ISM 211

Spring 2008
eBusiness: Technology and Strategy

Website: http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/ism211/Spring08

 

Announcements:

 

           

Lectures:

          Mondays 6-9:30, UCSC Silicon Valley Center

          Telecast to Campus room Jack Baskin 156

          Course Number: 63208 (SVC) 63512 (Campus)

          Required Course of Knowledge Services & Enterprise Management (KSEM) Certificate

 

Course Description:

TIM 211 is a first graduate course in technology and business strategy for information technology products and services. Firms trying to succeed in the information technology products and services sectors need to understand the structure of modern information technology, the relation of that structure to the structure of the industry that creates it, and the economic forces that drive the players in the industry. 

 

Instructor:

          John Musacchio (johnm@soe.ucsc.edu)

Office:                         E2 Room 557

Office hours:              TBA

Email:                         johnm@soe.ucsc.edu

 

Teaching Assistant:  Geoff Ryder

Email:                         gryder@gmail.com

 

Reading

Materials Requiring Purchase:

*    C. Shapiro, H. Varian, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Harvard Business School Press; 1st edition (November 1998)

*    Buy from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble][Harvard Business School Press]

 

*    Online Reader of Cases and Articles from Harvard Business School Press

*    [Purchase Here]

*    Reader Includes

*      T. Eisenmann, K. Hermann, “Google Inc,” Harvard Business School Case Study, 2006.

*      F. W. McFarlan, V. Belokhvostova, “RosettaNet and ebXML:  Betting on the Right eBusiness Standard,” Harvard Business School Case Study, 2006.

*      M. J. Piskorski, “LinkedIn (A),” Harvard Business School Case Study, 2007.

*      M. Porter, “Strategy and the Internet,” Harvard Business Review, March 2001.

*      M. Porter, “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, March 2008.

*      D. Yoffe, M. Kwak, “With Friends Like These: The Art of Managing Complementors,” Harvard Business Review, September 2006.

 

Other Reading:

*      B. Edelman, M. Ostrovsky, M. Schwarz, ”Internet Advertising and the Generalized Second Price Auction: Selling Billions of Dollars Worth of Keywords,” Working paper, 2005.

*      Musacchio J., J. Walrand, G. Schwartz, “A Two-Sided Market Analysis of Provider Investment Incentives With an Application to the Net-Neutrality Issue.” To appear in Review of Network Economics (2008)

 

Suggested Reference Books [Purchase NOT Required]:

*      D. Fudenberg, J. Tirole, Game Theory, MIT Press, 1991.

*    D. Messerschmitt, C. Szyperski, Software Ecosystem: Understanding an Indispensable Technology and Industry, The MIT Press; New Ed edition (September 1, 2005)

*    H. Varian, J. Farrell, C. Shapiro, The Economics of Information Technology: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press (January 31, 2005)

 

Grading:

*    Homework assignments 15%

*    Participation 10%

*    Discussion Forum 10%

*    Project 1  25%

*    Final Project 40%

 

Tentative Lecture Plan

 

Class

Date

Lecture Topic

Reading

(Reading to be done before each class)

Assignments

1

3/31

·      Course Introduction

·      Introduction to Strategy

·     Varian and Shapiro (VS), Chapter 1, The Information Economy

·     HBR Five Competitive Forces

Final project assigned

2

4/7

·      Economics of Information

    - Pricing and versioning

    - Bundling

 

·     VS Chapter 2, Pricing

·     VS Chapter 3, Versioning

·     HBR, Strategy and the Internet

Problem Set 1 out:  (pricing and versioning)

3

4/14

·      Industry and Technology Structure

-      technology layering, component suppliers and system integrators

·      Web Programming Tutorial

 

·     Messerschmitt: Rethinking Components

·     HBS ebXML case study

Project 1 out: 

(web programming)

4

4/21

·      Network Effects;

·      Game Theory and Auctions Introduction

·     VS Chapter 7, Networks and Positive Feedback

·     HBS Winner-Take-All in Networked Markets

·     Game Theory Tutorial Reading

Problem Set 1 due

5

4/28

·      Game Theory Applications: Modeling of two-sided markets and Net Neutrality; Advertising Auctions

·     Musacchio, Schwartz, Walrand, "A Two Sided Market Analysis...Net-Neutrality"

·     Edelman, Ostrovsky, Schwartz, "Internet Advertising..."

 

6

5/5

·      Discussion of Search Engine Business Model

·      Lock-In

·     HBS Google

·     VS Chapter 5, Recognizing Lock-In

·     VS Chapter 6, Managing Lock-In

Homework 2 out

 

7

5/12

·      Managing Complementors

·      Standards

·     HBR With Friends Like These

·     VS Chapter 8, Cooperation and Compatibility

·     VS Chapter 9, Waging a Standards War

Project 1 due

8

5/19

·      eCommerce; social networks

·      Open Social Initiative

·      Rights Management

·     HBS Linked In

·     VS Chapter 4, Rights Management

·     VS Chapter 10, Information Policy

Homework 2 due

 

 

5/26

Memorial Day Holiday

 

 

9

6/2

·      Final Project Presentations

·      Wrap-Up

 

Final projects due