Why you might consider an MBA in E-Commerce
Business over the Internet is growing at a very fast pace. The first domain name was registered on March 15, 1985. It took another 15 months to register first 100 names, primarily by universities and Fortune 1000 companies. In February 2007, the Netcraft Web Server Survey found 108,810,358 distinct websites. In May 2009, it was already about 156 Million websites around the world according one research, and about 183 million according to another.
How promising is MBA degree in E-Commerce?
In terms of number of users, it is estimated that 1 billion people was using the Internet in 2001, and this amount grew to almost 7 billion by the end of 2008. Power of the Internet has been harnessed in various ways. Internet has been used to sell things identical to the ones sold in traditional stores, e.g., books by Amazon.com which dominates in retail sales on the web. Internet has also made some services better than the previous mode of delivery, e.g., web-based training and education.
Still more businesses arose because of the Internet itself, e.g., use of e-mail for communication. Even though most of the growth in the past was business to consumer, most growth in the future is projected to be in the business to business sector. Theo Mantzanas, Senior Manager in Arthur D. Little's e-Learning and Performance Practice, argues that brick and mortar companies need to know how to transition to B2B to utilize the Internet. This change is taking place at brick and mortar companies.
Early entrants were rewarded handsomely in terms of both the market share and stock evaluations. In the last few years, higher evaluations for these companies were observed as these evaluations were based on revenue projections and not on underlying profits. It was later observed that some businesses were using different accounting practices to show higher revenue projections. In the last few months, a large number of e-businesses saw a sharp decline in their stock prices. This experience underscored the point that the type of business or the mode in which the business is conducted may change, but the business fundamentals do not. The business still needs to be run efficiently, still needs to address issues related to finance, marketing, accounting, etc. and one still needs to comply with various regulations. And, in the end, the business must make money. Bill Clair, CEO, Innovate! EC, compares the web-based system to the tip of the iceberg. Just like most of the iceberg is under water and only the tip is visible above water, in an e-business, only the web-based portion of the business may be visible, but a much bigger effort to have all aspects of brick and mortar kind of business activities, from capacity planning, to forecasting, to inventory management to shipping has be done like the way it is done for a brick and mortar business. It is here that knowledge of the whole business is important.
The booming Internet and Web Commerce growth has been interrupted and reversed by the Dotcom industry collapse. You might not have heard much about e-commerce over the last few years. There must have been plenty of people working in the field as it has obviously been growing from strength to strength; it was just when recruiters responded to the annual QS Top MBA Recruitment and Salary survey they weren't ticking the box to say that they had any vacancies in the area.
But this has changed in the last year or so. The 2008 survey shows that 13% of responding employers are now offering opportunities to MBAs in this field. This takes e-commerce higher than every other function except consultancy and finance, even taking it up to levels that have not been seen since the height of the dot-com boom in 1999.
But this has changed in the last year or so. The 2008 survey shows that 13% of responding employers are now offering opportunities to MBAs in this field. This takes e-commerce higher than every other function except consultancy and finance, even taking it up to levels that have not been seen since the height of the dot-com boom in 1999.
Yet speak to careers specialists at top international schools and the picture is more mixed. Some schools such as Audencia Ecole de Management, Nantes , Cass Business School , London , and London Business School
“We are certainly seeing more demand for help with e-related projects,” says Carol Rue, Director, Personal and Career Development atWarwick Business School
“There’s something of a split in the market between the small and large companies,” comments Monica Piercy, Head of Careers Service atImperial College , Tanaka Business School , London
“I think that the term e-commerce is quite loose,” argues Chris Higgins, Senior Associate Director in the MBA career management team at Wharton,University of Pennsylvania
“We are certainly seeing more demand for help with e-related projects,” says Carol Rue, Director, Personal and Career Development at
“There’s something of a split in the market between the small and large companies,” comments Monica Piercy, Head of Careers Service at
“I think that the term e-commerce is quite loose,” argues Chris Higgins, Senior Associate Director in the MBA career management team at Wharton,
So what is going on? It is unlikely that large proportions of MBA graduates are suddenly being taken in to e-commerce. If this were happening, more top business schools would have seen the same phenomenon, and Wharton for example is only reporting that three or four per cent of its graduates from the last two years have gone to work in internet services. Instead, it may be that e-commerce is simply losing its negative association with the dot-com bubble while also gaining some positive credibility from the emergence of new kinds of internet service such as Facebook, Youtube et al.
Clive Ellings is Marketing Director of E-commerce Expo, a trade fair held in London at the end of October which concentrates on the on-line retail end of the spectrum. “When we launched the first E-commerce Expo in 2006, we debated whether we should use the term e-commerce as there was a possibility the word was still tainted by the dot-com bubble,” he says.
