Business Systems: 9967658 9967013 Ajinkya Aman Gawande Amit Ashok Kamble

Ajinkya (9967658) Business Systems Amit (9967013)
November 10, 2010
9967658
9967013
Ajinkya Aman Gawande
Amit Ashok Kamble
November 10
Business
Systems 2010
Semester 2
Assessment 2
1
November 10, 2010
Contents
Sr.No Pg.no
Marking Schedule 3-4
Introduction 5
a) Case study 1 : Alibris.com 6-11
i) Possible Business Strategies 6-9
(a) Internal Tool : Swot Analysis 6-7
(b) External Tool : Porter’s Five Forces 8-9
ii) Impacts of E-Commerce on Marketing, Sales, Procurement, delivery 10-11
and customer service of Alibris
iii) Competitive advantage of the Business 11
b) Case study 2 : Brein and eBay 12-13
1) Brein 12
2) eBay 13
c) Case study 3 : Day Chocolate Company Gold Service 14-16
i) Identified Threats 14
ii) Solutions to those threats 14-15
iii) Security Standards Considered 16
d) Case study 4 : Alibaba.com 17-19
i) Activity 1 : Creation of Lock-in effect 17
ii) Activity 2 : Different listing charges 17
iii) Activity 3 : Opportunities 17-18
iv) Activity 4 : Advantages and Lock-in effect 18-19
v) Activity 5 : Alibaba.com’s reputation re Yahoo! 19
References 20 - 21
MARKING SCHEDULE (Course Weighting 40%)
2
November 10, 2010
Possible Actual
ITEM Comments
Marks Marks
1. Presentation:
i. Cover (1)
ii. Contents page (1)
iii. Page numbering (1)
iv. Spelling and Grammar (5)
v. Evidence of further research (5)
vi. Report format:
30
 Introduction (2½)
 Body/Findings (½)
 Use of graphic elements,
statistics or any other tool to support
the text (10)
 Conclusion (2½)
 Referencing (1½)
2. Case 1 - Alibris:
a) Appropriate business models used e.g.
5
one (1) for internal environment
and one (1) for external environment 5
b) Impact of E-commerce on the
business clearly described. i.e. how 10
marketing, sales, procurement, delivery
and customer service were affected
c) Competitive advantage of the business 5
(gain or loss)
3. Case 2 – Brein and e-Bay:
i. Identified issues (2.5 marks per sub-
5
case)
ii. Legislation (4 marks per sub-case) 8
iii. Ethical issues (3.5 marks per sub-case) 7

iv. Personal conclusion (7.5 marks per sub-
15
case)
4. Case 3 – Day Chocolate
Company Gold Service:
i. Identified threats 15
ii. Solutions to those threats
a. Applicable technologies available 7.5

b. Specific product or service for
7.5
the Day Chocolate Company
iii. Security standards considered 5
5. Case 4 - Alibaba.com:
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November 10, 2010
i. Activity 1 - Creation of lock-in effect 15
ii. Activity 2 - Different listing charges 15
iii. Activity 3 - Opportunities 15
iv. Activity 4 - Advantages and lock-in effect 15

v. Activity 5 - Alibaba.com’s reputation re 15
Yahoo!
TOTAL 200 ______
PERCENT: ___________
TUTOR: Laura Addinall

E-mail: laura.addinall@boppoly.ac.nz
Introduction
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November 10, 2010
The following report is based on four case studies, which are further divided into
several parts.
Case study 1 is about Alibris.com an online book store. The 1 st case study focuses on
strategic management tools and impact of e-commerce on business of Alibris.com.
Case study 2 asks us to solve and build your personal conclusion on two cases. One
from Amsterdam that involves case of illegal file sharing and the other from Germany
that involves issue of online auction.
Case study 3, requests us to help “Divine Chocolate Company” to help it with security
concerns, that might affect the company on implementation of new Information
System.
Case study 3, is completely based on B2B market in China, it is about Alibaba.com

