Professors
Amongst the course objectives, we highlight the following:
- To acquire a general knowledge of how an eBusiness works.
- Developing eBusiness Strategy.
- Creating an online business and running an online business.
- To learn how to use the SOCTAC methodology (Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Action & Control).
- To understand the four growing strategies for a business, from the customer perspective.
- To develop the necessary skills to understand the KPI that measure the performance of an online business.
The syllabus for the course covers the following main topics:
1. Creating a situation analysis.
2. Creating a competitor's analysis.
3. Benchmarking our business.
4. Fixing objectives.
5. Creating an online customer strategy.
6. Creating an online cost-price strategy.
7. Creating an online commercialization strategy.
8. Creating an online communication strategy.
9. Creating an online branding strategy.
10. Tactics to achieve our goals.
11. Content creations strategies.
12. Basic techniques to attract traffic to a website.
13. Creating a Website Performance Development Plan.
14. Reporting: creating a digital dashboard for our business.
The course consists of one session per week. Classes will be a mixture between theoretical concepts and case studies for students to learn general terms of eBusiness, combined with hands-on and workshop-based sessions, both performed by the professor and external visitors which will be experts in the subject. Students and professor(s) will perform collaborative exercises to further experiment with presented concepts, and work in groups on project development. The aim of the course is to develop the students understanding of an eBusiness. They will learn the importance of strategy and data for businesses and how they can be a key part to leveraging their online presence. During the course they will learn step-by-step how to develop a proper Strategic Plan that will then be the core element of their final group project presentation.
Reading assignments: read text assignments prior to class and be prepared to discuss the text material, answering instructor questions orally with well-organized thoughts and ideas.
Class attendance: you are expected to attend each class period, be on time and stay the full class period or be counted absent. You are responsible for all course material missed due to absence. The instructor does not provide class notes for classes missed.
Note: Absence from class for any reason will result as a 0 for that class unless you turn in a written summary of the materials for that day.
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
In order to achieve their academic progress, students are expected to punctually attend all sessions and actively participate in the activities. In addition to this, the following aspects will be considered for determining the final course grade:
- Class participation.
- Pro-activity and creativity in group work and individual assignments.
- Punctual submission of proposed assignments
EVALUATION SYSTEM
The Course grade will be based on the following point breakdown:
40% Weekly assignments.
30% The creation of the business website - fully functional.
30% The final Document with the Strategic Plan
RETAKE POLICY
If a student is retaking the project, the hand-in date is in the last week of July. There will be no retake for the classwork and homework, and the maximum final grade for the subject is 5.
No textbook is required. All the relevant information will be provided during the sessions and through the online platforms available. Students should bring their laptops to all sessions.
Recommended Readings:
- ECONOMIST (2013). Alibaba: The Worlds Greatest Bazaar [online]. Last accessed 26 March 2013 at: ht tp://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21573980-alibaba-trailblazing chinese-internet-giant-will-soon-go-public-worlds-greatest-bazaar.
- Webs Analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability & science of customer centricity (paperback) by Avinash Kaushik (2009).
Recommended Blogs:
- www.kaushik.net: Avinash Kaushik blog. Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google.
- https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/?s=analytics : Content Marketing Institute.