a study of undergraduate e-commerce.pdf

A Study of Undergraduate E-Commerce Syllabi Liang Chee Wee? Economics and Business Department, Luther College Decorah, Iowa 52101 Abstract This paper reports on a study of 100 syllabi of undergraduate, introductory-level e-commerce courses offered by differ- ent four-year institutions in the United States. The syllabi were collected through a search using G. The data analyses show when the courses were taught, the textbooks and other course materials used, the departments most likely to offer an e-commerce course, the key areas of emphasis across the courses offered, the comparison of course emphasis across the departments, and the key course assignments and requirements expected of the students. Keywords: e-commerce, introductory-level, syllabi, undergraduate ? weeliang@ 1. INTRODUCTION Forrester Research predicts that by 2004, 49 million United States (US) households will spend $184 billion online. The Yankee Group estimates that 10 million households across the US will be networked by 2003. Also by 2003, 47 million European households are ex- pected to have Internet access. Furthermore, American City Business Journal reports that small businesses that use the Internet have grown 46 percent faster than those that do not (www.I 2001). With the rapid growth of the Internet and e-commerce, e-commerce courses have become very popular in many campuses for the last few years (Associated Press 1999). For example, Wharton created a major in managing e- commerce in 1999, Harvard Business School was em- phasizing entrepreneurship and adding many new- economy case studies, and Stanfords new e-commerce elective was the hottest thing on the business schools campus (Harrington 2001). A study by Sendall in 1999 found that 21 percent of e-commerce courses were of- fered at the undergraduate level. Texas Christian Uni- versity (TCU) actually developed an e-business c