which is an early entrant in B2B Chinese market, which focuses on connecting small
SMBs in China with global market.
a) CASE STUDY 1 – Alibris.com
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November 10, 2010
i) Possible Business Strategy :
a) Using Internal tool : SWOT Analysis
o SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate

the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in
a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or
project and identifying the factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that
objective.
Strength Weakness
Opportunity Threat
The following report is a SWOT analysis (an internal Business tool) of “Alibris”.
o Strengths
 Compared with Amazon’s 36.9 million unique visits in July 2003, Alibris got
535,000 unique visits. In contrast to Barnes & Noble’s market capitalization of
$1.6 billion, Alibris is privately held, financed by its own sales and private
investors.
 Alibris focuses on a niche that is a sub-market for giants: used and hard-to-find
books, which makes buyers and readers all over the world to, turn to Alibris for
the hard-to-find books.
 Along with directly retailing the books into market and customers, Alibris CEO
Marty Manley, also turned Alibris into a supplier for the bookselling giants, and
this made Alibris the biggest supplier of hard-to-find books Barnes and Noble.
 Alibris’s technology platform is based on Linux which uses database search

application `Texis’, and this platform links a vast number of independent
booksellers.
 Availability of multiple sales channels for sellers, which allows a seller to

publish his book on a wide range and facilitates a buyer anywhere within any of
Alibris’s sales channel to buy it.
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November 10, 2010
 Alibris’s software platform, from so many sales channels generates volumes of

sales data, which helps Alibris to monitor the position of a book in the market.
o Weakness
 A bookseller is charged 15% commission for a direct book sale by Amazon,

whereas Alibris chargers 20% commission for the same, but it offers seller’s
books in its many sites.
 There are some books on Alibris whose “prices are terrible” Manley says, he
even says that, those book are old and sell at a higher price than the new ones.
o Opportunity
 Providing a platform on Internet for all readers and people to read books and
sell them back in return and also exchange them.
 Extending Alibris from just books to the areas of music, and movies. Providing
DVD’s, CD’s and VHS tapes.
o Threats
 Dominance of Alibris by e-commerce mega sites like Amazon and Barnes &
Noble.
 Sellers marching their own drum of price, leading to price disparity, Because of
this, there are some books that never sell and lay there forever which increases
the inventory management cost of the company.
b) Using External tool : Porter’s Five Forces
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November 10, 2010
o The Porter's 5 Forces tool is a simple but powerful tool for understanding where
power lies in a business situation. This is useful, because it helps you understand both
the strength of your current competitive position, and the strength of a position
you're considering moving into.
Supplier
Power
Threat of Competitive Threat of

new entry Rivalry substitution
Buyer power
The following report is an analysis of “Alibris”, based on Porter’s Five Forces (an
external Business tool)
o Supplier Power
 For Alibris, the available suppliers for books are the people and small
bookstores. Though Alibris do not directly buy book from people (sellers), the
sellers are the one who have power to rate a book. But, compare to Alibris and
sellers, Alibris provide sellers a platform to sell their books, so sellers want
Alibris and Alibris want sellers. Comparatively the supplier’s power is less then
compared to Alibris, which helps Alibris to control the supply of its inputs.
o Buyer Power
 In relation to B2C, the buyers are people all around the world which lie within
the sales channels of Alibris. Here the buyer power is strong, because, people
are the one who buys form Alibris. It’s not Alibris who wants to sell books, but
people are the one who want the books. So, to make sales Alibris has to keep
on re-pricing its books constantly and make sure the book prices are favorable.
 Alibris being one of the biggest suppliers has B2B buyers. These buyers are
giants in the e-commerce industry. But comparatively with B2C, here Alibris is
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November 10, 2010
the biggest supplier of Hard-to-find books. So, when giants like Amazon and
Barnes & Noble want hard-to-find books, they have to turn to Alibris. In this
case, Alibris can control the selling prices of its hard-to-find books, hence gives
an upper hand to the company.
o Competitive Rivalry
 Alibris is a company dominated by e-commerce giants like Amazon and Barnes

