Electronic Commerce and the Internet
Group Case Study Questions
Fall 2009

GROUP:
A: Melinda Ramirez, Kevin Crooks, Peter Cogswell - Present: 9/17, 10/22; Respond: 10/15, 11/19
B: Evan Schwartz, Vicki Hochman, Dan Kessler, Dan Kuhn - Present: 9/24, 10/29; Respond: 10/6, 11/5
C: Cat Goarcke, Al Carpetto, Andrew Bell - Present:10/6, 11/5; Respond: 9/24, 10/29
D: Alana Stanford, Adam Lieberman, Rebecca Pinkus - Present: 10/15, 11/19; Respond: 9/17, 10/22
E: Keith Nusblatt - Present 12/2; Respond 10/22, 11/5

CASES

Google Inc: Figuring Out How to deal With China (Sep 17)
· Why is China such a lucrative market for Internet services? What are some impediments for entering this market?
· What is the Great Firewall of China? How effective is it and what are some ways used to circumvent its controls?
· What are the censorship issues in China and how do they differ in type and degree from those of other countries in Europe and Asia?
· What is the current status of search in China? Characterize the pros and cons of Google’s offerings and those of its main competitors.
· What is “Don’t be Evil” and how does it related to Google’s experience in China? What are some ethical issues involved when trying to apply this mantra?
· Since the case was written, what are some censorship issues that have arisen regarding the Web – for example, regarding the recently completed Olympic games.
· If you were hired as a consultant, characterize Google’s china strategy. What changes, if any, would you recommend and why.

Launching GMail (Sep 24)
· Describe the GMail product. What other free e-mail products does it compete against in the marketplace? Any figures on market share?
· What is Google’s track record regarding launching new products that supplement its core search product? How does GMail fit into that portfolio?
· How does GMail generate revenue? Evaluate the effectiveness of this model.
· What are some key privacy concerns surrounding GMail? Present the arguments for and against GMail regarding privacy, using sources independent of the case.
· The case ends with a question regarding changes to GMail – were any changes made? What is the current status of GMail and have and of the security concerns resulted in actual, events?
· If you were Larry Page and Sergey Brin would you have proceeded with the launch of GMail? Would you have made any changes? Would you have acted differently regarding public criticism? Why or why not?

Monster Networking (Oct 6)
· Discuss in detail how Monster works – from the point of view of job-seekers and also recruiters.
· What are the key benefits of social networking – how are the concepts translated into social networking sites? Review some of the sites listed and contrast them with more recent and more successful sites like Facebook and MySpace.
· Evaluate Monster’s initial decision to develop a networking site in-house rather than purchase one. What were the pros and cons and at the time, do you think the decision was a wise one?
· Discuss and evaluate the features of the networking site – particularly the pricing policies and also comments on the cannibalization risks.
· What are the privacy and security issues facing networking sites in general and Monster in particular?
· The end of the article mentions four options for Monster. Evaluate the pros and cons of each and recommend a course of action for Monster.
· Recently, Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp purchased MySpace. Suppose you are charged with recommending how the MySpace site can be leveraged to go into the recruiting business. Recommend a course of action.

StubHub (Oct 15)

Facebook (Oct 22)
· As the case mentions, Facebook was not the first social networking site – even for college students. What aspects of Facebook, as distinguished from other similar sites that preceded it, made it popular and made it grow as fast as it did?
· Given Facebook’s growth, what technical challenges must it address?
· Given Facebook’s growth, what managerial challenges must it address? What financial challenges?
· Evaluate the primary concerns mentioned in the case as well as those after the case was written – i.e. do some further research. Critique Facebook’s response to those concerns.
· Who are Facebook’s main competitors? Critique Marc Zukerberg’s decision to keep Facebook privately held – to what extent to you agree with his decision?
· If you were called in as a consultant, what strategy would you recommend that Facebook follow moving forward – for the US and for non-US countries?

ETrip (Oct 29)

Electronic Arts in Online Gaming (Nov 5)
· What are the various delivery channels for gaming? Distinguish between PC-based, MMOG-based, Web-based, and Console based?
· What are the roles and potential conflicts between the various players discussed in the video game industry infrastructure?
· What are the features of Xbox live? Discuss the pros and cons and Microsoft’s strategy for this product. Evaluate its worth.
· What are the features of Sony’s PS2? Discuss the pros and cons and Sony’s strategy for this product. Evaluate its worth.
· As posed in the case’s last question, “Did EA’s policy of backing only the PS2 for online gaming still make sense?
· Via research, update the class on the current state of online gaming – what is EA’s current strategy? Microsoft’s Xbox live strategy? Sony’s PS2 strategy? Have some of the volume projections in the appendix materialized?

Charles Schwab (Nov 19)

Secom: Managing Information Security in a Risky World (Dec 3)
· List and evaluate the current and future security risks that Mamoru Sekine, Jashopper’sd CEO needed to consider supporting his decision.
· Since many security breaches are caused by insiders, what internal steps could be taken to tighten security?
· As the last question in the case asks, how much should Mamoru Sekine be willing to spend – how much security is enough? How does one go about evaluating this?
· Evaluate the pros and cons (including costs) of managing security internally vs. outsourcing it?
· Suppose that Jashopper decided to choose one of the three Secom proposals (see page 10 of the case). Evaluate each. Which one would you recommend and why?