AMEB600 Assignment: E-Business Analysis of Crafty Crafts Online Store

This assignment analyzes the e-business operations of Crafty Crafts, addressing intellectual property theft, CRM systems, and online security measures. It explores the impacts of employee actions on intellectual property, strategies to mitigate these risks, and analytical opportunities like demographic profiling and spend analysis. The assignment also covers the use of CRM systems to manage customer relationships, Google Analytics for measuring online store activity, and methods for authenticating users to enhance security. Furthermore, it differentiates between weak and strong password examples and emphasizes the importance of robust security controls for online transactions. The solution provides examples and explanations to illustrate key concepts in e-business management and security.

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1. Illustrate to crafty crafts three potential impacts that theft of intellectual property due to
employees moving to competitors, can cause for an e commerce business. (12 marks)
An employee from crafty crafts joining a competitor business may result to an intellectual
property theft. The impacts that are caused by this move include revealing the secret of crafty
craft to the competitor. This happen when a former employee steals or share strategic plans and
other critical data of crafty craft thus posing competition scenario. Some companies tend to hire
employees from competing firm in order to benefit from ideas that an employee bring from
former business. Most businesses that engage in online businesses that aims at promoting their
business end up closing down because of unfair competition that is resulted from employee
movement. Another impact is trademark theft, which happens when the former employee of
crafty craft uses trademarks or symbols that cause product confusion. Sales reductions occur
when consumer come across items from a different company with similar trademark making it
difficult for consumers to identify the right product. Some consumers may even find it difficult
to differentiate between the right products from counterfeit. Third, copyright theft is another
impact which is mainly experienced by business that participates in online services. A former
employee of crafty crafts uses a similar website codes to come up with website to advertise
products online. Also a former employee can develop similar item with similar design of crafty
crafts hence confusing the customers in finding the real manufacture of a product (Shackelford,
S. 2016).

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2. For each of the three potential impacts identified in Q A. 1 above, explain one example of how
to minimize or negate the potential impact. (12 marks)
Intellectual property theft poses challenges to crafty craft among other businesses
progress. In order to protect the company copyright, the management must adopt the copyright
laws which ensure the business property and assets are secure. It grants the business control over
their intellectual property furthermore the law is recognized in law courts. The employee is not
allowed to share product methodology that he or she developed while still working for the crafty
craft. Every employee has to sign this law which ensures the business own any item invented by
the employee while he or she works for the company. The uniform trade secrets act plus
employee taking an oath to ensure the business secrets are safeguarded whenever an employee
moves to a competitor business. The law also ensures standards of commercial ethics are
maintained. Other measures include immediate termination access rights by departing employee
and securing all computers and other storage devices. To protect crafty craft form trademark
theft, it’s necessary for the business to register any trademark to governing authorities.
Documenting all working terms with an employee will protect the company trademark from
being used by a former employee. Also seeking a computer expert to evaluate and effectively
deleting all sensitive data from electric storage devices allocated to a former employee to ensure
the employee doesn’t carry any company information and share with a competitor (Shaw &
Stock, 2011).

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3. Identify and evaluate examples of the following three analytical opportunities for crafty
crafts online store. Include in your discussion the impact for e business.
(a) Demographic profiling (4 marks)
Demographic profiling is a mechanism of implementing e-business to enhance efficiency in
conducting product advertisement and promotion. The idea is to focus on analyzing and
identifying market gaps for the crafty craft to come up with the best products (Mair, J. 2010).
While advertising the craft materials, the marketing department of crafty craft has to identify
consumers’ preference profile. It essential for the business to get data on customers’ financial
positions, age groups, race, and test of preference will ensure the company develops a
comprehensive product that suits market demand.
It is necessary for the crafty craft management to identify locations or regions that most
consumers are situated to maximize on market availability (Rossmo, D. 2012). Obtaining such a
geographical profile will assist the business to find the best way to serve customers or even
developing a business branch in the region. Having the best knowledge of market demand will
ensure crafty craft develop products satisfies all the customers regardless of their socioeconomic
status. Spending more time interacting with consumers and gathering their view will help crafty
craft remain so competitive.
(b) Spend by category (individual and total) (3 marks)
Spend category is a business procedural act of grouping similar services or items expenditure
defined at the organization level (Limberakis, C. 2012). While crafty crafts are implementing
online service to advertise and sell products, it has to cover hardware and software expenditure to