& Noble.
 Alibris being the biggest supplier of hard-to-find books focuses on hard-to-find

books. Whereas, other giants have all the books available, even the recent
launches. So, when people want a recently launched book, they know where to
find it. So, Alibris has to compete with Amazon and Barnes & Noble, so that, if a
customer at Alibris wants “Harry Potter 5” they don’t go away empty handed
and unsatisfied.
o The Threat of Substitution
 Alibris also sells new books as a customer service, because it does not want
customer’s to go away empty handed. So, when customer knows that Alibris
won’t let it go empty handed, demand for new books will eventually increase,
creating a threat of substitution for the hard-to-find books market.
 Alibris plans to extend itself into the areas of music and movies, CD’s, DVD’s
and VHS tapes. Alibris has always seen as the biggest supplier of hard-to-find
books to Barnes & Noble. People are more interested in new books, and Alibris
lacks in supplying those. If Alibris expands itself into areas of music and movies,
people will approach them only for music and movies, when there are giants
like amazon and Barnes & Noble supplying all sorts of books (even those
bought from Alibris in a B2B purchase) to people.
o The Threat of New Entry
 There is a great possibility of new firms to enter the market to shake the
position of Alibris.
 Alibris has its roots weak, when it comes to sale of new books, there can be
new firms who will focus only on new books, which will make them stronger in
the market and attract people.
 This new firms can cause a threat to Alibris and eventually lead to termination
of its customer service (sale of new books) and only limit it to hard-to-find
books.
ii) Impacts of E-Commerce on Marketing, Sales, Procurement,
delivery and customer service of Alibris :
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November 10, 2010
o E-Commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services via electronic systems such
as the internet and other computer networks.
o Marketing
 Now-a-days people prefer to sit at home and shop online, so companies today
have to make a place for themselves in the electronic market (Internet).
 Alibris being an online book store has its own home page which is a good
means of communicating with the people/customers.
 E-Commerce has reduced the advertisement costs. Alibris, now just have to
register with a search engine and ask them to manage their site’s
advertisement so that, they are listed at the top, when a customer searches for
them.
 With the help of E-Commerce Alibris can even let the customers scan through
its hard-to-find books virtual database, so that it they want they can order one.
o Sales
 E-Commerce has opened doors for Alibris to keep its market open for 24x7.
 E-Commerce helps Alibris to reach every nook and corner of the world, which
allows Alibris to make sales all around the globe.
 Instant purchase and payment takes place through online transactions using
credit cards etc., which reduces office and paper work.
 Because of E-Commerce Alibris can sell its books through Half.com and EBay.
o Procurement
 E-commerce has helped Alibris.com to sell Alibris branded books through

Half.com and eBay.com
o Delivery
 E-commerce has helped Alibris in assisting through the complex movement of

products between buyers and customers.
 E-commerce allows customers to get detailed information about the company

it is trading with, and also about its offered services.
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November 10, 2010
 E-commerce has allowed customers to download books in electronic format

and also music and movies.
 E-commerce allows us to have an online tracking system for all products, so at

any time we can locate our parcel and the progress being made.
o Customer Service
 Alibris being an online bookstore, e-commerce has helped it a lot. E-Commerce

has helped it to display its database of books in an impressive manner, which
attracts customers and it is also easy for them to browse through the database.
 Alibris provides customers a technology platform to get them placed in sales

channels of Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Alibris.
iii)Competitive advantage of the Business:
 Alibris is an online bookselling company dominated by e-commerce mega-sites

like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. These mega-sites provide customers a wide
range of available books.
 To grip its roots strong in the market, Alibris has come up with its own idea of
retailing used and hard-to-find books that have high price value and demanded
in market.
 This business strategy by Alibris’s CEO “Marty Manley” is of great success to

