Electronic Commerce: Applications and Issues

·         E-business makes it possible to do e-commerce.

·         In pure e-commerce everything is done electronically while in partial e-commerce some work is done electronically and the other is done physically.

·         Virtual organizations use full technology.

·         Types of e-commerce include: B2B, B2C, C2C, B2E and m-commerce.

·         M-commerce is about buying and selling through mobile phones.

·         Auctions can be done through a computer.

·         Forward auction has one seller and many buyers but reverse auction has many buyers and many sellers.

·         Creating a website and displaying the products is known as online direct marketing.

·         Membership is a website that asks you to register so they can sell their products to you.

·         Benefits of e-commerce:

1-      Sell products for locally and internationally.

2-      No need to spend a lot of money.

3-      Do business anytime and anywhere you wish.

·         Online service industries include: cyberbanking, e-bank, online securities trading, online job market and travel services.

·         Exchange is like a market.

·         Vertical exchange is buying and selling within one industry but horizontal exchange is buying and selling in different industries.

·         Signs are electronically made in e-checks.

·         Ethical and legal issues of e-commerce include: privacy, fraud on the internet, domain name competition, cybersquatting, taxes and copyright. 

Networks

·          Network is the interconnection of computers that are present in every organization.

·         Information can be transferred between computers through a network.

·         Coaxial cable --> used in TVs + not expensive + very slow when using + not used for connectivity.

·         Fiber optics --> used in big companies + expensive + very fast (data travel in form of light) + made of glass.

·         Computers which are close to each other and present in one class or in one department is known as LAN.

·         Analog signals --> not commonly used + continuous flow of signals + limited life + old.

·         Digital signals --> commonly used + convert signals to ones (max) and zeros (min) + new.

·         Networks protocols are rules of network which are used to avoid problems.

·         Network of computers within an organization is referred the intranet.

·         Intranet is used within an organization but internet is used for the whole world.

·         Example for e-learning is taking courses online.

·         People use search engines to find useful information (e.g: google).

·         Small sets of selected information are called as portals.

·         Websites are bigger than portals.

·          Mobile portals --> which can be used in mobile phones.

·         Benefits of e-learning:

1-      Read any time you wish.

2-      Information won't get old.

3-      Study online instead of going to the university and paying fees.

Managing Knowledge and Data

·         For every transaction new data is generated.

·         Data can be written in form of alphabets, numbers, pictures, videos… etc.

·         One byte = One character.

·         People might face difficulties to manage large data so they need to store them in more and more capacity.

·         Data governance --> team or group which controls all the data in big companies. For example, make regulations of data in the company or decide how many decimal places in Omani rials.

·         We can modify, edit, delete, and print the data by using DBMS.

·         Data security means protecting your data so nobody can see them.

·         The diagram that shows how tables are linked together is called as ER diagram.

·         We have three kinds of relationships when doing tables:

1-      One to one relationship --> e.g: one student can get one parking permission.

2-      One to many relationship --> e.g: one teacher can hold many sections.

3-      Many to many relationship --> e.g: many students can register in many sections.

·         The process of searching and asking questions after our tables are ready is known as queries.

·         Data warehouse is a place where new and historical data are stored; it is used in large organizations.

·         Date mart is a part of data warehouse.

·         The technique that is used for searching the hidden information id referred to data mining.

·         There are two types of knowledge:

1-      Explicit --> which can show and demonstrate + obvious + we can see.

2-      Tacit --> hidden knowledge + we can’t explain.

Information Security

·         Security systems help to stop viruses and others to enter the software.

·         IT can protect hardware, buildings and information.

·         Hackers create programs that makes systems down or not working properly.

·         Cybercrime is done over the internet by group of people.

·         We must have a server when creating any network.

·         Firewalls are like gates for protection.

·         Unintentional threats happen by mistake because of the carelessness.

·         Examples of unintentional threats:

1-      Leaving the work for a while and going somewhere.

2-      Deleting, sending and copying a file by mistake.

·         Most dangerous employee who was working in the security department and left the job.

·         Consultants are people who come from outside and work for a specific task so they might know the private information of the company.

·         Deliberate threats are international threats when someone wants to go to your system and steal it.

Ethics and Privacy

·         Grades, salaries and ROP can be good examples of private information.

·         Utilitarian approach gives more goods than bad.

·         Rights approach is not giving private information to anyone without taking permission.

·         Fairness approach is giving your information to the society because it is beneficial.

·         Codes of ethics are the rules of ethics.

·         What is unethical is not necessary to be illegal.

·         Stealing people's information is considered to be unethical.

·         Breaking any law is considered to be illegal.

·         Privacy issues are about keeping the information private.

·         Accuracy issues means that information must be accurate and complete.

·         Property issues are about knowing the owner of the information.

·         Accessibility issues means that only you can see your information not others.

·         The society has more authority then the individuals on the private information.

·         Digital dossiers are private files and documents but in a digital form.

·         Examples for electronic surveillance: cameras, scanners and satellites.

·         Opt-out model is referred to a company which collect information from you unless you tell them not to do that.

·         Opt-in model means that you are not allowed to collect the personal information.

Information Systems and the Modern Organizations

·         Competitive advantage is to be the most competitive among all other businesses.

·         A company must know how to handle all pressures when starting to do a business.

·         When starting to do any business we have to think about it globally not local only.

·         Business process provides the companies steps to be more efficient.

·         Market pressure is selling your products at a lower price than your competitors to beat them.

·         Technology pressure is using modern technology to succeed.

·         Business environment is always changing because of the globalization.

·         Globalization is about discovering the world:

1-      Globalization 1.0 is very difficult

2-      Globalization 2.0 says that even if you are far I can come to you.

3-      Globalization 3.0 the whole world becomes a small village.

·         Powerful customers have more knowledge and they're informed.

·         Flatteners assume that the world is flat which means all people can communicate with each other

·         Steroids are about using enhanced technology to make work faster.

·         A company should be better that its competitors to survive and stay in the market.

·         Internet increases the threats of new entrance because it provides many other substitutes for the customers.

·         Any business that wants to be competitive and better than its competitors must focus on the low cost and new products to make its customers happy.

The Modern Organization Functioning in a Global Environment 

·         Commerce is all about buying and selling.

·         We can handle information in and out by using information system.

·         Informed user is knowledgeable person.

·         Data are facts.

·         We can obtain information after processing the data.

·         Knowledge comes from information and information comes from data.

·         We can order food online and they will deliver it to us through e-meals.

·         Studying IS is so important to be more informed and get more knowledge.

·         We have two types of programs: Application program and system program.

·         One example of system program is Windows.

·         Transaction processing system can be used to add, modify, delete, store, and print the information.

·          People who doesn't have any idea about technology or they're not good in it they will lose their job.

·         Information system can improve our quality of life, our healthcare and give us flexibility when doing our work.

·         Through IS we can search about the names of good hospitals + names of medicines + get information about disease.