Business Model Analysis for E-Commerce Systems at DMU

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of De Montfort University's (DMU) e-commerce strategy, focusing on its distance learning initiatives. The report begins with a SWOT analysis, evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with DMU's distance learning marketplace, considering factors like rapid access, student-centered learning, and global reach. It then applies Porter's Competitive Forces Model to assess the industry's competitive landscape, examining rivalry, threat of entry, threat of substitutes, buyer power, and supplier power. The analysis extends to identifying objectives, success factors, and recommendations for DMU to address issues related to culture and trust, along with suggestions for utilizing online communication tools to engage its target audience. The report concludes with recommendations and strategies to overcome threats and improve DMU's position in the e-commerce education market.

Running head: E-COMMERCE
E-COMMERCE
Name of Student
Name of University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Part 1....................................................................................................................................2
SWOT analysis for the university....................................................................................2
SWOT diagram................................................................................................................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................6
Part 2....................................................................................................................................6
Analysis using Porters Competitive Forces Model.........................................................6
Objectives........................................................................................................................8
Success factors.................................................................................................................8
Part 3....................................................................................................................................9
Suggestions for DMU to solve issues regarding culture and trust...................................9
Use of on line communication tools for reaching out to its potential target audience....9
References..........................................................................................................................10

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Part 1
SWOT analysis for the university
Strengths
If we define strength as something that we are good at or a characteristic that makes us
more competitive, then we should also have something to benchmark strength against. In the
current study, we will use conventional, face-to-face (FTF) instructional delivery systems as the
basis for comparison as we discuss Distance Learning (DL) on the Internet.
One of the obvious benefits of DL via the Internet is rapid access. DL courses can be
delivered to students living anywhere in the world as long as they have access to the Internet.
The asynchronous mode in which ERAU CDL courses are provided is ideal for allowing our
students the freedom to work on course work when it is convenient for them (Smith 2016). In
face-to-face (FTF) classes, the material is normally presented during the day at a time convenient
to the instructor and the institution. When students are free from the constraints of learning place
and time, they can better manage their career and family responsibilities in a way that best suits
them. For busy aviation professionals, this is truly a characteristic that gives DL an advantage
over FTF environments (Yao and Meng 2018). If student-centered learning is ~better," then DL
on the Internet wins because it is obviously more ~user-friendly" than FTF.
Effective learning environments should involve frequent and personalized interactions
among the learners and the instructor. In the pilot MAS 606 class, there were over 1200 ~hits"
recorded on the WebCT counter. This level of interaction far surpassed any face-to-face class
(Gill, Ricciardi and Bates 2017). In addition to the sheer number of hits during the semester, the
quality of the interaction and the depth of the exchanges between students was a defining

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experience for me and, apparently, from their end of course comments, to the students as well.
The value of this interaction is vested in the sharing of knowledge and opinions between
classmates.
Weaknesses
The learning curve: WebCT is a very powerful interface tool with an extensive array of
features and constructs that can increase the sophistication of the learning experience. It is not
especially easy to learn, however, and a novice will quickly find that it is NOT a point-and click
kind of software (Cole 2016). For this reason, institutions planning on converting to WebCT
should also plan on providing training to its faculty before the semester actually begins.
Adequate technical support should also be provided to answer questions from both faculty and
students during both day and at night. Distance learners can quickly begin to feel isolated when
they cannot access a course they have enrolled in and there should be someone available to help
them solve the insidious software problems that always come up with new software (Siddiqui,
Waqas and Soomrani 2018). The FUD factor. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a condition
that dissuades many faculty and students alike from joining the ranks of those who are working
with technology and the World Wide Web environment.
Opportunities
WebCT courses on the Internet can be offered to students worldwide. This opens up an
enormous student market to the university. The compelling advantages to students include the
freedom from location and time constraints, the potential cost savings, ability to stay active one's
career (and be on the payroll) and still obtain an education (McAndrew, Sinka and Wills 2016).
The DL courses ERAU offers are especially attractive to those busy aviation professionals who
travel a lot and are away from home a great deal. Students can work from home, their office, an

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airplane, a hotel room, and at any time of the day or night. Internet-based delivery also allows the
institution to integrate new learning paradigms in which teachers, technology, and students are
linked in exciting new environments that offer significant increases in speed and access it as well
as greatly expanding the sources of relevant information.
Threats
The courses were revised every two years and updated to insure the material was
relevant. This policy has changed, unfortunately, and an administrative decision has been made
to discontinue the two-year limit on course run (Valente 2018). Contracts have been changed to
delete the two-year time limit and consideration is being given to finding ways to reduce the
faculty role in the development and presentation of these courses. These are apparently cost
cutting measures that are meant to increase the profits generated by distance education courses.
While saving money is always important, those save it at the expense of quality should be
reminded that Embry-Riddle became the world's preeminent aviation university because of its
world class excellence, not because of its thrift.
Most of our students are employed within the aviation industry and are aware of the
changes taking place within that environment. Out of date course materials stand out like a
beacon to this crowd (Martinho,Vaz-Fernandes and Oliveira 2017). These students are also our
best source of advertising for our graduate programs. Our reputation as the school with the best
graduate program for aviation professionals could quickly change to that of being a 'diploma
mill" if our students perceive we have failed to provide them with the current and relevant
education they expect their tuition dollars.