Alibris, even though Alibris is a small company running with only 45 employees
and financed on its own, today competes with the e-commerce giants.
 Alibris is today one of the biggest supplier of used and hard-to-find books, and
is also in partnership with e-commerce megastores instead of being just a
competitor.
 Alibris also earns a lot from its technology platform which provides customers a
place in its sales channels all across the globe.
b) CASE STUDY 2 – Brein and e-Bay
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November 10, 2010
1) Brein:
i) Identified Issue: This case involves the issue of illegal offering of music files and other
files. For which, Brein claimed an appeal, against the judgment in summary
proceeding, for the surrender of personal data of customers by five internet
providers.
ii) Legislation: If there was a case involving illegal offering of music files and other files in
New Zealand then, the legislation that would be applied is, “Copyright (Infringing File
Sharing) Amendment Bill 119-2 (2010)”. Which states that An Internet service
provider does not infringe the copyright in the work, or authorize A's infringement of
the copyright in the work, merely because the Internet service provider knows of the
infringement from information received as a result of anything done under “sections
122A to 122R”, provided that, in relation to the alleged infringement, the Internet
service provider complies with all its obligations under those sections and under any
regulations made under “section 234(eb) to (eh).”
iii)Ethical Issues: One of the ethical issues that the Amsterdam Court of appeal did not
cover was the “Dutch Copyright Law” which states that, only an owner has the right
to copy as they please, even without actual ownership of the copyright.
iv)Personal Conclusion: If I were a judge, I would give an order to the ISP to provide
Brein foundation with the the name, address and residence details of subscribers
who, in Brein's opinion, were illegally sharing files via peer-to-peer (P2P) software.
Because, illegal file sharing promotes “Piracy” and “Brein foundation” being an anti-
piracy association” it should have rights to find the user who is pirating music files,
because legally “Piracy is a crime”.
2) eBay.de:
12
November 10, 2010
i) Identified Issue: This case involves, the issue of auction on the internet on eBay.de, In
this case a defendant (consumer) declines to accept the delivery and pay the amount of
the auctioned item.
ii) Legislation: For a similar case in New Zealand, Sections 39 & 59 under “Sale of Goods Act
1908 No 168 (as on 03 September 2007), Public Act” would be applied. Which states
that, Where the seller is ready and willing to deliver the goods, and requests the buyer
to take delivery, and the buyer does not within a reasonable time after such request
take delivery of the goods , he is liable to the seller for any loss occasioned by his neglect
or refusal to take delivery, and also for a reasonable charge for the care and custody of
the goods, Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the rights of the seller where
the neglect or refusal of the buyer to take delivery amounts to a repudiation of the
contract(Section 39) and A sale by auction is complete when the auctioneer announces
its completion by the fall of the hammer, or in other customary manner: until such
announcement is made. (Section 59, 2).
iii) Ethical Issues: The ethical that may not be covered by the law is, “Duties of seller and
buyer, which states that”, it is the duty of the seller to deliver the goods, and of the
buyer to accept and pay for them, in accordance with the terms of the contract of sale.
iv) Personal Conclusion: If I was the judge, I would ask eBay to cancel the highest bidder’s
bid and ask them to take back the delivery of the product sent and alternatively deliver
it to the next highest bidder.
c) CASE STUDY 3 – Day Chocolate Company Gold
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November 10, 2010
Service
i) Identified Threats:
o On implementing the given Information System, there is a possibility of Imposters
leaking the confidential information or using it for their financial gain (i.e.) other
companies or a member of other company can become a Gold Member and make
wrong usage of company logo or special recipes.
o Theft of confidential information like special recipes by eavesdroppers.
o Hackers can hack into web servers and steal credit card information.
o A possibility of credit card fraud.
ii) Solutions to those threats

1) Applicable Technologies available:
 During a confidential information interchange, to avoid eavesdroppers from

listening to confidential information, technologies like firewalls and VPNs can
be used. With the help of firewalls, the company can make sure that only the
authorized persons can gain access to the information. VPNs (Virtual Private
Network) can be used to create private networks on public lines and can make
sure that only the authorized personnel in the private network can share
information.
 Firewalls only allow authorized connections to connect to the web servers, if

the firewall does not recognize the connection, it will block the connection and
let the administrator know that there is an un-recognized connection trying to
make connection. In this way firewalls can block hackers from hacking into web
servers.
 Online transactions are the place where credit card information can be stolen,
so to make sure the information is accessed by the company only, companies
can make use of `S-HTTP` and SSH technologies. S-HTTP provides encrypted
communication and secure identification of a network web server. `SSH`
provides a secure channel between two networks to exchange data, which
makes it safer to make credit card transactions.
2) Specific Product or Service for the day chocolate company:
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November 10, 2010
 Day chocolate company is going to implement the new information system,

