Introduction to eBusiness

School of Business
Program: Certificate in eBusiness
Course: BUSA 3455 Introduction to eBusiness
Research Paper Assignment
Purpose
The purpose of this task is to explore a topic of interest in Electronic Commerce, to
demonstrate an understanding of Electronic Commerce technologies and methods, and to
demonstrate how Electronic Commerce can be used to enhance or solve business
problem.
Task
Select a topic relevant to the topics, material, outcomes covered in this course and
explore the issues, technology and implications for business. Write a professional
academic or managerial paper on an aspect of Electronic Commerce.
There are three deliverables for this assignment
1) Topic – to be well defined and submitted to the instructor for approval
2) Research paper document – well written and formatted; not to exceed 2500
words
3) Presentation – share your learning and new knowledge with others
The field of e-Commerce is vast. Read and explore before deciding. You must
specifically define your research area and offer new knowledge and direction to the
reader. Some ideas for research areas include but are not limited to:
o Creating community on the web – the value to your business?
o Ecommerce adoption by farmers in developing economies
o Social Networks -
o Education - How is the internet being used in schools and how is it impacting
education?
o Online gaming –
o Security, Privacy and Trust in Canada
o The rise of micro-business - Can small / micro businesses succeed online?
o M-Commerce – place-based m-commerce
o Philanthropy – how is it being impacted by e-Commerce?
o Trends in e-Commerce - How to understand the trends in ec and their impact on
business? Version: Autumn 2010
Your topic is subject to the approval of the instructor
Planning and Research Advice
• You are preparing to be a professional manager. You are expected to conduct
yourself as such.
• Keep it focussed and simple.
• Start early and manage your time – treat it as a project with an unmovable
delivery date; define success; itemize tasks and required resources
• Be professional and do your very best work.
Resources
Turban Appendix A CURRENT ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
RESEARCH
Textbook – The course textbook serves as an excellent reference for topics and
further reading on areas of electronic commerce and eBusiness.
BCIT Library (online) – The BCIT library provides access to both academic and
trade publications including, but by no means limited to:
• International Journal of Electronic Commerce
• Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations
• Journal of Organizational Computing & Electronic Commerce
Internet
Government of Canada
[http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_x/engdoc/using_ecom.html?guides=e_com]
CIO [http://www.cio.com/research/ec/]
BRINT [http://www.brint.com]
Note – Many industry sites and corporate white papers are biased toward vendors
and sponsors and to their own technologies. It is important to seek vendor neutral
sites.
Format
Students are required to adhere to the following:
Print
Structure
- Title Page (Include your name and student number) [insert a PAGE
BREAK - please]
- Executive Summary (75 words)
- Introduction
- Topic Version: Autumn 2010
- Topic
- Topic
- Conclusions
- Appendix (if needed)
- References
Layout
Headings in bold
Text line spacing:1.5
Headers/Footers (Include your name and student number in either the
header or footer of each page)
Writing and Presentation Advice
• Proof read (Do not rely on spell and grammar checkers)
• Support your statements and claims with proof.
• Avoid opinions.
• Do not use superlatives
• Avoid contractions (isn’t, doesn’t, don’t)
• Avoid writing in the first person. Instead use “we” or “the business”
• Write short, concise sentences.
• Cite all sources. Failure to do so will result in a reduced grade for this
assignment.
Presentation – Oral / Online
Classroom version: Students are required to make a brief presentation (5 minutes)
of your findings.
Online version: Create a brief presentation summarizing your findings to be
posted to a designated discussion forum.
Address only the key points of your paper. There is no time and no need to go into
detail.
If you have access to MS PowerPoint, you may wish to create two or three slides
– no more than five and bring them to class on a disk or you will be provided with
acetate to produce overheads.
Length
2300 to 2500 words Version: Autumn 2010
Length [the body of the paper] should not exceed 2500 words nor should it be less
than 2300 words. This amount includes your original written work and does not
include references or appendices.
Submissions outside of this range will result in a diminished grade.
Evaluation
30% of final grade
Students will be evaluated on the breadth, thorough consideration of the topic and
conclusions. For example, papers that endeavour to present and solve real
business or management problems will garner higher grade, all things considered,
than those that provide a review of a technology or literature. Attention will be
paid to the scope and definition of the topic and how well the topic is addressed.
As well, students will be evaluated on their ability to communicate effectively and
concisely.
Evaluation criteria
• Topic – challenge, complexity or novelty
• Research – depth and breadth of research
o high value: peer reviewed journals; professional or industry journals
o low value: course textbook – it ok, but, use the textbook to locate papers
and resources about your topic; corporate websites
o no value: blogs and Wikipedia (however – use Wikipedia to locate papers
and resources about your topic); discussion boards
• Writing and Format – take care; be professional; proofread or have someone
proofread it for you; do not write in the first person, do not use contractions, do
not use slang; support all claims and opinions.
• Addressing the issue – ability to clearly define your topic and scope of research,
identify the key issues, ability to support statements and conclusions.
• Conclusions – write clear, concise and supported conclusions about your
research.
Time and Deliverables
Topic: The topic is subject to the approval of the instructor. Online students must
submit their topic via email within the course on or before the due date posted on
the calendar.
Paper: Classroom version: Due at the beginning of Session 11
Online version: Due before mid-night of the date posted on the course calendar
Presentation: Classroom version: Due at the beginning of Session 11
Online version: Due before mid-night of the date posted on the course calendar Version: Autumn 2010
HOW TO CITE SOURCES
Prepare a bibliography of readings and URL's used to develop your paper. This is
the correct format for a bibliography in this course:
Print Publications
A reference to a book has four elements:
Authors/editors. Date of pub. Book title. Publication info.
Follow this order with a period after each element.
1. Belasco, J. A. (199X). Teaching the elephant to dance: The manager's
guide to empowering change. New York: Plume.
2. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the
learning organization. London, U.K.: Random House UK.
If there is more than one author, use the same pattern:
Surname, comma, initials, followed by period.
The title of a book is underlined (increasingly more commonly, bolded; if
reference is to an article in periodical, it is the title of the periodical/journal, not
the title of the article, that is underlined/bolded.)
Web References
A web reference has six elements:
Authors/Editors/Site Name. Date of pub. Article title. Publication info.
Full URL (Date accessed).
Follow this order with a period after each element.
1. Strassman, Paul. (2000). “The Xerox Tragedy”. Computerworld.
http://www.strassmann.com/pubs/cw/xerox.shtml (Accessed 9 May 2004)
2. The Advisory Council. (March 1, 2004).“Smart Advice: Cost Is Only One Factor In
Outsourcing Decisions”. InformationWeek.
http://www.informationwee
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