Chapter 11

  Why did most communities in the early days of e-commerce fail? What factors enable some online social networks to prosper today?
      Most communities in the early days of e-commerce failed because the early online communities involved a relatively small number of Web aficionados, and users with intense interests in technology, politics, literature, and ideas.  The factors that enable some online social networks to prosper today are a group of people, shared social interaction, common ties among members, and people who share an area for some period of time.

2.      How does a social network differ from a portal? How are the two similar?
      A social network differs from a portal because a portal is a group of web pages that act as a starting point for using the Web or Web based services.  A social network consists of interaction between a group of people.

3.      What is personalization, or personal value pricing, and how can it be used at the beginning of a product’s life cycle to increase revenues?
     Personalization pricing adjusts prices based on the merchant's estimate of how much the customer truly values the product.  It can be used at the beginning of a product's life cycle to increase revenues because if a lot of people are buying the product, then they can up the price; however, if it is not selling very well, they will put it on sale.

4.      List and briefly explain three of the benefits of auction markets.
      The three benefits of auction markets are consumer-to-consumer auctions, in which the auction house is simply an intermediary market maker, providing a forum where consumers can discover prices and trade.  Business-to-consumer auctions where a business owns or controls assets and uses dynamic pricing to establish the price.  Business-to-business auctions is the third type.  Three benefits of auctions Liquidity, price discovery, and market efficiency.

5.      What are the four major costs to consumers of participating in an auction?
      The four major costs to consumers of participating in an auction are delayed consumption costs, monitoring costs, equipment costs, trust risks, and fulfillment costs.

6.      What is an auction aggregator and how does it work?
      An auction aggregator is when you use computer programs to search thousands of Web auction sites, and aggregate information on products, bids, auction duration, and big increments.

7.      What three characteristics define a portal site today?
      Three characteristics that define a portal site today are web sites that contain in-depth information and they seek to be a sticky destination.

8.      List and briefly explain the main revenue sources for the portal business model.
     The main revenue sources for the portal business model are Reach, the percentage of the Web audience that visits the site in a month and unique visitors the number of uniquely identified individuals who visit in a month.

Chapter 10

1.      What are the three dimensions where the term convergence has been applied? What does each of these areas of convergence entail?
        The three dimensions where the term convergence has been applied are Technology, content and industry.  Each of these area of convergence entail technological convergence is the development of hybrid devices that can combine the functionality of two or more existing media platforms into a single device.  Content convergence is convergence in the design, production and distribution of the content.  Industry convergence is a merger of media enterprises into into synergistic combination's that create and cross-market content on different platforms.

2.      Why has media industry convergence not occurred as rapidly as predicted? What are the five basic revenue models for online content and what is their major challenge? What will have to be done in order to overcome this obstacle to profitability?
       Media industry convergence has not occurred as rapidly as predicted because they don't want it to confuse the customers; so therefore they make it a much slower process.  The five basic revenue models for online content are marketing, advertising, pay-per-view, subscription, and mixed.  Prosecuting lawbreakers and enhancing security of online products will have to be done in order to overcome this obstacle to profitability.

3.      What four things must content provider firms do in order to generate meaningful revenues?
       Focused market, specialized content, sole-source monopoly, and high perceived net value will have to be done in order to generate meaningful revenues.

4.       

How has the Internet impacted the content that newspapers can offer?
       The Internet has impacted the content that newspapers can offer by anything can be read on the Internet for free, so why would someone pay for a newspaper.  People can even print the information off the Internet and then it would be just the same as a newspaper.

5.      What are the advantages and disadvantages of e-book content?
      An advantage of e-book content is it is easy to get to and can be easily organized on the computer; however, most people had rather have an actual book especially older people because that's what they grew up with.

6.      How has the Internet changed the packaging, distribution, marketing, and sale of traditional music tracks?
      The Internet has changed the packaging, distribution, marketing, and sale of traditional music tracks by anyone can look up any song/album online and can even burn it to a cd; however, most of the time they are marketing more of a single song that can include even the music video.

7.      What are the factors that make nontraditional distinctly Web entertainment sites so popular with users?
      The factors that make nontraditional distinctly Web entertainment sites so popular with users are customization, personalization, and easy access to anything.

Chapter 9

1.      Why were so many entrepreneurs drawn to start businesses in the online retail sector initially?

       So many entrepreneurs are 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 largest segment of U.S. retail sales is 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 disintermediation and hypermediation as it relates to online retailing.
      Disintermediation 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.  Hypermediation 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/aggregators 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?
       The two major types of online service industries are financial services and travel services.  

Chapter 8

1.     

1.      What basic assumptions does the study of ethics make about individuals?

      

       Some basic assumptions that the study of ethics makes 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 processes is a feature of law-governed societies and refers to a process in which laws are known and understood and there is an ability to appeal to higher authorities to ensure that the laws have been applied correctly.

3.      Explain Google’s position that YouTube does not violate the intellectual property rights of copyright owners.

        Google's position that YouTube does not violate the intellectual property rights of copyright owners is because YouTube is not finding the videos and posting them their self; others post their videos to the YouTube site.

4.      Define universalism, slippery slope, the New York Times test, and the social contract rule as they apply to ethics.

       Universalism if an action is not right for all situations, then it is not right for any specific situation.  Slippery Slope is if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is not right to take at all.  The New York Times test is do you want your name to be in the New York times the next day?  What would be the reaction from your friends and family and would they be proud of you?  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 that is collected by Web sites is your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, social security number, age, gender, occupation, bank accounts, credit card numbers, etc.

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 differs form site transaction logs by site transaction logs can be used to collect and analyze detailed information on page content viewed by users.  I think information collected through online forms provides a more complete consumer profile because they can get your age, gender, phone number, address, etc.

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 they have the ability to precisely track not just consumer purchases, but all browsing behavior on the Web at thousands of the most popular member sites, including browsing book lists, filling out preference forms, and viewing content pages.  They can dynamically adjust what the shopper sees on screen including prices.  They can also build and continually refresh high-resolution data images or behavioral profiles of consumers.

8.      Explain how Web profiling is supposed to benefit both consumers and businesses.

       Web profiling is the creation of digital images that characterize online individual and group behavior.

9.      How could the Internet potentially change protection given to intellectual property? 

       The Internet could potentially change protection given to intellectual property by 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?

      Some capabilities that make it more difficult to enforce intellectual property law are the internet technically allowing millions of people to make perfect digital copies of various works.

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?

     Some of the tactics illegal businesses use to operate outside the law on the Internet are  using checks and money orders as payments and the postal system as logistics partner, also with gambling they were using credit cards and other online payment systems for Internet betting.