which will include online confidential data interchange and also credit card
transactions. This new information system will have many threats, to overcome
those threats, for day chocolate company “VeriSign” is a good product.
 “VeriSign” provides a variety of security services; it provides web sites a digital

certificate for authentication. “VeriSign” uses SSH and S-HTTP to make
connections during, online transactions.
 Currently the day chocolate company uses “MasterCard Secure code” and “S-
HTTP” for security.
 Figure 1, shows, a “VeriSign” digital certificate issued to “Symantec

Corporation”.
Figure 1, VeriSign Certificate, https://sealinfo.verisign.com/splash?form_file=fdf/splash.fdf&dn=buy.norton.com&lang=en
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November 10, 2010
 Certificate Info :
 The green box on top with a pad lock shows that the site uses SSH technology to
secure the page; the name within the box shows the security provider.
 Just next to it is “https://” in green colour, which shows that the site uses “S-HTTP”
type of security.
 This certificate provides Encrypted data transmission, suitable for online transactions.
 This certificate also provides Identity Verification of the web site.
iii)Security standards considered:

o AS4444 is a security standard that needs to be taken into consideration.
o This security standard needs to be taken into consideration because, it provides

Security framework protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
information
o It also builds confidence between trading partners.
o The process includes identification of requirements and selection of relevant control.
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November 10, 2010
d) CASE STUDY 4 – Alibaba.com
i) Activity 1 : Creation of Lock-in effect :
o Alibaba.com is an early entrant in B2B portal market in China, so all those new
companies trying to get established in the Chinese market will have to face difficulties
competing with Alibaba.com. This is because, Alibaba.com being one of the early
starters will have buried its root deep in the Chinese markets making its position
strong, and on the other hand people will also show preference to Alibaba.com as it is
an old an established company. In this way, Alibaba.com will make it difficult for other
portals in future to get established and might have created a Lock-in effect in the
Chinese Market.
ii) Activity 2 : Different Listing Charges :
o Global companies spend most of their efforts on business with large companies, by
giving them a good deal. If Alibaba.com gives them a TrustPass membership in fewer
fees then these companies will spend their money in China. On the other hand
Alibaba.com charges $8000 or more for their annual listings as China Gold Suppliers
because “Jack Ma” believes that opportunities lie in connecting SMBs around the
world with SMBs in China, which will reduce extensive traveling and expenses that
this Chinese SMB’s spent. Instead they charge the Chinese companies with
membership for translating and listing their information.
o Jack Ma thought smartly and identified a need and is covering it; by doing this he is
helping not only his own pocket but his country’s economy by producing jobs and
helping these SMBs to grow. Although he should raise the annual fee membership
because as large companies, these companies have enough money to pay for a
membership where the SMBs companies need some help in this aspect, he should
raise the fee to the foreign companies to compensate the lowering in the fee to the
Chinese SMBs. The only reason Alibaba.com has different listing charges is because,
attracting global companies is the main motto of the owner of Alibaba.com and
therefore he charges foreign sellers a lower annual fee for a TrustPass membership
and charges $8000 for Chinese Companies.
iii)Activity 3 : Opportunities :
.
o General Electric & Sears are the oldest large global companies established in 1892 &
1886, now-a-days due to global marketing they want to spread around the world.
These companies mainly get the raw materials from other small business industries
17
November 10, 2010
(SMB). Eastern market, (i.e.) Chinese market is highly populated with SMBs and these
SMBs would be of great benefit to these giants. But, there is an issue over EDI
standards that the companies like GE & Sears follow. The Chinese SMBs may follow
other EDI standards and also there is a language problem that the western giants and
Chinese SMB’s will face.
o Alibaba.com is an early entrant and is a B2B portal in Chinese market, Alibaba.com