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have an effective running operation. Spend analysis entails reviewing procurement information
to increase efficiency, which builds stakeholders trust.
Products quality, prices, delivery procedures are vital information that successful business
update always. All information for products should always be available on the crafty craft
website accessed all. Any business needs to develop the best system that gives information on
product usage maintenance, which will guarantee the consumers trust in the market. With
technology advancement, it is essential for the business to focus on standardizing the product
price by assessing the inputs needed. A transparent and trusted company has a precise method of
obtaining information (Newnam, S. 2011). The technology keeps developing; therefore, crafty
management should focus on research to have a steady income.
(c) Satisfaction drivers (5 marks)
The satisfaction drivers are guidelines used to access consumer satisfactory. The proper
communication channel from crafty craft firm builds a strong relationship with customers
leading to increased sales as a result of many customers (Dimitriadis, S. 2010). It’s essential for
the business to conduct product promotion from time to time to obtain consumers views. Crafty
craft staff should also observe professionalism in production and having an appropriate system of
management in place to make informed decisions.
The three drivers that assess consumers satisfactory include; Response time, which
determines how fast the crafty craft management respond to customers’ requirements. Next is the
resolve time that gives the time-frame it takes for specific issues to be adequately addressed, and
consumers are satisfied. Status updates give customers constant updates on the business
progress, informing customers of website update is essential to gain their trust or telling them of

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product shortage or invention of new product on real-time bases build a strong relationship with
customers. Maintaining integrity in business dealings will betray the right image of crafty crafts.
Most businesses offer poor quality services due to little fund allocation by untrusted managers
and also unqualified staffs who cannot deliver customers’ needs (Mouwen, A. 2015).
4. Identify four factors an e commerce CRM (customer relationship management) system can
measure to assist in control of an online business. ( 8 marks)
A customer relationship management system allows businesses to analyze and
apply customer data to increase sales. In e-commerce, the four basic factors include
accountability. Having honest and accountable staffs ensure that crafty craft provides the
best services to the customers (Sudirman, I. 2012). When the clients obtain full details
about the products it will be easy for them to make a quick decision on buying the
product. Building a strong relationship with clients is necessary for business continuity.
Top-Down mandate explained the systematic communication procedure in business.
Developing a clear online platform provide the best environment for the IT department to
add more features to the business network (Kumar, V. 2010).
Clear representation of crafty crafts provides an easy way of tracing the
company strength and weakness. This procedure helps the management in understanding
the actual market demand after obtaining first-hand information from customers. The
crafty craft media platform is the central focus point of obtaining information (Mostafa,
M. 2013). The incremental approach is another factor; the consumer relationship
continues the process. It enables the crafty craft to identify and tackle one issue one after
another. After identifying the business weakness or idea, the crafty craft needs to take

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time to make an informed decision then developing the platform or component step by
step while putting all factors into consideration (Hwang, Y. 2010).
5. Analytical tools are crucial in the success of an online store. However, Crafty Crafts need to
understand how technology for e commerce can measure online store activity. Explain four
(4) features for measurement and/ or reporting features that Google Analytics offer. (12
marks)
Analytical tools help business in extracting and analyzing data to obtain relevant information
which increases the business performance. Some of the features that measure reporting features
include e-commerce tracking is used to identify most customers, sharing of knowledge and can
also are used to access the financial status of the business (Sivaji et al., 2011). Tracking all
business transactions will help the management in tracing lazy and corrupt staffs.
Google analytics add-ons and goal analytics helps in attracting the attention of internet
users. The goal of any business is to attract many customers. The goal analytical features track
conversions through filling forming, using demos, and monitoring emails signups. Knowing the
number of clients that do a transaction with the crafty craft will enable the management to plan
and recognized its staffs to serve the customers effectively. According to Cutroni (2010),
audience reports can be used to measure online store activities, it offers an exciting feature to
customers from geolocation and demographic point of interest. Proper storage of all company
report is also important when doing the auditing process in every financial year that assesses the
business financial position. Flow visualization also allows one to view every action users took
in exploring the site while searching for a product (Smits, A. 2012). Customers’ reports help in
assessing business performance through referring to correct data which minimize bias in the

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conclusion of the performance report. Using animation and more photographs attract clients to
put more attention to the product advertised. Content grouping, channel grouping are also some
of the Google tools that help crafty craft in identifying consumer preference.
6. Suggest three (3) methods that could authenticate users (customers) of the Crafty Crafts e
commerce site to illustrate the robustness of security control for online transactions.
( 9marks)
Authenticating users is very important in any safeguarding online transactions. Causes of
computer frauds and cybersecurity have been on an increasing rate, which makes most customers
questioned online business integrity. The first use of encrypted keys and password guarantee the
security of the online business while login to users portals. It is a difficult hacker to access
network platform secured with encrypted keys. Many businesses experience system hacking
which is a result of unsecured servers or weak passwords. Cookie-based authentication can also
be used by crafty crafts to authenticate users (Krishna, R. 2014). The crafty crafts administration
can see customers posting credential logins to sites and server verifying it then creating session
id stored in the server then communicate to customers through the set cookie. Using a third-
party identity provider can also authenticate the client. Google, Twitter, and Facebook are
providers commonly used to confirm the users’ identity. Before gaining the access of the
company portal the user has to login to a social media platform where the users credential is
verified first to ascertain the users. Another similar technique that crafty craft can implement is
using token-based authentication that implements single page application but it works almost
identical to cookie-based authentication. (Martinez, M. 2010).