“However, the difference between today and the dot-com boom of 1999 is simply that e-commerce now works. That dot-com bubble was caused because although people could imagine how successful e-commerce could be the technology wasn't there.”
With this technological advance, e-commerce now has the payment systems, the logistics, and the bandwidth in place for organizations to create a quality online experience and to be able to deliver on their promises, Ellings says.
Clive Ellings is Marketing Director of E-commerce Expo, a trade fair held in London at the end of October which concentrates on the on-line retail end of the spectrum. “When we launched the first E-commerce Expo in 2006, we debated whether we should use the term e-commerce as there was a possibility the word was still tainted by the dot-com bubble,” he says.
“However, the difference between today and the dot-com boom of 1999 is simply that e-commerce now works. That dot-com bubble was caused because although people could imagine how successful e-commerce could be the technology wasn't there.”
With this technological advance, e-commerce now has the payment systems, the logistics, and the bandwidth in place for organizations to create a quality online experience and to be able to deliver on their promises, Ellings says.
Choosing E-Commerce
Some students are struggling with the question of why an MBA in e-Commerce. Some think that they could start working for a high tech company and pick up relevant information through training programs while on the job. However, even tech savvy individuals need to understand fundamentals of running a business to have a successful venture. To put it in context, overall, US corporations spent $16.5 billion on training and education of its managers. A Business Week survey found that, when companies send their executive for further training, most wanted topics are: leadership skills, entrepreneurship, and the Net. What Internet has done is to provide access to the customer as never before. The fundamentals of business, however, have not changed and a successful entrepreneur needs both the knowledge of technology and fundamental aspects of business. An MBA in e-Commerce is designed for addressing this need.
What is E-Commerce?
The term E-Commerce is a relatively new one but it is something that nearly every business has to deal with. E-Commerce means using the Internet to sell products and promote services for businesses. The E-Commerce Master's Degree provides advanced training and skills to students who wish to learn how to promote products and services online. The typical coursework for this degree includes: digital marketing, financial accounting, database management systems, marketing management, web design, and telecommunications. Please find more information below.
E-Commerce (MBA) Master's Degree Overview
E-Commerce is a concept that involves using the Internet to market and sell products and services. Nearly every kind of business or company uses E-Commerce to promote their business or to sell products online. The E-Commerce Master's Degree Program is designed to further advance the knowledge and skills for those who have already earned a lower degree. The E-Commerce portion of the MBA program is a new addition to most MBA programs but has become one of the fastest-growing university programs out there today.
What is the difference between a Master's Degree in E-commerce and an MBA with a concentration in E-commerce?
The basic difference between these two options is that the master's degree is highly specialized and will allow you to focus almost exclusively on computer science and business administration. In contrast, an MBA program will permit you to develop a general set of management skills as well as e-commerce knowledge. There are advantages to each: a master's program will enable you to delve into e-commerce issues in greater depth; an MBA program will allow you to spend your first year developing a set of skills that can be transferred to other areas.
While both a master's degree and an MBA concentration will prepare you to hold management positions within the field of e-commerce, master's programs are designed to help you become a leader in technology management and integration. In contrast, an MBA degree may also qualify you to hold management positions in other fields, should you become interested in a different career.
Career Possibilities for an E-Commerce (MBA) Master's Degree
Some of the careers a student with an E-Commerce Master's Degree may pursue include:
- Webmaster
- Website Designer
- Marketing Manager
- Computer Programmer
- E-Commerce Specialist
- Ad Copy Writer
- Database Manager
E-Commerce Master's Degree Holders can earn a yearly salary that can be based upon the size of the company and level of responsibility that the employee has. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, www.dol.gov, a manager in the advertising or promotions department of a company can earn a yearly salary of $89,570. An employee working in advertising or promotions who is not a manager can expect to earn a yearly salary of $63,610. Students who use this degree to enter the computer field as a computer scientist or researcher can earn a yearly salary of $85,190.
Coursework for an E-Commerce (MBA) Master's Degree
The courses needed to earn an E-Commerce Master's Degree include:
- Database Systems
- Database Management
- Marketing
- Internet Business Models
- Marketing Management
- Accounting
- Economics
- Telecommunications
- International Marketing
- Cost Management
- Market Research
- Product Management
- Marketing Strategies
- Marketing Writing and Communications
Skills for an E-Commerce (MBA) Master's Degree
The skills learned with an E-Commerce Master's Degree include:
- Marketing Writing Skills
- Website Design Skills
- Product Management Skills
- Marketing Skills
- Marketing Strategy Skills
- Market Research Skills
- Financial Skills
Sources and Additional Infromation:
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