Information and communication technology is transforming how businesses operate and compete in today’s global marketplace. This course offers a managerial perspective on e-business, introducing key concepts, models, and strategic issues essential for thriving in the online environment.

The course begins with an introduction to the electronic marketplace, emphasizing its importance and presenting fundamental concepts such as e-business models and their relevance in the digital economy. It then explores the impact of digitization, which serves as the foundation for the electronic marketplace, discussing its advantages, such as automated recommendations, and its challenges, including managing vast amounts of data. Topics in this section focus on the effects of digitization on search costs, marginal costs, and product assortments. Finally, the course examines how traditional marketing strategies adapt to the digital environment. This includes discussions on how product, price, promotion, and distribution management evolve in an online marketplace, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of e-business dynamics.

The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the impacts that e-business is having on markets, business models, and a firm's marketing activities.

The objectives of the course are:

• To provide you with an understanding of the core concepts, technologies, and business models in the electronic marketplace
• To sensitize you to changes in consumer behavior in the online environment
• To enable you to critically evaluate different ways for firms to adapt their marketing strategies in an increasingly digitized world
• To deepen your knowledge of empirical research methods and train your ability to analyze consumer behavior empirically
• To provide you with the foundations to design an online business and motivate you to think “digitally”
• It encourages debating and accelerates information extraction based on scientific work

Attendance is compulsory in all course units. To pass the course, you must be present for at least 80% of the time in the units. If you are unable to attend a unit, please inform the course instructor before the unit. The content covered in a missed unit must be made up independently.

Grading is based on the following components:

• Theoretical assignments (45%)
• Exams (45%)
• Class participation (individual; quantity & quality of contributions during the sessions) (10%)

In the course of Theoretical assignments, scientific articles have to be read and questions about them have to be answered. In addition, there is one exam that covers all three chapters (The Electronic Market Place, Digitization, Marketing Mix). In addition, 10 percent are assigned based on the cooperation in the course of the lectures. These grading components will be weighted with the respective weights to arrive at the final grade percentage. To successfully pass this course, your weighted final grade needs to exceed 60%.

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I am happy to answer your questions, so feel free to send me a short email. I will also try to be available before and after each session or during the breaks of each session.

The use of AI-based text generation software such as ChatGPT is not allowed. However, you can use AI-based tools for writing support (e.g., Grammarly).​​​​​​