Syllabus

Title
0741 Internet Economics
Instructors
Soheil Human, M.Sc.Ph.D.
Contact details
soheil.human@wu.ac.at
Type
PI
Weekly hours
2
Language of instruction
Englisch
Registration
09/11/23 to 11/27/23
Registration via LPIS
Notes to the course
Subject(s) Bachelor Programs
Specialization in Business Administration Course II - Business Information Systems
Course II - Business Information Systems
Course II - Business Information Systems
Dates
Day Date Time Room
Wednesday 11/29/23 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM TC.4.27
Wednesday 12/06/23 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM EA.6.032
Wednesday 12/13/23 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM EA.6.032
Wednesday 12/20/23 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM EA.6.032
Wednesday 01/17/24 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM EA.6.032
Wednesday 01/24/24 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM TC.5.27

On this page:

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Contents

The Internet and its "Information Rules" has dramatically influenced how many industries co-operate and exchange goods and services today. It has changed our thinking about feasible business models. It is disrupting major industries such as the media business. Old industry giants (such as publishing houses) are trying to find their way around in this new era of commerce and attempt to fight off young competitors. The newbies that rapidly grew to dominate the IT industry (i.e. Amazon, Google, Apple, etc.) are fiercely competing with each other, merging rapidly on and off their core competencies. For example, Google starts to sell its own operating system and even phones (Android, Motorola), Apple becomes an application service provider,Amazon sells Labor (Amazon Turk) and Cloud Computing Services.

After attending this course, students will have learned about the particular dynamics underlying Internet Economics, including Price Differentiation, Switching Cost and Lock-in, Supply-side economics in hightech markets (and winner-takes-all phenomena), Network effects, Standardization dynamics, Free business models and their importance in 2-sided markets, Revenue sharing and new forms of contract.

 

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Learning outcomes

After attending this course, students will have learned about the particular dynamics underlying
Internet Economics, in particular:

  • Price Differentiation
  • Versioning, Switching Cost and Lock-in
  • Supply-side economics in high tech markets (and winner-takes-all phenomena)
  • Network effects
  • ‘Free’ business models and the importance of 2-sided markets
  • The economics of search
  • Sharing economy
  • Data markets
  • IT Business Models
  • Value-based Engineering 


In addition, this course fosters the following soft skills:
• Economic thinking about the economics of information markets
• Presentation skills
• Team skills
• Debating

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Attendance requirements

Following attendance is mandatory:

  • attendance in the introductory unit (else you will lose the place in the course)
  • attendance of 80%

The course may take place in an online/mixed format depending on the government regulations. Information will be updated accordingly.

Required attendance does not depend on the format.

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Teaching/learning method(s)

This course uses the "Flipped classroom" approach: students read/watch the materials in advance, and in the class we deep dive into the topic. There is a mixture of top-down lecturing, group work and discussions, in-class debates, videos, and student team presentations. Real-world cases are debated to see how economic theory is applied to practice. Each week students will receive a lecture and a reading assignment on an Internet economics construct. One big presentation project at the end of the semester will allow students to delve deeply into one particular Internet Economics subject of their choice.

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Assessment

Performance will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Tests (50%): you must achieve 50% of the test points to pass the course

• Discussions in class / short presentation of study material ("PPT Karaoke") (20%)

• Group presentation(s) (20%) 

• Poster presentation (10%)

 

The overall score must be positive (50% of achievable points), to pass the course.

 

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Prerequisites for participation and waiting lists

The SBWL Grundkurs has to be successfully completed.

Falls Sie eine gültige LV-Anmeldung haben, aber an dieser Lehrveranstaltung nicht teilnehmen können, melden Sie sich bitte während des Anmeldezeitraums über LPIS wieder ab, damit Ihr LV-Platz anderen Studierenden zur Verfügung steht.

 

Die Platzvergabe während der Anmeldefrist verfährt im „first-come, first-served Prinzip“.

Studierende, die nicht zur ersten Einheit erscheinen, verlieren ihren Platz in der LV. Dieser wird an Studierende der Warteliste, die zur ersten Einheit kommen, nach Wartelistenreihenfolge vergeben.

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Readings

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

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Other

Online platforms such as Learn@WU or Zoom, which are offered by the university, will be used.

Learn@WU will be the primary online platform that will be used for the course.

Zoom (or similar tools) might also be used.

Last edited: 2023-04-12



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