INFS 640 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce [Credits: 3], Fall 2014

GMU Catalog Description:
Studies electronic commerce from both managerial and technical perspectives. Topics include e-commerce models and concepts; Internet and web protocols and infrastructure; e-commerce marketing and branding; security protocols and standards; e-commerce payment systems; and case studies of business-to-consumer, business-to-business, consumer-to-consumer, and e-government.

Prerequisites:
INFS 501, 515, and 519; and SWE 510 or equivalent.

Topics covered:
The topics covered correspond to selected chapters in the textbook, "E-commerce 2014: business, technology and society, Tenth Edition" by Kenneth C. Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver.
There will be additional readings made available through GMU's Digital Library, including articles from the ACM and IEEE Digital Libraries, and supplemental material presented during class sessions. 
  1. E-Commerce Concepts
  2. E-Commerce Business Models
  3. E-Commerce Infrastructure
  4. E-Commerce Web Technology
  5. E-Commerce Security, Encryption and Payment Systems
  6. E-Commerce Marketing & Advertising
  7. E-Commerce Social and Mobility Characteristics
  8. E-Commerce Ethics & Political Issues
Required Textbook:
"E-commerce 2014: business, technology and society, Tenth Edition" by Kenneth C. Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver.
Note that there is also a less expensive digital edition of this textbook.

Course dates: Thursday, August 28 through Thursday December 11 (No class on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 27)
Location: Art and Design Building 2026
Meeting day & time: Thursdays, 7:20pm to 10:00pm. Please arrive at class on time. We will start on time, have a short break in the middle of each class session, and will finish not later than 10:00pm.

Blackboard: mymason.gmu.edu All assignments, class announcements, schedules, files and presentations will use Blackboard

Instructor Information: Harry J. Foxwell, Ph.D. (GMU 2003), http://cs.gmu.edu/~hfoxwell

Professor's Email: hfoxwell@gmu.edu
In the Subject line of your email, use the prefix INFS640:
For example:  Subject: INFS640: Question about Assignment #1

CS Office location: Engineering Building, Room 4300 (see administrator)

Office hours:  Call or email for appointments.

Phone:  703-364-1047 (Okay to call at any time and leave message on voicemail)

Teaching Assistant (TA):  TBA
   
Grading Policy

Student grades will be determined based on class participation, assignments, research paper review, research paper, and final exam:
       
Grade Component
 Weight
Class Participation (in class, online discussions)
 10%
Assignments
 30%
eCommerce Project
 30%
Final Exam
 30%

Grading Guidelines: Some assignment components are evaluated subjectively

A: means consistently above and beyond the course/assignment requirements
B: means meets and occasionally exceeds the course/assignment requirements
C: means minimally meets the course/assignment requirements
F: means fails to meet the course/assignment requirements
   
Some assignment components are evaluated objectively:

A  : 95-100%
A- : 90-95%
B+ : 85-90%
B  : 80-85%
C  : 70-80%

Honor Code

All work performed in this course will be subject to GMU's Honor Code. Students are expected to do their own work in the course unless a group project is approved by the instructor. In papers and project reports, students are expected to write in their own words, rather than cutting-and-pasting from sources found on the Internet. When you do cite material from books, articles, and the Web, enclose the material in quotes and provide a reference. If a paragraph is used then it should be indented in the text (both left and right margins).

Assignments

Format:
    PDF preferred; plain text, HTML, StarOffice/OpenOffice, Open Document Format, MS format documents also accepted, but the instructor will have to convert them....it's best to do the PDF conversion yourself and check the result before submitting.  Upload all assignments to Blackboard. 

Use Chicago Manual of Style for guidance on citation style, usage, etc.  (Don't buy the big CMS.  See the smaller A Manual for Writers by Kate Turabian).

Student programming projects must adhere to the CS Honor Code.

There a several Computer Labs available for general use by IT&E students, which are located on the Fairfax campus.  For more information go to the web site at http://labs.vse.gmu.edu/ .

Class Participation:  Contribute to the in-class discussions, participate in online discussion topics posted on Blackboard.  Some online discussion topics might be selected for grading.

Other Notes: