Designing e-Business and e-Commerce Courses to Meet Industry Needs

Abstract

This chapter is designed to assist undergraduate program developers in designing and developing courses that will better prepare graduates to have a balanced mix of e-business, e-commerce, communication, and leadership skills that will equip them for roles as consultants for small-to-medium enterprises. Because small-to-medium enterprises do not have a vast budget or knowledge of e-commerce development, they are more likely to contract a consultant within their local community rather than contract a larger consulting firm that is more likely to have a number of staff members with a variety of specialist skills. This being the case, undergraduate courses must equip our professionals with skills sets that focus on e-business strategic planning as well as the e-commerce technology skills that will enable them to design, develop, and implement e-business strategies that meet the needs of small-to-medium enterprises by understanding the environments in which they operate.