Assignments

Homework Assignments.

This page is for homework assignments. For other assignments see Group Project, Individual Project and Exams.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

If you need help, use the Forum, search the site, or ude.esahcrup|koorbaes.divad#em liame.

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Show Homework 8

Homework 8

This homework is designed to get you to start organizing the material on your group wiki. This assignment will be graded individually.

1. Assign each group member to one or two sections of the group project (see section list below). Create a wiki page for each section (if you haven't already). Put who is doing what section on the home page of your group project wiki:
   1. Executive summary (a few bullet points on your current understanding of the industry and how the internet has affected it)
   2. Industry size
   3. Industry structure (including five forces analysis)
   4. Economics of the industry
   5. Business models
   6. Competitive strategy
   7. Marketing strategy
   8. Future developments
2. Each person should write at least five bullet points capturing what the group knows so far about each of these sections. Ask you fellow group members to contribute what they have learned about the companies they researched for Homework 7. The person in charge of a section should organize the material so that it is easy to understand. Include hyperlinks to source material. Don't worry if there are things you don't know yet.
3. Each person should also write at least three bullet points containing questions that need to be answered/ further work that needs to be done before their section is completed. Start the research to answer those questions and include links to what you have found.
4. The instructor will add comments and suggestions as you put content on your wiki. For a good grade on this homework assignment you should add content before the end of the week and start to respond to the instructor's comments before next Monday's class.

Show Homework 7

Homework 7

This assignment is designed to get you started on industry and company research for your group project. The assignment will be graded individually.

1. Have one person in the group create a wiki page called "Homework 7" on your existing group wiki
2. If you haven't done this already, nominate one or two group members to search for companies in your industry i.e. search for something like "online gambling sites" or "online clothing" or "movie downloads online" or "internet banking" or "social networking sites"
   1. List at least ten companies on your Homework 7 wiki page. Provide links to the companies' web sites.
3. (If you haven't done this already), assign one business from your industry to each member of your group. Put each group member's name and the business they are researching on the Homework 7 page.
4. Each group member should research the following information about their company and put the data and links to data sources on the Homework 7 wiki page under their name. Use the most recent data sources you can find. If you are having problems ask for help via the Group Project section of the Forum.
   1. How much revenue does the business generate overall? How much is via the internet?
      1. Look in annual reports or financial information sites such as Google Finance if your company is publicly traded
      2. Note that this will be easier for "pure" internet businesses e.g. for banking, information on internet revenue for E*Trade Bank will be easier to find than internet revenue on Citibank. If your business does not split out revenue via the internet (e.g. a retail bank), list the ways in which using the internet generates revenue for the business. If the business is not publicly traded or does not list its internet-related revenue separately, search for estimates of its revenue in the news media
      3. Try a Google search of "XYZ revenue" or "XYZ revenue estimates"
   2. How profitable is the business?
      1. Use the same research methods as above, but if there is no public report search for "XYZ profitability" or "XYZ profit estimates" instead. Use your initiative to try other searches if these don't work.
5. Have each group member search for industry analyses:
   1. Search for "Impact of the internet on the XYZ industry", "XYZ industry association", "XYZ industry internet" e.g. "impact of internet on the banking industry", "gambling industry association", "movie industry internet"
   2. Each group member should put links to three data sources they find under their names and write one or two sentences explaining the information and the key ideas contained in the reference. Ensure that each group member links to different sources. That is, if someone has found a source already, you need to find a different one.
6. Nominate one person to go to Google Docs and create a one page presentation with your group topic on the title page. Have that person "share" the document with the other group members and the instructor (please use my gmail address moc.liamg|koorbaesdr#moc.liamg|koorbaesdr). Each group member should put their own name on the presentation title page to show they've edited it successfully. (Google Docs is a collaborative document tool, where multiple people can work together online on the same document. You'll use this for your group presentations).

Show Homework 6

Homework 6

This homework assignment is designed to 1) reinforce learning about internet advertising revenue and customer acquisition cost; 2) motivate the material on internet marketing in the 3/30 class; 3) give you some exposure to a few internet marketing tools.

Show your working in questions that involve calculations.