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7. Identify for Crafty Crafts one (1) example of a weak password and one (1) example of a
strong password. (3 marks)
The password helps in securing clients credentials of any business. It is vital for the crafty
craft business to ensure the client's data; likewise, the users or clients should secure their
accounts. One can easily detect a weak password. When a client uses a weak password, it
gives hackers' room to access the company or individual accounts (Leavitt, N. 2011). Access
of business credential by unauthorized person poses a challenge to the integrity of the
business management. An example of week pass a crafty craft user may use is 12345 or
crafty-craft which is easy to guess as it merely the business name. Use weak passwords to
make the business loss the ability to secure the business secrets which is essential for the
business to overcome market competitions
Strong passwords are a complex password, and it consists of alphanumeric and special
characters (Huiping, J. 2010). An example of a strong password is Pj@12_jm this password
it's so difficult for hackers to crack or guess. A secure password guarantees the security of
clients and company safety. It is essential that few people get accessed to business-critical
passwords. Using fingerprints, electronic cards and encrypted password will help in tracing
individual who access a particular server of premises at particular timeframe.
8. Malware is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive
software. For e commerce the risk can be at the server level. Identify three (3) potential
malware threats and advice Crafty Crafts what damage this software can cause to Crafty
Crafts’ e commerce business. (12 marks)
Malware poses severe threats to the business system. The malware affects the efficiency
of the crafty craft in delivering its objectives. The Malware describes malicious software that

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affects computer or business website performance. Examples of malware that may affect crafty
craft operation include Virus. Many computer users finding it difficult to access files stored in
their PC. A computer virus is a contagious code which infects software performance of a PC it
spreads from file to files. It's difficult to read data with the virus also infection affect computer
performance. It is necessary to install the antivirus program to PC which protects the crafty
craft e-commerce service from the virus (Zolkipli & Jantan, 2010). Spyware is another malware
which hackers mostly use to track and steal user’s information without the user's knowledge.
One can lose passwords, credit numbers, and other credentials. It also results in PC slowdown,
SuperAntiSpyware, and Malwarebytes are programs that detect spyware in PCs. A trojan is a
malware that fools user to install them, once installed the program slows the computer
performance. Trojan mostly appears on the webpage as an add-on. Hackers use Trojan to steal
personal information and gain control of user access remotely. It’s essential for crafty crafts staff
not to download unnecessary programs and avoid opening suspicious attachments or files. Also
installing blockers on PC browsers is critical in protecting users from unnecessary disturbances
(Anderson, R. 2014).
9. Crafty Crafts has given all the new staff access to all areas of the e commerce back end
functions, files and the server. Explain two (2) reasons why this poses significant risk to the
business. (5 marks)
Sharing all passwords keys of e-commerce servers to new staff poses a risk to the
security of the crafty craft. New employees cannot be trusted with relevant data of the market as
they share essential data with the competitors. A new employee can be working with competitors
secretly or may have questionable characters. A person must work over one year in the company

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while management assesses his or her characters before accessing company credentials. Another
risk is that the new employee may not take data protection seriously.
Due to the weakness of human resource staff unskilled staff may be hired who does not
know how to secure crafty craft files in an effective manner. Hackers might use security loophole
to obtain the confidential files of the business which is a security threat. A new employee may
also install unnecessary software to the business server, which may cause system failure,
therefore, exposing the system to attackers. Understanding any business security protocols take
time; a simple mistake may lead to system failure leading to uncertainty among the business
customers. Extensive training is mandatory to a new staff regardless of the qualification
(Walters, R. 2012).
10. Another risk for e commerce is excessive ISP outages or poor performance from an ISP.
Explain for Crafty Crafts two (2) actions to negate this risk and impacts on the business. (5
marks)
Excessive ISP outage is mainly caused by congestion or overload while trying to access
internet service. Other causes include configuration issues, hardware issues among others. To
negate from poor performance of the ISP, One use blockers programs to block ads and GIFs and
also using antivirus in the business system free up the business server (Shay, A. 2010). Crafty
craft deals with a large pool of customers; hence the large volume of data is involved which may
crack the company server. Restarting the company system from time to time helps in clearing
cache. A slow business system make the business to experience huge loses; delaying makes
customers seek service of other businesses.

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Troubleshooting internet outage is another action which helps any business in identifying
the system problems. Restarting your PC and resetting the computer clear out wrong settings and
turn back internet adapter in case it was off. Also restarting internet router, modem and ensuring
wireless adapter in the computer is enabled will ensure excellent ISP performance. The impact of
poor performance causes a slow response of the crafty crafts system leading to poor service. Old
computers are prone to attacks, it’s important for any business to invest in modern technology.
Training staffs from time to time on new technology to ensure the business is in line with
technology advancement (Minne, J. 2013).

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