Economics 106T: The Economics of E-commerce and Technology

Syllabus.

Slides

Slides 1: Introduction

Slides 2: Industry Analysis (updated 2nd Oct)

Slides 3: Competitive Advantage

Slides 4: The Nature of Information Goods

Slides 5: Monetization - Prices and Advertising

Slides 6: Switching Costs and Lock-in

Slides 7: Network Effects

Slides 8: Platform Markets

Slides 9: Innovation

Slides 10: Dynamic Pricing

Slides 11: Reputation

Slides A: Case Studies

Slides B: Case Objectives

Slides C: Summary

Hard to Find Readings

Jon Levin's survey of internet markets.

The Economist articles on the Long tail and A World of Hits.

Chris Anderson's TED talk on the Long Tail.

Here’s a planet money podcast describing how trademarks work.

This American Life on patents in software firms and some less useful patents.

Preston McAfee has some nice lecture notes on pricing. These are a more advanced version of the material in his book.

These notes show how to solve for the optimal second-degree price discrimination scheme. They are more detailed than you need to know, but some of you may find it interesting.

Case Questions

All the cases can now be found in a folder in Powell library. You can buy them individually for $7 from the HBS website by copy and pasting the case number into the search bar. You can also buy the course packet which lowers to price to $4. Case write-ups are due in class (if you cannot make it to class, give it to a friend or put it in my mailbox in 8283 Bunche Hall).

Notes on the case method of teaching.

Advice for the case write-up.

5th Oct: Case discussion of Zappos, HBS 9-610-015, with James Min in lecture. Presentations of Zappos case opening and questions in section.

12th Oct: Case discussion of Facebook, HBS 9-808-128 with me in lecture. Presentations of Facebook case opening and questions in section.

19th Oct: Tutorial with Emily Taylor on career management in lecture. Before class, make a LinkedIn page and bring a CV. Case discussion of Online Restaurant Promotions, HBS 9-909-034 in section.

26th Oct: Tutorial with Kerry Edelstein on online marketing. Case discussion of Electronic Arts, HBS 9-804-140 in sections.

2nd Nov: Tutorial with Matthew Pierce on effective communication in lecture. Your assignment this week is to read the newspaper - just pick one and read it for the entire week. Case discussion of TheLadders HBS 9-908-061 in section.

9th Nov: Case discussion of Netflix, HBS 9-607-138 with Barry Eggers in lecture - please also read this article for the class. Presentations of Netflix in section.

16th Nov: Case discussion of Android, Stanford SM-176 with Terry Kramer in lecture. Presentations of Android in section.

Nov 23rd: Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 30th: Case discussion of Yelp, HBS 9-809-142 with Daniel Ball in lecture. Presentations of final project in section.

Dec 7th: Case discussion of eHarmony, HBS 9-709-424 with me in lecture. Presentations of final project in section.

Final Paper

You will write the final paper in a group of 2-3 about a company of your choosing. This will essentially be a mini case study. You should hand in a short proposal by Friday Nov 9th; I will then check that the plan is realistic. The final paper is due on the last day of class (Friday Dec 7th). Please do not choose a company from the below examples or one than we covered in class. Each group must cover a different firm; priority is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis - please email your TA with your firm to register it. The log of companies can be found here.

Advice on the final paper proposal.

Advice on the final paper.

When thinking about the current state of the company, a SWOT analysis can be a useful checklist.

Some final papers from Fall 2011: Gilt Group, Rovio, Zipcar, the Domino's Pizza.

Some final papers from Winter 2011: BlackBerries, Mindjolt, Net-A-Porter, the NBC Universal Merger.

Some final papers from Fall 2010: Amazon Web Services, Groupon, LinkedIn, Nintendo, Playfish, Priceline, Research in Motion, Tencent QQ.

Final

Rules for the final: You can take 10 single-sided pages of notes with you into the final (or 5 double sided). Calculators are allowed, but will probably not be needed. Blue books are not needed - you will answer on the exam itself.

Fall 2011 final on Electronic Arts, HBS 9-804-140.

Fall 2011 final on Huffington Post, HBS N9-810-086.

Winter 2011 final on Microsoft adCenter, HBS 9-908-049.

Fall 2010 final on Sermo, HBS 9-809-142.

Advice on the final



Index