International Business | E Business Cases

International Business : The Challenge of Global Competition, 8/e

Donald Ball
Wendell H. McCulloch, California State University Long Beach
Paul L. Frantz, California State University Long Beach
Michael Geringer, California Polytechnic State University
Michael S. Minor, University of Texas Pan American

E Business Cases

Students:

Included here are some internet/case assignments relating to E-Business that you can use to review or that your instructor may give as assignments. Your instructors have been given the answers to these questions and may choose to give them out to you or not.

The Nielsen NetRatings

This case is designed to:

Focus your attention on the relationship between the continued emergence of e-Business and effective Market Research;
Acquaint you with the Nielsen NetRatings; and
Illustrate the international aspect of market research of e-Businesses using the Nielsen NetRatings.

The Internet and the World Wide Web are creating tremendous opportunities for businesses of all types and sizes. E-Business and computer-mediated interaction have transformed businesses by providing instantaneous large-scale communications. This is causing radical changes in how companies conduct business and interact with the public, the government and each other. In addition, domestic borders are vanishing as businesses utilize the electronic environments to operate on a global scale.

E-Business can take a number of forms such as Business-to-Consumer, Business-to-Business and Consumer-to-Consumer. Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com), an online retailer, is an example of a Business-to-Consumer e-Business; Covisint (http://www.covisint.com), an online exchange connecting major automobile manufacturers and their suppliers is an example of a Business-to-Business. eBay (http://www.ebay.com), an online auction platform, is an example of a Consumer-to-Consumer e-Business.

As businesses are radically changing their modes of operation, so too is market research changing to accommodate these new business forms. One example of this is the Nielsen NetRatings found at http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ . Nielsen NetRatings, a subsidiary of Nielsen Media Research, focuses its attention on how people use the Internet.

Case Instructions:

Go to the Nielsen NetRatings website found at http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ and answer the following questions.

The information provided by Nielsen NetRatings is segmented into four geographic regions. What are these four geographic regions?
Locate information about Internet activity in the United States. What are the top ten monthly Banner Ads viewed in the United States? What are the top ten Web Advertisers? How many of the top ten Web Advertisers are in the top ten Banner Ads?
Locate information about Internet activity in Japan. What are the top ten monthly Banner Ads viewed in Japan? What are the top ten Web Advertisers? How many of the top ten Web Advertisers are in the top ten Banner Ads?
Click on "Products and Services". One of the items that you will see is "Methodology and Technology". There, you are told that Nielsen//NetRatings services use unique technology capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data and advertising information in the global marketplace. You're also told that the Nielsen//NetRatings service now has more than 425 clients worldwide and by 2001 will measure over 90 percent of the world's Internet audience in over 30 countries. What specific capabilities has NetRatings pioneered?