currently focuses on connecting small SMB’s in China with large global companies.
Alibaba.com can adapt itself with the EDI standards that the large companies follow
and also with that of SMB’s in China. Alibaba.com can help SMBs and large companies
to get into good relations by converting and exchanging EDI standards among them
and also by helping Chinese SMBs to translate and list their information, so that the
large companies can have a view of the SMBs’ inventory and their information and
vice versa. In this way Alibaba.com can become an intermediary in relationships
between Chinese SMBs and large companies such General Electric and Sears.
iv)Activity 4 : Advantages and Lock-in effect :

o Advantages Alibaba.com might have over eBay.com:
 Alibaba.com took advantage of the enormous number of computer bulletin

board services (BBS) in China, and posted thousands of messages there to
introduce Taobao to Internet users.
 Taobao launched with an entirely no-fee model due to which a significant

number of eBay China’s users were migrating to Taobao because of the free
services.
 Lock-in effect created because of early entrant of Alibaba.com in B2B portal in

Chinese market helped it have an advantage over eBay.com. “EBay may be a
shark in the ocean, but I am a crocodile in the Yangtze River. If we fight in the
ocean, we lose—but if we fight in the river, we win.” Says Alibaba.com founder
Jack ma.
 Taobao designed its categories in accordance with the typical structure of a

Chinese department store, with separate sections for men’s and women’s
departments. By contrast, eBay China used the category structure set by eBay’s
global platform.
o Advantages eBay.com might have over Alibaba.com:
 EBay.com is an online platform for millions of users to buy and sell, eBay.com
was known to be a global leader in Internet C2C services. This global reputation
might have been an advantage over Alibaba.com.
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November 10, 2010
 EBay China’s platform was changed significantly in terms of listing

categorization, interface styles, and technologies. Which facilitate eBay
maintenance across the whole global platform?
 EBay gets a lot of its revenue from small businesses, and In China, there are so
many small businesses. EBay provided a platform where people can start their
own business.
v) Activity 5 : Alibaba.com’s reputation re Yahoo! :
o Yahoo! Is am American public corporation that provides internet services like web
portals etc. Yahoo! Is better known for its search engine “Yahoo! Search”. Jerry yang,
one of the founders of Yahoo! Wanted Yahoo! To be in the Chinese market.
o Yahoo! Was new in Chinese market, and then Chinese market was dominated by
Baidu.com, the top Chinese search engine.
o Yahoo! Wanted to establish itself in the Chinese market and compete Baidu.com
o Yahoo! Failed to be successful as an auction site.
o Alibaba.com that created Lock-in effect had very strong roots in Chinese market and
its Taobao.com that competed eBay.com was successful in the market.
o In 2005 Yahoo! Paid $ 1 billion for 40% shares and bought company’s Taobao.com
o Yahoo! Managed Taobao.com and exported itself as a search engine and web portal
and generated huge revenue, because of the strong reputation of Alibaba.com
o In this way Yahoo! With the help of Alibaba.com gained reputation and helped it to
compete more effectively as a search engine and web portal in China.
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November 10, 2010
References:
- Alibris.com - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibris
- Alibris.com - http://www.alibris.com
- Strategic Management -http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?

id=75240
- Porter’s Five Forces -http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?

id=75109
- Impact of E-commerce on Sales, Marketing and Procurement

http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?id=75309
- Impact of E-commerce on Dlivery and Customer Service

http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?id=75385
- Brein Case - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_copyright_law
- Brein Case - http://www.ivir.nl/legislation/nl/copyrightact.html
- Brein Case - http://www.e-comlaw.com/lr/details_results.asp?ID=343&Search=Yes
- Brein Case -
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2010/0119/latest/DLM2764312.ht
ml
- Brein & EBay Case - http://www.e-comlaw.com/lr/details_results.asp?

