MNC202M/201/3/2012

Tutorial letter 201/3/2012

E-commerce for Business
MNC202M
Semester 1 & 2

Department of Marketing
and Retail Management

This tutorial letter contains important

information about your module.
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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. ASSIGNMENT 1 ANSWERS
3. CONCLUSION

1. INTRODUCTION

Dear Learner

By this stage you should be well into your studies. It is essential that you keep up to date with
your studies. There is a lot of work to cover and it is important that you give yourself enough
time to go through it all.

This tutorial letter provides you with the answers to the first assignment (no. 1) that you
should have submitted by the 12th of March 2012 (for first semester students), or the 3rd of
September 2012 (for second students).

2. ASSIGNMENT 1 ANSWERS

The answers and feedback on the compulsory multiple choice assignment questions that you
were required to submit are provided below:

Question 1

The correct answer is number is 5.

a E-commerce can be defined as the use of electronic networks to exchange

information, products, services and payments for commercial and communication
purposes between individuals and businesses. This is correct – see pages 3-4 in your
Study Guide
b The web is useful for creating virtual communities. This is correct – see page 7 in your
Study Guide.
c E-commerce has the potential to level the playing fields for both small and large
businesses throughout the world. This is correct – see page 8 in your Study Guide
d E-commerce can reduce cycle time and time to market. This is correct – see page 12
in your Study Guide.
e E-commerce can help improve profitability. This is correct – see page 6 in your Study
Guide.

As all of the options are correct, the correct option is number 5

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Question 2

The correct answer is number is 3.

a EFT stands for electronic funds transfer – Correct – see page 4 in your Study Guide
b EDI stands for electronic data indexing – Incorrect. EDI stands for electronic data
interchange – see page 4 in your Study Guide
c XML stands for eXtra Markup Language – Incorrect. XML stands for extensible mark-
up language – see page 23 in your Study Guide
d IRC stands for internet relay chat – Correct – see page 27 in your Study Guide
e IM stands for immediate messaging – Incorrect. IM stands for instant messaging –
see page 27 in your Study Guide

As a and d are correct, the correct option is number 3.

Question 3

The correct answer is number is 2.

The drivers of the new economy include the following: the personal computer, networks that
link computers and enable them to share data, the global telecommunication infrastructure,
globalisation, the internet, the web, e-commerce, information technology, and knowledge
management – see page 13 in your study guide. Thus, from the options provided in the
question, it is clear that option 2 is not one of the drivers of the new economy.

Question 4

The correct answer is number is 5

The driving principles of the new economy include the following (see pages 13-14 in your
Study Guide):
• New perspectives on tangible value
• New space dynamics
• New perspectives on time
• New perspectives on the value of people
• New growth dynamics
• New determination of value
• New distribution dynamics
• New market dynamics
• New transactions dynamics
• New dynamics for the satisfaction of needs and desires

From the options provided in the question, it is clear that they are all driving principles of the
new economy. Thus the correct option is number 5.

Question 5

The correct answer is number is 4.

An intranet is described in your prescribed book as a web-based private network.” – see

page 24. A VPN is part of the public network (i.e. the internet) that has been cordoned off for
private use. In a sense it is private part of the public network. Extranets come in different
forms, but generally they represent part of the intranet that has been made available to a
limited group of business partners via the internet (i.e. they span both the intranet and
internet). The internet, of course, is entirely public. There may be some confusion about the
difference between intranets, extranets and VPNs, but a truly private network is the intranet
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and is usually an internal company network entirely separate from the internet. This was a
tough question – revisit the section in your prescribed book on pages 24-26.

Question 6

The correct answer is number is 3.

The only one of the five listed technologies that is a protocol dedicated to carrying voice over
the internet/web is VoIP (or voice over internet protocol) – see pages 27-28. While voice
communications can take place on the web, VoIP is the protocol that underpins the
communication. Instant messaging, internet relay chat and email are generally text-based
technologies.

Question 7

The correct answer is number is 2.

Web addresses that appear as follows – 196.36.119.109 – are generally referred to as

‘dotted’ addresses – see page 24 in your Study Guide. Domain names, URLS and HTML
generally refer to the text web address that we are mostly familiar with (e.g.
http://www.unisa.ac.za). A number of students called in to ask if option 4 should not have
read ‘IP’ instead of ‘IT’ – the answer is no! This option was deliberately intended to be
incorrect. The correct option is number 2.

Question 8

The correct answer is number 4.

E-commerce can contribute to the re-engineering of business processes in the following

ways; by reducing cycle (or recycle) time and time-to-market; facilitating collaborative work;
encouraging a customer focus; and facilitating business alliances – see page 13 in your study
guide. Using Google ads to incorporate new processes is meaningless and incorrect. The
correct option is thus number 5. Please note that in the study guide use is made of the term
‘cycle time’ rather than ‘recycle time’. The two terms are essentially the same (e.g. to cycle
something means to do it the first time, while if you cycle it again, you are essentially
recycling it).

Question 9

The correct answer is number is 1.

The steps in the planning of a website are; purpose statement, objective statement, web
specifications, design process, and implementation process – see page 35 in your Study
Guide. The option that is not part of these steps is ‘process statement’ – that is, option
number 1.

Question 10

The correct answer is number is 2.

A monster page is described as a web page that takes ages to be fully displayed and has an
extremely complex information texture and structure – see page 44 in your Study Guide.
From the options provided, number 2 is correct. A monster page is not about navigation, or
being pretty, or being uneven, or about having too many graphics/pictures at the top of the
page. It is about a very big, unwieldy page that takes a long time to load. Hence, option 2
best describes a monster page.
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3. CONCLUSION

If you experience any problems with the subject matter or the questions, you are welcome to
phone me on (012) 429 4376, or try (012) 429 8303 if you struggle to get through. If you have
any administrative enquiries regarding your year mark, examination dates, examination
centres and so on, contact the university using the contact details supplied in tutorial letter
101.

Remember that there is a second assignment that you need to complete. The second
assignment is due on the 10th of April 2012 (for first semester students), or the 1st of October
2012 (for second semester students). Your year mark will be calculated as a combined mark
for the two assignments (i.e. your assignment mark 1 plus your assignment mark 2, and the
total divided by 2). Your year mark constitutes 10% of your final mark, while your exam
constitutes 90% of your final mark. The next assignment is therefore just as important for you
as this first assignment.

I wish you success with the next assignment.

C Bothma
LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING AND RETAIL MANAGEMENT
UNISA