Section 2: Electronic Commerce and Databases

Commerce has become increasingly dependent upon electronic transactions and communication as the roles and capabilities of computers have expanded. Almost no business today can succeed without some sort of Web presence and capacity for electronic commerce. This section explores applications of e-commerce.

Section Objectives

After completing this section, you will be able to

1. Define and describe e-commerce.
2. Describe the process by which companies develop a vision or conceptual framework for their use of e-commerce and Web tools.
3. List and discuss the decisions and choices required to establish a successful e-commerce program.
4. Describe in detail the anatomy of an electronic transaction.
5. Define databases and describe their structure and role in computing.
6. Define and describe database management systems, with examples.

Required Reading

Chapter 14 in the textbook

Discussion Forum

The topic for Unit Five, Section 2 is Exercise 1 on page 684 of the text.