1. (Reinforcement). Refer to question 1 from the midterm. After operating for a few months, SportsPassion has learned the following about user behavior: 1) team members still visit the site once a week, but average 3 page views per visit; 2) supporters actually visit the site twice a month, and average 10 page views per visit. SportsPassion has also found that it can place two ads on every page, with each ad priced at a CPM of $4.00 (cost per thousand impressions). I know some of you want a formula for this, but every situation is different and no one formula applies. Use your understanding of the principles of click-through and conversion rates to answer the following questions:
   1. If the annual operating costs are $200,000, how many teams does SportsPassion now need to break even?
   2. If the click-through rate is 0.1% and the conversion rate on click-throughs is 2%, what is the advertiser's customer acquisition cost?
2. David's Bathroom Renovation Store is a store in Greenwich, CT 06830 that sells tiles, mirrors, faucets, tubs, bidets and everything else people need to renovate their bathrooms. You have been hired by David to advise him on internet marketing. Investigate the following as a prelude to making an initial presentation to your client:
   1. Find a business web site from a different industry to David's that you believe is effective. Write down three or four bullet points explaining why you think that site is effective and the principles that David could apply to his own web site. Put a link to that site next to your name on the student page of the class wiki.
   2. Find a display ad for the kinds of products David sells. What site is that display ad on? (provide a clickable link as your answer)
   3. Find a blog or forum or online user community related to David's business. How might David participate in that blog or forum or community in a way that helps his business?
   4. Write down some search terms that customers might use when looking for the kinds of products David sells. Type them into a search engine and see which sites are listed highest (do not include sponsored search results). Put links to the top three sites in your answer. Why do you think they were listed highest?
   5. Search advertising:
      1. Use the Google keyword tool to find the relevant keywords that are searched most frequently. What are they? How many times do Google users search for these terms in an average month?
      2. Use the Google Traffic Estimator to estimate the cost per day of advertising using your proposed keywords. What is that cost? (copy and paste your results into the body of your email)
   6. If 1% of people who click on his ad made a purchase, what is David's customer acquisition cost from search advertising?
   7. David's average sale value is $4000. His gross margin is 50%. Does it make sense for David to do search advertising using the keywords you proposed?

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Show Homework 5

Homework 5

You should email the answers to questions 1-3 but post the answer to question 4 on a blog.

1. What is your IP address? Go to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ and make a note of it. Then click on the gray button to the right of the map that says "Lookup IP Address." Write down your Hostname and the town and state where the host is located. Also write down where you are right now. How close is the host location to your location - same town, nearby town or a long way away?
2. Go to http://www.doubleclick.com/. You can use other sources too to answer this question but make sure you provide links to the sources you use in your answer.
   1. Describe in your own words what Doubleclick does.
   2. Explain in your own words how the services they offer marketers and publishers differs.
3. Watch this video about tracking cookies. Does it make you more or less worried about cookies?
4. This question is designed to give you practice in two skills: 1) creating a blog and 2) using web site analytics software. You will look up information on the analytics site and enter the answers into your blog.
   1. Email me at ude.esahcrup|koorbaes.divad#ude.esahcrup|koorbaes.divad from your GMAIL address as soon as you can. If you don't have a gmail address, go to http://mail.google.com and sign up for one. I need your gmail address to give you access to the Google analytics page for the class wiki site. You will not be able to do this assignment until I receive your gmail address.
   2. If you already have a blog that you set up yourself you can skip to the next question. Otherwise, go to http://blogger.com and set up a blog. Note that you need a gmail address to do this.
   3. Log in to http://www.google.com/analytics/indexu.html and answer the following questions about the web site statistics for the class site for the last four weeks:
   4. Look at Visitors:
      1. How many visits did the site receive in this period?
      2. Of the cities from which people visited the site, which one is furthest from SUNY Purchase?
      3. Which browser was least used by site visitors in this period?
   5. Look at Traffic Sources. Which keywords accounted for the most visits in this period?
   6. Look at Content. Which page on the site was most visited in this period? How many visits did it receive?
   7. Look at Goals. Note that I set up the goal to be a visit to the Assignments page. I also assigned a value of $10 to the goal.
      1. What was the average conversion rate over this period?
      2. Click on Goal Value. If I received $10 for every person who visited the Assignments page on 2/23/09, how much would I have made?
      3. Click on Funnel Visualization. What percent of visitors visited the home page and then visited the Assignments page?
   8. Create a new blog entry entitled Internet and Business HW 5 (or something similar) and enter the answers to the question on the blog.
   9. Create a link to your blog next to your name on the Student page of the class wiki.

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Show Homework 4

Homework 4

N.B. this assignment looks long and complicated but it isn't, really!

