Framing Electronic Commerce within an Introductory Information Systems Course

Journal of Information Systems Education, Spring 2005 by Grenci, Richard T

ABSTRACT

This paper describes and analyzes a teaching approach that frames ecommerce within an introductory Business Information Systems (BIS) class. The framework is guided by the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as a foundational and defining concept in the information systems (IS) discipline. Within this framework, the teaching approach employs a semester-long series of three assignments in which students propose and analyze an Internet start-up business. Although the assignments loosely parallel the SDLC, they do not emphasize systems development; and as such, they can be readily employed in an undergraduate or graduate core business course. At the same time, the assignments do provide a context for discussing the SDLC at the end of the semester, thus providing a substantive basis for exemplifying the relevance of both ecommerce and information systems alike. Such a context also lends to a discussion of how ecommerce systems change the traditional view of the SDLC. In addition to positioning and presenting the teaching approach and an example case, the paper discusses lessons learned from the experience of having implemented the assignments. The assignments provide an interesting context; and the advancement of the teaching approach has implications as a reproducible teaching exercise as well as for ecommerce and information systems pedagogical research.

Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Internet Marketing, Information Systems Course, Teaching Case Study, Systems Development Life Cycle

1. INTRODUCTION

The information systems (IS) discipline has a foundational knowledge base - the systems development life cycle (SDLC) - that offers a unique and informative perspective for teaching ecommerce topics. However, an SDLC perspective can translate into an emphasis on systems development projects, resulting in ecommerce courses in IS curricula that focus on web design and development. Such courses may be of limited interest to the non-IS business major; and for many business majors, their only exposure to IS-framed ecommerce topics will come from the only IS course that they will take - the business core course in information systems. :

This paper describes and analyzes a teaching approach that frames ecommerce within an introductory business information systems (BIS) class. The framework utilizes a semester-long series of three assignments in which students - working in small groups - propose and analyze an Internet start-up business. The assignments loosely parallel the SDLC, but they do not emphasize systems development. As such, the framework and assignments can be (and have been) easily (and effectively) employed in an undergraduate business course of mostly non-IS majors. The approach likewise could be used in a graduate business class. In addition to positioning and presenting the teaching approach, the paper discusses an example case as well as lessons learned from the experience of having implemented the assignments.

The significance of the teaching approach is due in part to an ability to bring ecommerce to the forefront while maintaining the goals and objectives of an introductory BIS course. The IS topics are arranged to coincide with the assignments and to reinforce the ecommerce topics in context. Integrating the IS topics is important to conveying a broader perspective to students, the majority of whom think of ecommerce as just shopping on the web (Gunasekaran and Ngai 2004). Not only does the approach frame ecommerce within the BIS course, but the assignments also provide a context for discussing the SDLC at the end of the semester. At the same time, the assignments advance a discussion of how ecommerce systems change the traditional view of the SDLC. Such discussions provide a substantive and interesting basis for exemplifying the relevance of both ecommerce and information systems alike.

2. ECOMMERCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

2.1 Ecommerce Curricula

The need to develop and advance ecommerce curricula has been met with a limited amount of research (Gunasekaran, McGaughey, McNeil 2004). This research has been conducted at two levels: broader-level studies covering issues related to the design and implementation of ecommerce programs and degrees; and narrower-level studies focused on the design and implementation of specific courses. Many of the more focused studies (e.g., Dhamija, Heller, and Hoffman 1999; Angeles and Adams 2000; Settle and Berthiaume 2003; Ngai 2004) have described positive results with hands-on, interactive, and collaborative approaches to teaching ecommerce courses. At the same time, broader-level studies have used surveys and descriptions of ecommerce programs to advance the curricula by identifying common or revealing approaches, courses, challenges and opportunities.

Overall, ecommerce programs are known to be highly multidisciplinary (Mechitov, Moshkovich, and Olson 2002). Nevertheless, recent studies (King, Frank, and Platt 2001; Davis, Siau, and Dhenuvakonda 2003) have reported that the vast majority of ecommerce programs are administered in the business school and at the graduate level; moreover, they show marketing, technology management, and strategy to be the most prevalent courses being offered in these programs. Not surprisingly, marketing and IS often are identified as two of the more prominent disciplines involved in ecommerce programs (e.g., Chen, Brunswick, Basu 2000). Some researchers even see the modern day e-business environment as necessitating increased integration between IS and marketing strategy (Celsi and Wolfinbarger 2000).