Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Web-TRECS: Teaching Electronic Commerce

  • Published:
Information Technology and Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Effective Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce) education for students in such disciplines as Management Information Systems, Accounting and Marketing is paramount. This is because organisations globally need people who are skilled in e-Commerce, from a technical and/or organisational perspective, so that the firms can take advantage of such technologies as the Web. The challenge for business and e-Commerce educators, therefore, is the development of teaching tools and environments which provide tertiary students and business people with practically-based opportunities for learning about the potential of e-Commerce. Business simulation approaches to e-Commerce education are a particularly effective way in which to provide students with these pedagogic opportunities. This paper provides an overview of a Web-based e-Commerce business simulation called Web-TRECS (Teaching Realistic Electronic Commerce Solutions). It then describes how the software components of Web-TRECS have been designed to form the e-Commerce teaching tool. The paper then discusses how Web-TRECS could be used to teach a range of e-Commerce concepts and skills, based on six years of research into the use of e-Commerce business simulations. The paper finally concludes by outlining our future research plans to extend Web-TRECS so that additional e-Commerce concepts and skills might be taught using this tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A.C. Baker and P.J. Jensen, In conversation: Transforming experience into learning, Simulation and Gaming: An International Journal 28(1) (1997) 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Centre for Electronic Commerce, Advice on Electronic Commerce Programs for Small to Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs), Monash University, Melbourne, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  3. J.J. Chiodo and M.L. Flaim, The link between computer simulations and social studies learning: Debriefing, Social Studies 84(3) (1993) 119–121.

    Google Scholar 

  4. D. Crookall, A guide to the literature on simulation/gaming, in: Simulation and Gaming Across Disciplines and Cultures: ISAGA at a Watershed, eds. D. Crookall and K. Arai (Sage, Thousand Oaks, 1995) pp. 151–177.

    Google Scholar 

  5. G.J. Doukidis, J. Gricar and J. Novak (eds.), in: Proc. of 11th International Bled Electronic Commerce Conference, Moderna Organizacija, Kranj, Slovenia, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  6. D.J. Fritzsche and R.V. Cotter, Guidelines for administering business games, in: Guide to Business Gaming and Experiential Learning, ed. J.W. Gentry (Nichols/GP Publishing, London, 1990) pp. 74–89.

    Google Scholar 

  7. S. Hoberman and S. Mailick, Experiential Management Development: From Learning to Practice (Quorum Books, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  8. K. Jones, Simulations: A Handbook for Teachers (Kogan Page, London, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  9. S. Jönsson, Action research, in: Information Systems Research: Contemporary Approaches & Emergent Traditions, eds. H.-E. Nissen, H.K. Klein and R. Hirschheim (Elsevier/North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1991) pp. 371–396.

    Google Scholar 

  10. P. Joyce, The Deakin Electronic Trading Community: An interactive approach to teaching electronic commerce, in: Proc. of 11th International Bled Electronic Commerce Conference, Bled, Slovenia, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  11. M.S. Knowles, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  12. D.A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  13. L.C. Lederman, Debriefing: Toward a systematic assessment of theory and practice, Simulation and Gaming: An International Journal 23(2) (1992) 145–160.

    Google Scholar 

  14. J. Liman, Promoting EDI adoption through education: enhancing the effectiveness of an EDI business simulation game, Unpublished Honours Thesis, Department of Information Systems, Monash University, Melbourne (1997).

  15. J.F.J.Nunamaker, M. Chen and T.D.M. Purdin, Systems development in information systems research, Journal of Management Information Systems 7(3)(1990–1991) 89–106.

    Google Scholar 

  16. C.M. Parker, Educating small and medium enterprises about electronic data interchange: exploring the effectiveness of a business simulation approach, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Information Systems, Monash University, Melbourne (1997).

  17. C.M. Parker and P.M.C. Swatman, Web-TRECS: the design and use of an e-commerce business simulation, in: Proc. of 12th International Electronic Commerce Conference, Bled, Slovenia, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  18. C.M. Parker, J. Liman and P.M.C. Swatman, The TRECS laboratory: developing a web-based ecommerce business simulation, in: Proc. of 2nd Annual CollECTeR Conference on Electronic Commerce, Sydney, 1998.

  19. C.M. Parker and P.M.C. Swatman, The TREAT laboratory: Comparing an electronic commerce experiment at Curtin and Monash Universities, Computer Communications 18(6) (1995) 447–457.

    Google Scholar 

  20. C.M. Parker and P.M.C. Swatman, Simulating international EDI trading: The TREAT experiment, in: Proc. of 3rd Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, Brisbane, Australia, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  21. C.M. Parker and P.M.C. Swatman, An internet-mediated business simulation: Developing and using TRECS, Simulation and Gaming: An International Journal 30(1) (1999) 51–69.

    Google Scholar 

  22. C.M. Parker, E.N. Wafula, P.M.C. Swatman and P.A. Swatman, Information systems research methods: The technology transfer problem, in: Proc. of 5th Australian Conference on Information Systems, Melbourne, Victoria, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  23. D. Petric, B. Zupancic and J. Gricar, Preparing small and medium-sized enterprises for EDI/EC – experiences in Slovenia, in: Proc. of 9th International EDI-IOS Conference, Bled, Slovenia, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  24. S. Poon and P.M.C. Swatman, Small business use of the internet: Findings from Australian case studies, International Marketing Review 14(5) (1997) 385–402.

    Google Scholar 

  25. L. Scholtus, Méthodologie éducationelle TREAT: Un exemple de pédagogie appropriée pour promouvoir les technolgies EDI au sein des PME (The TREAT educational method: A pedagogic approach for promoting EDI technology into the SME sector). Unpublished Masters Thesis, Computer Science Department, Collèges Universitaires de Notre Dame de la Paix, Namur (1996).

  26. G.I. Susman and R.D. Evered, Assessment of the scientific merits of action research, Administrative Science Quarterly 23 (1978) 582–603.

    Google Scholar 

  27. P.M.C. Swatman, J. Gricar and J. Novak (eds.), in: Proc. of 9th International EDI-IOS Conference, Moderna Organizacija, Kranj, Slovenia, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  28. S. Thiagarajan, How I designed a game-and discovered the meaning of life, Simulation and Gaming: An International Journal 25(4) (1994) 529–536.

    Google Scholar 

  29. M. van Ments, The Effective Use of Role-Play: A Handbook for Teachers and Trainers (Kogan Page, London, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  30. D. Vogel, J. Gricar and J. Novak (eds.), Proc. of 10th International Bled Electronic Commerce Conference, Moderna Organizacija, Kranj, Slovenia, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  31. R.W. Wagenaar, Research on EDI at the Faculty of Business Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam, in: Researching and Teaching EDI – 2nd Symposium, Bled, Slovenia, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  32. C.E. Watson, Management Development Through Training (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  33. J. Wolfe, The teaching effectiveness of games in collegiate business courses, Simulation and Games 16(3) (1985) 251–288.

    Google Scholar 

  34. C.D. Wrigley, The IOSGame: Inter-organisational business simulation, Working Paper, Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management Information Systems, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria, 3125, Australia

    Craig M. Parker

  2. Institute for Management, University of Koblenz-Landau, Rheinau 1, 56075, Koblenz, Germany

    Paula M.C. Swatman

Authors
  1. Craig M. Parker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paula M.C. Swatman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parker, C.M., Swatman, P.M. Web-TRECS: Teaching Electronic Commerce. Information Technology and Management 2, 459–471 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011406802776

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011406802776

Search

Navigation