1. Set up the wiki for your group assignment
   1. Nominate one person to go to http://pbwiki.com and get a wiki name (related to your topic) and URL
      1. Make sure you specify that the wiki is "educational", so you won't get advertising put on your site
   2. Send out invitations to the group members and to the instructor
   3. Make sure you accept the invitation and join the site
   4. Put a link to your group wiki next to your name on the student page of this wiki
   5. Each group member must:
      1. Put two or more sentences with ideas for the group project on the wiki
      2. Include a link to one source of information relevant to the assignment (see some suggested sources)
         1. Source must contain information on revenue and costs for your industry OR
         2. Source must refer to the impact of the internet on your industry
      3. Put a description and a brief summary of the information you linked to on your wiki
2. Start to analyze eBay.com by looking at its financial statements. Include a link to your information source in your answer:
   1. What was eBay's revenue for the full year ended December 31, 2008? (use the Generally Accepted Accounting Principle [GAAP] numbers)
   2. What was the net income for that period?
   3. What was eBay's margin in % (net income divided by revenue)? How does that compare with Amazon.com's?
3. It's important that you understand the network effect. The network effect is where the value of a good or service to a potential buyer increases with the number of people who have already bought the good or already use the service. To see how it works, examine the growth of a market as follows: draw one table with five columns: step, membership, # transactions possible, benefit to joiner, benefit to the market of the joiner joining) and fill in the table using the answers from steps 1-8 as follows (N.B. this is easier than it looks - just take it step by step):
   1. Step 1. Imagine a new "market" with one buyer (B) and zero sellers (S). Write "B" in the membership column next to step 1. How many transactions are possible? Fill in the rest of the row with zeros.
   2. Step 2. One seller (S) joins the market. The membership column next to Step 2 should now read "B,S". Fill in the rest of the row. How many transactions are now possible? What is the benefit for the new seller to joining the market (in terms of additional transactions possible)? What is the benefit to the buyer already in the market of the seller joining (in terms of additional transactions possible to the market as a whole?)
   3. Step 3. (Continue with the exact same procedure, adding buyers and sellers alternately. Here are some more steps to help you out). Now imagine a second buyer joins the market (which currently has one buyer and one seller). What would the market's membership be? How many transactions would be possible if the second buyer joined? What is the benefit to the new joiner? What is the additional benefit to the people already in the market (in terms of additional transactions possible to the market as a whole?)?
   4. Step 4. After step 3 the market has one seller and two buyers (membership is now B,S,B). If a second seller joins how many transactions will be possible? What are the benefits of a second seller joining to the new joiner and to the people already in the market?
   5. Step 5. After step 4 the market has two sellers and two buyers (BSBS). If a third buyer joins how many transactions will be possible? Fill in the rest of the row.
   6. Repeat this analysis - with new buyers and new sellers joining alternately - until there are four buyers and four sellers. At each step, work out the number of transactions possible, the benefit to the new joiner and the benefit to people already in the market.
   7. What do you notice about the benefits to the joiner and to the market as the market size increases?
   8. As the market grows some sellers may be concerned that the amount of competition is increasing. If you were that seller, what factors would you consider when deciding whether or not to leave the market?
4. Is there a network effect associated with buying a hamburger? Explain.

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Show Homework 3

Homework 3

1. See the Petsdotcom spreadsheet. Why did Pets.com fail the numbers test? (for an explanation of "numbers test", see Business Models). Why are bulk transport and courier delivery costs so different?
2. Use Amazon.com's latest quarterly income statement to compare Amazon.com fulfillment costs as a percentage of net sales with those of DUB Pies's online sales (for DUB, assume that fulfillment costs include all shipping, handling and transaction costs). How do you explain the difference? N.B. If you are having trouble interpreting this income statement, refer to Financial Reports, revenue, costs and profit.
3. Use this article in Wired magazine to identify three key challenges Barnes and Noble faced in trying to compete with Amazon.com. According to the article, how did they plan to compete in the future? (This article is eight pages long, but you can skim it).
4. Look at the Amazon.com historical financial spreadsheet. What percentage of net sales was spent on marketing in 1999? In 2008? How do you explain the difference?
5. How do you think apparel became the largest online retail segment? Isn't there a risk that the clothes will not fit or not look good once the customer tries them on? How do retailers help customers overcome that risk? Provide a link to an example of a site that you think does a good job selling apparel online.

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Show Homework 2

Homework 2

1. Use the Down Under Bakery spreadsheet Pieshop.xls to answer the following questions. Explain your reasoning:
   1. Gareth is considering advertising to people who live beyond the range of one-day ground shipping from his store (that means pies must be shipped using the more expensive DHL overnight shipping). He investigates Google adwords and finds that he can advertise "australian meat pies" for $1.00 per click. (That means that Gareth has to pay $1.00 for every person who clicks on his ad). If he estimates that 15% of people who click on his ad will become a customer, under what circumstances does it make sense for him to start this advertising campaign? Explain.
   2. Gareth is considering a 20% discount on all pies bought online in the week before Australia day. Under what circumstances does that make sense?

Note that pies are sold in boxes of twelve.

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Show Homework 1

Homework 1

1. Complete the short class survey using the survey link emailed to your Purchase email account
2. Create a basic web page on a free hosting site (see Tools)
   1. Add some html
      1. Use an html element in the BODY of the html document to insert your name with text of size 100px by modifying the following element: <SPAN style="font-size:100px"> a big Hello!</SPAN>
   2. Insert a file (such as a picture)
   3. Include a link to the home page of this course
   4. Create a link to your new web site on the course wiki Student Pages page
      1. I will email you an invitation to join the class wiki when you have competed the class survey. This will have a link you use to join.
      2. Joining the wiki is a two step process: 1) join wikidot; 2) join this class wiki
      3. When you have joined, go to the Student Pages page, add your name and a link to your page

N.B. do not leave this until the last minute, as the wiki will not allow two people to edit a page at the same time, so you will be delayed if someone else is editing the page.

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