School of Computing and
Communications
Spring 2010
32120 Introduction to e-Business Technology

Assessment Item 2
Research Project - Report and Presentation
WORTH: 30% (Research report 20% & presentation: 10%)

Due date: 19 October 2010
OVERVIEW
In groups of 2, select an industry you would like to concentrate your e-Business research report.
In your research report and presentation you will detail how to get this business ready for ecommerce. You could look at either selling services or physical goods. Your selection could be based on an actual 'bricks-and-mortar' retail business that you know, or the business may already have an existing e-commerce website that you would like to improve or the business you have in your mind that you would like to work on. You can make up a business that does not exist. Prior to commencing your project please discuss it with your tutor in the earlier weeks.
You will describe the model and strategies applied to make it a successful e-commerce business, addressing all the points listed below (in bold). You also need to provide the rationale behind your decisions. This can be partly based on the material from the textbook and classes
(that still needs to be acknowledged) but you also need to conduct in-depth research using additional resources (books on e-commerce, journal articles, reports etc).
The report and presentation need to cover:
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An overview of the industry and the company detailing the trends
A description of key elements of the business model and strategy
Details of the technology infrastructure chosen
Decisions concerning payment systems and security
Marketing strategies

32120 – Introduction to e-Business Technology

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Please refer to the corresponding chapters in the textbook to see what concepts should be included within each topic. In your report you may use drawings and diagrams to illustrate some concepts, or you can create an actual website prototype and include the URL in your report.

RESEARCH REPORT
The report must be word processed and include a signed declaration that the work you are handing in is your own (group members). It is due on 19th October 2010 (Week 11). The soft copy should be submitted via email by 6 pm to your tutor (preferably designate one group member to submit the report, but please CC: the other team member). When emailing the assignment, please save the message in your Sent folder as a proof of submission in case it does not get through. You also need to hand in the hard copy of the research report to the tutor at the beginning of the Tutorial class. The copy must be identical to the soft copy submitted earlier. PRESENTATION
You will need to present the main points of your research report to your tutorial group using a
PowerPoint Presentation (15-20 minutes per presentation). Please remember that in this presentation you will be marked both on the content and on your presentation skills. Each team member must take part in the presentation. Your presentation should follow the headings of your report. Its aim is to demonstrate to your audience the decisions and strategies you chose, and the rationale behind them. You still need to use in-text references in the presentation
(author, year), and include a list of