.
2. Define the systems development life cycle and discuss the various steps involved in creating an e-commerce site.
system analysis/planning, systems design which is a description of the main components in a system and their relationship to one another, building the system which is outsourcing, testing which contain unit testing, system testing, and acceptance testing and implementation is the last step in the cycle which is putting it to work.
3. What are the three main factors to consider when choosing the best platform for your Web site?
Page deliver, page generation and page content.
4. Why is Web server bandwidth an important issue for e-commerce sites?
To make sure that there is enough room for all of the customers to hit the site at the same time.
5. Compare and contrast the various scaling methods. Explain why scalability is a key business issue for Web sites.
Horizontal scaling is when you are employing multiple computers to share the workload. Vertical scaling is increasing the processing power of individual components. Scalability is a key business issue because it refers to the ability of a site to increase in size as demand warrants.
6. What are the eight most important factors impacting Web site design, and how do they affect a site’s operation?
functionality (pages that work, load quickly, and point the customer toward your product offerings), informational (links that customers can easily find to discover more about you and your products), ease of use (simple fool-proof navigation), redundant navigation (alternative navigation to the same content), ease of purchase (one or two clicks to purchase), multi-browser functionality (site works with the most popular browsers), simple graphics (avoids distracting, obnoxious graphics and sounds that the user cannot control), and legible text (avoid backgrounds that distort text or make it illegible)
6. Name and describe three tools used to treat customers individually. Why are they significant to e-commerce?
Personalization which is the ability to treat people based on their personal qualities and prior history with your site, customization which is the ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer and speaking directly to the customer on a one-to-one basis.
7. What are some of the policies e-commerce businesses must develop before launching a site and why?
Privacy policy and ability to access your account
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Chapter 3 HW
1. Why isn’t the Internet overloaded? Will it ever be at capacity?
The internet isn’t overloaded because more and more servers are being added and the Internet architecture is built in layers so that each layer can change without disturbing development in other layers. The internet will not be at capacity because more layers are continuing to be produced.
2. Compare and contrast intranets, extranets, and the Internet as a whole.
Intranet is a TCP network that is located within a single organization for the purposes of communications and information processing. An extranet is formed when firms permit outsiders to access their internal TCP/IP networks. An example of a user of an intranet would be Microsoft. An extranet would be like General Motors.
3. What are some of the challenges of policing the Internet? Who has the final say when it comes to content?
There is not one single governing organization that controls activity on the Internet, instead there are several organizations that influence the system and monitor its operations.
4. Why was the development of the browser so significant for the growth of the Web?
It allowed people to share files, information, graphics, sound, video, and other objects across computer platforms in the world, regardless of operating system.
5. Name and describe five services currently available through the Web.
E-mail which allows messages containing text, picture, images, or sound to be transferred from one Internet user to another. Instant messaging which allows messages to be instantly sent between two users allowing for a two-way conversation. Search engines which identify Web pages that match a query submitted by a user. Blogs are personal Web pages that typically contain a series of chronological entries by the author and links to related web pages. Wikis which are web applications that allow a user to easily add and edit content on a web page.
6. What are at least three new services that will be available through the next generation of the Internet?
RSS-an XML format that allows users to have digital content automatically sent to their computers over the Internet. M-commerce applications which permit mobile consumers to make payments from their cell phones. Online software and services, such as web apps, widgets, gadgets, and distribution of software applications and distributed storage offered by ASPs.
The internet isn’t overloaded because more and more servers are being added and the Internet architecture is built in layers so that each layer can change without disturbing development in other layers. The internet will not be at capacity because more layers are continuing to be produced.
2. Compare and contrast intranets, extranets, and the Internet as a whole.
Intranet is a TCP network that is located within a single organization for the purposes of communications and information processing. An extranet is formed when firms permit outsiders to access their internal TCP/IP networks. An example of a user of an intranet would be Microsoft. An extranet would be like General Motors.
3. What are some of the challenges of policing the Internet? Who has the final say when it comes to content?
There is not one single governing organization that controls activity on the Internet, instead there are several organizations that influence the system and monitor its operations.
4. Why was the development of the browser so significant for the growth of the Web?
It allowed people to share files, information, graphics, sound, video, and other objects across computer platforms in the world, regardless of operating system.
5. Name and describe five services currently available through the Web.
E-mail which allows messages containing text, picture, images, or sound to be transferred from one Internet user to another. Instant messaging which allows messages to be instantly sent between two users allowing for a two-way conversation. Search engines which identify Web pages that match a query submitted by a user. Blogs are personal Web pages that typically contain a series of chronological entries by the author and links to related web pages. Wikis which are web applications that allow a user to easily add and edit content on a web page.
6. What are at least three new services that will be available through the next generation of the Internet?
RSS-an XML format that allows users to have digital content automatically sent to their computers over the Internet. M-commerce applications which permit mobile consumers to make payments from their cell phones. Online software and services, such as web apps, widgets, gadgets, and distribution of software applications and distributed storage offered by ASPs.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)