Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62201
BECAUSE E-COMMERCE IS SO PREVALENT IN BUSINESS, GRADUATES WITHOUT AN E-BACKGROUND WOULD BE WORKING UNDER A HANDICAP. panies made during the first wave of e-com- merce. These profes- sors pinpointed four ignored basic business principles and, for that matter, plain common major problems: ■ Many dot-coms sense. ■ Many dot-coms failed due to poor management. ■ Some dot-coms focused on technology alone, not on running a business. ■ Most dot-commers bought into the hype and were unduly optimistic about the future. While most respondents believe that e-commerce is an essential part of a business curriculum, they also believe that it cannot be successful unless it is combined with generally accepted business practices. Further - more, they feel that students need to learn both technological and manage- ment skills to be effective managers. 4. What are the challenges in teaching e-commerce? The respondents who teach e-commerce noted that they are overwhelmed by the challenges it presents. Many said it was difficult to find up-to-date cases and most resort to using trade books in their classes. In addition, they must absorb a constant flow of new knowledge and technology, all while trying to stay current with new trends in business at large. Said one, "I know there are useful cases, examples, trends, and resources out there, but I do not have time to keep up. I deal with this by checking many sources and working long hours." Other professors find their great- est challenge lies in changing their students' attitudes toward technolo- that requires examination of people, systems, and technology—and the dynamic between them." For some instructors, the biggest gy. "Some students are still stuck in the tech- nology trap; they resist coming to grips with real business issues," one professor said. These students must be taught to under- stand that "e-com- merce is a vast area planning, a budget schedule, and a staffing model come first but are for- eign to many of them." Although I may explore this topic challenge they face is dealing with the wide variety of students who are attracted to an e-commerce course. Students might range from an indi- vidual "who's suspicious of the Internet and its role in commerce, to someone who works with IT every day," said one respondent. "If you're creative and use a problem- solving approach, the needs of both groups can be met." Another respondent identified with a larger, more formal survey in the future, the qualitative feedback I received from this small sampling was compelling. I was surprised to see just how heterogeneous opinions were among these 64 respondents, who showed considerable diversity in their approaches to teaching e-com- merce. Even so, the majority agreed that even with its challenges, e-busi- ness is an essential part of business today and cannot be ignored in the business school classroom. I believe it is incredibly important two distinctly different and incom- patible groups who fill the b-school classroom: IS/IT majors who want to learn the technology without all the "management junk," and majors from other disciplines who want to learn management theories unen- cumbered by "the reality of technol- ogy limitations." This respondent has found a way to bring these two disparate groups together: "My solu- tion is to make them work together to produce a Web-based business." Other students want to dive straight into designing a Web site, said one professor, who described their initial process as, "Fire, aim, ready!" This professor has to bring them back to the realities of busi- ness. "I spend a lot of the first week discussing project structure and management. Concept analysis, that business schools integrate e- commerce into their teaching of other disciplines, such as marketing, strategy, and IS. They must use— and create—up-to-date and balanced cases that present e-commerce histo- ries in business. And most impor- tant, they must challenge their stu- dents' archaic and often simplistic views of how e-commerce really works within a business structure. Ultimately, we should move beyond debating whether or not e- commerce is a fad to accepting its continued importance to business. Whether they teach e-commerce across the curriculum or as a disci- pline in itself, business schools need to examine the best way to fit e-com- merce models into their classrooms. Only then will graduating MBA stu- dents be armed with the crucial tech- nological knowledge they'll need in their professional careers. ■ z Sandeep Krishnamurthy is associate profes- sor of e-commerce and marketing at the University of Washington, Bothell. His survey data can be found at faculty.washington. edu/sandeep/survey. BizEd MAY/JUNE 2003 55