COMP-5220 Final Examination

 

Instructions:  Answer ten (10) of the following questions.  Your answers should contain enough detail to demonstrate your mastery of the subject matter. 

 

Note:  You must answer at least one (1) of questions 1 through 4.

 

1.      Define electronic commerce.  Describe five (5) differences between electronic commerce and traditional commerce.  For each, give a real-world example.  Define each of the following terms and give a real-world example of each:

• B2B
• B2C
• C2B
• C2C

 

2.      Research, identify, and describe three (3) web sites that you feel are successful in marketing a product or service.  Do the same for three (3) web sites that you feel are not successful in marketing a product or service.  Include URL references.  In your opinion, what will be the five (5) top-ranking areas of online sales over the next three years?  Explain your answers. 

 

3.      Develop an E-commerce strategy for a real or hypothetical company using the approach described in class.  Describe the company, its market, its product/service, and the E-commerce strategy.

 

4.      In class we discussed three areas of technology which made the Internet possible.  Identify and describe each of them.  Also in class, we discussed two applications which were heavily responsible for the spread of the Internet.  Identify and describe each of them.

 

Note:  You must answer at least one (1) of questions 5 through 10.

 

5.      Define supply chain management in the framework of electronic commerce.  Research and discuss two (2) real-world examples. 

 

6.      Define disintermediation and reintermediation in the context of supply chain management.  Research and give a real-world example of each.

 

7.      Identify and briefly describe five (5) features commonly found at a major web portal site.  Visit one of the major web portal sites (such as msn or yahoo).  Describe the positive and negative aspects of this site (from your perspective). 

 

8.      Locate and describe one (1) example of a B2C site which attempts to provide a virtual “personal 1-on-1” contact.  How well does it succeed in providing this type of contact?

 

9.      Select a company which has both B2C and B2B e-commerce operations and describe its supply chain(s) in detail.

 

10.  Join an online community (such as Yahoo groups).  Describe, from your perspective, the effectiveness of this group.  How would you improve the group?  How might an online community be used to augment an office work environment?

 

Note:  You must answer at least one (1) of questions 11 through 19.

 

11.  Describe five (5) threats to Internet security.  Identify and describe one (1) possible solution for each of these threats.

 

12.  Research and describe three (3) different pieces of legislation dealing with electronic commerce or Internet security, privacy, and/or intellectual property rights.

 

13.  Describe identity theft.  How is it perpetrated?  How can you protect yourself? 

 

14.  Discuss the legal and ethical responsibilities of a B2C online store relating to protecting the privacy of customers.

 

15.  Define and describe public/private key encryption from the perspective of a B2C online store.

 

16.  Define and describe phishing.  How can you protect yourself from it?

 

17.  Define adware, spyware, and key loggers.  How do they work?  How can you protect yourself?

 

18.  Identify and compare three (3) products used to protect against virus infection.

 

19.  Identify and compare three (3) products used to protect against spyware.

 

Note:  You must answer at least one (1) of questions 20 through 22.

 

20.  Research and describe the features of three (3) web hosting sites (such as yahoo).  Compare them and select the one which you feel offers the best features.

 

21.  Design and implement a simple one-page web-site for a B2C online store or for an online information vendor.  Define two (2) characteristics of the site’s intended customers (market) and explain how this site appeals to those characteristics.  Publish this site on a free web hosting service.  Provide the URL for your site as part of the answer to this question.

 

22.  Research and describe the features of three (3) web site development products (such as Dreamweaver and FrontPage).  Compare them and select the one which you feels offers the best features.

 

Note:  You must answer at least (1) of questions 23 through 26.

 

23.  Research and describe the features of two (2) web hosting sites.  Compare them and select the one which you feel offers the best features and costs.

 

24.  Design and implement a simple one-page web site.  Define two (2) characteristics of the site’s intended customers and explain how this site appeals to those characteristics.  Upload this site to your geocities web site and provide the URL.

 

25.  Compare the benefits and drawbacks of (a) in-house vs. contracted web hosting, (b) in-house vs. contracted web site design, and (c) in-house vs. contracted web site construction.

 

26.  Research and describe the features of two (2) web site development tools (such as Dreamweaver).  Compare them and select the one which you feel offers the best features and costs.

 

Note:  You must answer at least (1) of questions 27 through 30.

 

27.  Summarize the major issues in the Dell case study.  Identify and describe two (2) of the key factors leading to Dell’s success.

 

28.  Summarize the major issues in the Schwab case study.  Identify and describe two (2) of the key factors leading to Schwab’s success.

 

29.  Summarize the major issues in the Ebay case study.  Identify and describe two (2) of the key factors leading to Ebay’s success.

 

30.  Summarize the major issues in the Amazon case study.  Identify and describe two (2) of the key factors leading to Amazon’s success.

 

Note:  Question 31 is optional.

 

31.  Make up your own question which was not asked on this exam.  Provide the question and your answer.