E-Business Strategy: Text and Cases - Paul Phillips

Paul Phillips
(European Management School, University of Surrey.)

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Introduction

This text provides students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with an academic insight into e-business models and strategies

Key features

Focus of UK and European e-business: Whilst taking into account the globalisation of e-commerce across international boundaries, the text provides a European perspective on e-business models and e-business strategies with reference to specific European examples and within the context of European business environments. Examples include Freeserve, UK holiday operators, Clearlybusiness.com

Coverage of a wide range of external and internal issues: The texts 12 chapters offer a well-rounded assessment of e-commerce ideally suited to a one semester e-business module, providing students with an overview of the key business factors that play a part in the set-up and running of e-commerce ventures. The book offers a holistic treatment, which looks both at the e-business legal and technical environment, the strategic considerations of establishing a e-business model, and operational issues such as risk management, resource planning and organizational effectiveness in e-commerce. The book also has focuses on the financing of e-business, often neglected in competing texts, and includes a specific chapter on the financial appraisal of e-businesses.

Case Studies: Mini case studies and a full case or article complete each chapter, reinforcing important topics covered in the previous pages. The strong collection of international case studies encourage students to apply their knowledge and develop analytical skills and judgement required to deal with real life business problems. Cases featured are drawn from authoritative sources such as the Economist, The Guardian and Business Week and include the BBC, Seven-Eleven, Tesco.com, Amazon.com, the Wall Street Journal online, Kelkoo.com, EasyValue.com, e-bay.com, and many more. Each case and min-case is accompanied by questions that encourage students to consider the important concepts illustrated in the examples.

Pedagogy: A comprehensive range of pedagogical features integrated throughout the text enable students to consistently check their progress and help reinforce the topics covered. Each chapter begins with clearly stated learning objectives, outlining to the student what they should understand by the end of the chapter. Throughout each chapter thought provoking illustrative boxed examples highlight the core concepts, and key terms boxes in the margin define important business or technological terminology. Review questions, assessment questions and group assignments enable students to test their understanding either in class or through private study.

Online learning Centre resources: including PowerPoint slides for lecturers and self-test questions, web links and a glossary of key terms for students.