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SWOT diagram
Diagram 1: SWOT analysis diagram for DMU’s distance learning marketplace
(Source: Khalid, Ali and Khaleel 2017)
Summary
From the above mentioned strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats it can be
derived that spreading their business in order to increase their international number by offering
more courses in overseas provides the De Montfort University with numerous opportunities,
threats including various strengths as well as weaknesses.

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Recommendations
The threats can be overcome with the help of numerous strategies, these strategies are as
follows
Consider the end product—teaching—as similar, regardless of the process or delivery:
traditional face-to-face, electronic, or integrated. Teaching, whether using a real or electronic
blackboard, has physical aspects that include three-dimensional space (Haile, Křupka and
Maštálka 2016). Virtual teaching, despite online location, originates in physical space.
Enlighten administration about the realities of online teaching. Office hours are office
hours: students are welcome! However, time scheduled for online teaching is not appropriate for
student drop-ins, departmental meetings, or other interruptions (Křupka, Kantorová and Haile
2018). Be cautious about allowing displacement of time scheduled for online teaching. If
diverting time that’s scheduled for an online class, make the variation a onetime event. Maintain
the temporal consistency inherent in a traditional course.
Specify time for online courses in official schedules. Most faculty post schedules on
office doors, and provide them electronically to students and to administrators (Conaway and
Zorn-Arnold 2016). Just as traditional courses are scheduled to meet for specified blocks of time
in physical classrooms, online courses need uninterrupted teaching times.
Part 2
Analysis using Porters Competitive Forces Model
Force 1: the degree of rivalry, the intensity of rivalry, which is the most obvious of the
five forces in an industry, helps determine the extent to which the value created by an industry
will be dissipated through head-to-head competition (Bao 2016). The most valuable contribution

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of Porter’s ‘‘five forces’’ framework in this issue may be its suggestion that rivalry, while
important, is only one of several forces that determine industry attractiveness
Force 2: the threat of entry both potential and existing competitors influence average
industry profitability. The key concept in analyzing the threat of new entrants is the entry
barriers. They can take diverse forms and are used to prevent an influx of firms into an industry
whenever profits, adjusted for the cost of capital, rise above zero (Jahan, Arif-Uz-Zaman and
Hossain 2018). In contrast, entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically
feasible for an outsider to replicate the incumbents’ position. The most common forms of entry
barriers, except intrinsic physical or legal obstacles, are usually the scale and the investment
required to enter an industry as an efficient competitor.
Force 3: the threat of substitutes; the threat that substitute products pose to an industry’s
profitability depends on the relative price-to-performance ratios of the different types of products
or services to which customers can turn to satisfy the same basic need. The threat of substitution
is also affected by switching costs – that is, the costs in areas such as retraining, retooling and
redesigning that are incurred when a customer switches to a different type of product or service.
The substitution process follows an S-shape curve (Sari 2018). It starts slowly as a few
trendsetters risk experimenting with the substitute, picks up steam if other customers follow suit,
and finally levels off when nearly all the economical substitution possibilities have been
exhausted.
Force 4: buyer power Buyer power is one of the two horizontal forces that influence the
appropriation of the value created by an industry. The most important determinants of buyer
power are the size and the concentration of customers (Dehbi 2017). Other factors are the extent
to which the buyers are informed and the concentration or differentiation of the competitors. It is

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often useful to distinguish potential buyer power from the buyer’s willingness or incentive to use
that power, willingness that derives mainly from the ‘‘risk of failure’’ associated with a
product’s use.
Force 5: supplier power Supplier power is the mirror image of buyer power. As a result,
the analysis of supplier power typically focuses first on the relative size and concentration of
suppliers relative to industry participants and second on the degree of differentiation in the inputs
supplied. The ability to charge customers different prices in line with differences in the value
created for each of those buyers usually indicates that the market is characterized by high
supplier power and at the same time by low buyer power.
Objectives
To provide an effective alternative path to wider opportunities in education and especially
in higher education
1. To provide an efficient and less expensive education
2. To provide education facilities to all qualified and willing persons
3. To provide education facilities to those individuals who look upon education as a life-
long activity
Success factors
Identification of key success factors and key performances indicators to measure the
success of objectives
1. No formal admission requirements (an opening of access to adult students who
otherwise would have been excluded from the traditional academy)
2. The provision of continuous, lifelong learning opportunities (through part-time
study and related policies relaxing usual academic restraints on part-time study)

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3. Continuous year-round enrollment and self-pacing
4. Liberalization or abolition of residency requirements
Part 3
Suggestions for DMU to solve issues regarding culture and trust
The recommendations are as follows
1. By establishing a close link between industrial work force and academic world.
2. By establishing proper, continuous person-to-person meetings on a regular basis.
3. By contacting through a media such as Television, Telephone, and Web
4. By establishing a common ground for meeting at different time intervals, such as
weekly or bi-weekly.
5. By proper preparation of the course materials such as solution sets/manuals.
Use of on line communication tools for reaching out to its potential target audience
Using Google Documents for Collaboration
Student collaboration is a complex, but critical process for learning. If you've ever had
"synergy" in a meeting with your colleagues, you likely understand the benefits of collaborative
learning (Cole 2016). Google Documents allow you to create online documents, work on them
in real time with other people, and store your documents and your other files -- all online, and all
for free. With an Internet connection, you can access your documents and files from any
computer, anywhere in the world.
Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning
Students love to communicate, and their primary platform for doing so is social media .
Many educators immediately think of Facebook when they think of social media, but there are

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actually many more social media technologies available to use. Email, text messaging, blogs,
micro blogs, and wikis are just a few examples/forms of social media.

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