Abstract: This paper describes and analyzes a teaching approach that frames ecommerce within an introductory Business Information Systems (BIS) class. The framework is guided by the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as a foundational and defining concept in the information systems (IS) discipline. Within this framework, the teaching approach employs a semester-long series of three assignments in which students propose and analyze an Internet start-up business. Although the assignments loosely parallel the SDLC, they do not emphasize systems development; and as such, they can be readily employed in an undergraduate or graduate core business course. At the same time, the assignments do provide a context for discussing the SDLC at the end of the semester, thus providing a substantive basis for exemplifying the relevance of both ecommerce and information systems alike. Such a context also lends to a discussion of how ecommerce systems change the traditional view of the SDLC. In addition to positioning and presenting the teaching approach and an example case, the paper discusses lessons learned from the experience of having implemented the assignments. The assignments provide an interesting context; and the advancement of the teaching approach has implications as a reproducible teaching exercise as well as for ecommerce and information systems pedagogical research.

Keywords: Electronic commerce, Internet marketing, Information systems course, Teaching case study, Systems development life cycle

Download this article: JISE - Volume 16 Number 1, Page 43.pdf

Recommended Citation: Grenci, R. T. (2005). Framing Electronic Commerce within an Introductory Information Systems Course. Journal of Information Systems Education, 16(1), 43-54.