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1. Discuss the ways the Internet and e-commerce has changed the five forces
that characterize industry structure.
Industry structure refers to the features of enterprises taking part in an industry
and their position or profit in that industry
Five forces characterizing an industry structure have been changed by the Internet
and e-commerce as follows:

Rivalry among existing competitors: Internet has lowered the degrees of
product differentiation. A new design which is offered in one website for the
first time today may appear in all of the competitors’ websites the following
day

The threat of substitute products: Products, especially entertainment ones, are
more easily substituted by Internet approaches. Instead of going to stores, a
customer can stay at home, surf the Internet, read reviews, view trailers, etc

Barriers
to
entry
into
the
industry:
E-commerce
introduces
a
new market which scores of new comers have been entering. However, it is
tougher for them to create their own specialty and compete with those who
have been establishing brands in the market.

The bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of buyers: The
direct commerce between suppliers and buyers reduces the participation of
middlemen and therefore, reduces the cost. Also, the information of products
is easy to find; hence, the qualities of theirs are standardized.
2. Explain the main functionalities required in e-commerce server software and
the decision-making process for a manager choosing from among the various
e-commerce merchant server software suites.
In the decision-making process to choose the suitable e-commerce server
software suites, the functionalities including online catalog, shopping cart
and online credit card processing are one of the key factors. Online Catalog is the
list of products provided by an e-commerce merchant and is typically included in
the server software. The catalog may have simple layout with thumbnails,
description and prices of products or more complicated one with sound,
animation, video, which is decided by the size of the company.
Some other factors also need taking into consideration before an e-commerce suite is
chosen:

Support for different business models: A business may take part in some different
models.

Performance and scalability: There should be a check whether the suite can work
properly during peak periods when thousands of customers visit the page.

Connectivity to existing business systems

Global and multicultural capability: E-commerce offers chances for a business to
enlarge its market globally
3. What are the values or benefits of search engine marketing? Describe the
types of search engine marketing that exist.

Paid inclusion is the type in which a search engine includes a Web site in their
search index for a fee. By being paid for, the site of a firm is sure to appear on
the very first pages of the result and has more opportunity to be clicked on,
thanks to which the site is ranked higher in results of organic search engines.

Keyword advertising is the type in which marketers bid for keywords so that
their advertisement will appear on the page whenever those keywords are
searched. Often, the rank of ads relies on the payments but some search
machines combine both factors of the popularity of the ads and the money paid
when ranking them.

Context advertising (network keyword advertising) is the case in which a
network of site publishers accepts to have the search engine place ads on their
sites and share the fee, which is paid by the marketers who want their ads to
appear across the web, with the
search engines whenever the links are clicked on.
4. Discuss the basic business models that exist.

The oldest and most basic business model is shop keeper. This model involves
opening a store filling it with products and waiting for customers to come in. It
is the simplest most straight forward business model.

The direct sales business model involves selling and marketing directly to the
customer away from a fixed location. Direct sales are where the business
representative goes to the customer to sell products.

The bait and Hook business model dates from the early 20th century. Typically
this model involves offering a product for free or a very low price, but then
selling component products at a high price to the customer once they are
hooked

This model involves turning a service into and industry, for example, Law and
accounting. Lawyers and accountants ban together and help each other out in
the provision of services to clients
5. Should business firms be allowed to call cell phones with advertising messages
based on location?

On releasing location data to you: “We do not normally release this
information to customers for privacy reasons because call detail records
contain all calls made or received, including calls where numbers are ‘blocked.

On releasing location data to you: “Giving customer’s location data for their
wireless phones is not a service we provide.”
6. How is it possible for any government to “control” or censor the Web?

Governments can control the companies that run the "fiber optic trunk lines" or
"backbones" of the Internet to restrict access to the people. Also, governments
can force "portal websites" to cooperate and sensor content that way.

Since traffic from a countries ISP’s can be physically routed through facilities
operated by a government before they are dumped onto the 'Net, those
facilities can be manipulated by the technicians there.
7. Does the Chinese government, or the U.S. government, have the right to
censor content on the Web?
No they don’t because the Internet is a method of communication and a source of
information that is becoming popular among those who are interested in the
information superhighway. The problem with this world we know as Cyberspace,
the 'Net, or the Web is that some of this information, including pornographically
material and hate literature, is being accessible to minors. The government gives
citizen the privilege of using the internet, but it has never given them the right to
use it .
8. How should U.S. companies deal with governments that want to censor
content?
The companies believe the government should "consider more targeted ways to
combat foreign websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark
counterfeiting." It would allow the government to order service providers to shut
down websites it finds have violated copyright laws by illegally distributing
protected material. The policy and advocacy of Internet freedom by establishing a
censorship system using the same domain blacklisting technologies pioneered by
China