E-commerce (EC)

511 E-commerce Basic IT Infrastructure (3:3:0). Discusses the basic networking infrastructure used in ecommerce environments and the typical multi-tiered ecommerce architectures of e-commerce sites. The ISO OSI Reference Architecture. Functions and main features of the IP protocol. Functions and main features of the TCP protocol: connection establishment, error control, congestion control. The HTTP protocol. Load balancers, web servers, application servers, and databases servers in an e-commerce site architecture. Software architecture elements such as servlets, transaction processing services, remote method invocation, CGI scripts, and active server pages are discussed.

512 E-commerce Software Services (3:3:0). Prerequisite: EC 511. Flow analysis of e-commerce transactions and the role of the various software servers (web servers, application servers, and database servers) in executing e-commerce transactions. Examples of various technologies are used to illustrate typical designs. Protocols used for authentication and payment in e-commerce. Introduction to symmetric and public-key encryption. Digital signatures. Digital certificates. The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. The Transport Layer Service (TLS) protocol. Secure electronic payment protocols.

521/MBA 603 Managerial Economics and Decisions of the Firm (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Admission to M.S. in ECommerce program. Provides a fundamental understanding of how microeconomics concepts are usefully applied to managerial decision making Principles of microeconomic theory are explored fully, including market supply and demand, production and cost functions, industry structure, and product and resource pricing.

522/MBA 613 Financial Reporting and Decision Making (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Admission to M.S. in ECommerce program. Foundation course focusing on the economics and analysis of business transactions and related financial reporting issues. Topics include an introduction to the accounting framework used in financial reporting, analysis of economic events and their impact on financial reports, analysis of the impact of accounting method choices on financial reports, and financial statement analysis.

531/PUBP 726 Law and Public Policy in E-commerce (3:3:0). Legal and policy framework applicable to the use of advanced communications and information technology. Review of the history of electronic communications regulation in the United States and current transformations of this legal system. International aspects of global networks, including WTO and WIPO international agreements, European privacy directives, and U.S. experiences. Overview of salient public policy issues associated with e-commerce deployment: Internet taxation, regulatory issues, digital divide, transborder data flow, spectrum allocation, privacy, authentication, policy, wireless, UCITA, and others. Lectures, guest speakers from government electronic commerce regulators, practical exercises, hands-on demonstrations.

541 Integrative Case Studies in Electronic Commerce (3:3:0). Open to EC majors only. Prerequisites: EC 511, 521, and 531. Students apply knowledge and skills from core courses to manage the complexity of e-commerce in specialized applications. Using case study methods, students analyze and synthesize the requirements for successful e-commerce program development and management in industry-specific applications in health care, banking, retail, and government.

600 Group Project in Electronic Commerce (3-6:3-6:0). Prerequisite: Completion of all core courses and at least 9 credits in the specialization area of the M.S. in Ecommerce program. Group projects in electronic commerce selected to illustrate special problems and solutions in development, design, and implementation of e-commerce systems. The final project will be exhibited to a panel of judges composed of faculty members and experts from private and government organizations.