ID=245&Search=Yes
- EBay Case
-http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1908/0168/latest/DLM173958.html
- EBay Case -
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2010/0119/latest/DLM2764312.ht
ml
- E-commerce and Law - http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?

id=75551
- E-commerce and Security - http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?

id=75137
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November 10, 2010
- Divine Chocolate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Chocolate

- MasterCard SecureCode logo and HTTPS image – Courtesy
“http://divinechocolateshop.com/”
- Electronic Commerce 8E (Gary P. Schneider, chapter 5 )
- “EBay may be a shark in the ocean, but I am a crocodile in the Yangtze River. If we
fight in the ocean, we lose—but if we fight in the river, we win.” -
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/3984/Ma-Jack.html
- Middleware - http://baylearn.boppoly.ac.nz/mod/resource/view.php?id=75154
- Yahoo! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!
- Baidu - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu
- EBay vs TaoBao - https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/cases/documents/IB88.pdf
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Ajinkya (9967658) Business Systems Amit (9967013)

November 10, 2010

MARKING SCHEDULE (Course Weighting 40%)

iii. Ethical issues (3.5 marks per sub-case) 7

ii. Solutions to those threats

a. Applicable technologies available 7.5

i. Activity 1 - Creation of lock-in effect 15

ii. Activity 2 - Different listing charges 15

iii. Activity 3 - Opportunities 15

iv. Activity 4 - Advantages and lock-in effect 15

TOTAL 200 ______

TUTOR: Laura Addinall

Case study 3, is completely based on B2B market in China, it is about Alibaba.com

a) CASE STUDY 1 – Alibris.com

i) Possible Business Strategy :

a) Using Internal tool : SWOT Analysis

o SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate

 Alibris’s technology platform is based on Linux which uses database search

 Availability of multiple sales channels for sellers, which allows a seller to

 Alibris’s software platform, from so many sales channels generates volumes of

 A bookseller is charged 15% commission for a direct book sale by Amazon,

b) Using External tool : Porter’s Five Forces

Threat of Competitive Threat of

 Alibris is a company dominated by e-commerce giants like Amazon and Barnes

 Alibris being the biggest supplier of hard-to-find books focuses on hard-to-find

o The Threat of Substitution

o The Threat of New Entry

 E-commerce has helped Alibris.com to sell Alibris branded books through

 E-commerce has helped Alibris in assisting through the complex movement of

 E-commerce allows customers to get detailed information about the company

 E-commerce has allowed customers to download books in electronic format

 E-commerce allows us to have an online tracking system for all products, so at

 Alibris being an online bookstore, e-commerce has helped it a lot. E-Commerce

 Alibris provides customers a technology platform to get them placed in sales

iii)Competitive advantage of the Business:

 Alibris is an online bookselling company dominated by e-commerce mega-sites

 This business strategy by Alibris’s CEO “Marty Manley” is of great success to

b) CASE STUDY 2 – Brein and e-Bay

c) CASE STUDY 3 – Day Chocolate Company Gold

o Theft of confidential information like special recipes by eavesdroppers.

o A possibility of credit card fraud.

ii) Solutions to those threats

 During a confidential information interchange, to avoid eavesdroppers from

 Firewalls only allow authorized connections to connect to the web servers, if

2) Specific Product or Service for the day chocolate company:

 Day chocolate company is going to implement the new information system,

 “VeriSign” provides a variety of security services; it provides web sites a digital

 Figure 1, shows, a “VeriSign” digital certificate issued to “Symantec

Figure 1, VeriSign Certificate, https://sealinfo.verisign.com/splash?form_file=fdf/splash.fdf&dn=buy.norton.com&lang=en

 This certificate also provides Identity Verification of the web site.

iii)Security standards considered:

o This security standard needs to be taken into consideration because, it provides

o It also builds confidence between trading partners.

o The process includes identification of requirements and selection of relevant control.

d) CASE STUDY 4 – Alibaba.com

i) Activity 1 : Creation of Lock-in effect :

ii) Activity 2 : Different Listing Charges :

o Alibaba.com is an early entrant and is a B2B portal in Chinese market, Alibaba.com

iv)Activity 4 : Advantages and Lock-in effect :

 Alibaba.com took advantage of the enormous number of computer bulletin

 Taobao launched with an entirely no-fee model due to which a significant

 Lock-in effect created because of early entrant of Alibaba.com in B2B portal in