ITECH3212-7212
Faculty of Science and Technology
Assignment 1 – E-Commerce Issues Paper
Available Marks: 10 (10% of course)
Released: Week 1
Due: Thursday Week 4, by 4pm
Description of the Task
You are required to prepare an issues paper (a discussion of views of 2000-2500 words in length) relating to some current aspect of e-Commerce. You must address ONE (1) of the following areas of e-Commerce, and your paper must address current concerns/issues/benefits:
• Employment and e-commerce
• The impact of e-commerce on transport
• The impact of e-commerce on international trade
• The NBN and e-commerce
• Entrepreneurship and e-commerce
• Payment gateways and e-commerce
• Dispute resolution and e-commerce
• Customer Relationship Management issues in e-commerce
The discussion will take the form of a well-researched academic paper, and at no time may degenerate into the author’s unsupported opinion. The point of the exercise is to highlight an issue that is currently being considered in the area of e-Commerce. Your research should be well supported with in-text citations and full references from respected sources. You should include academic journals, books, theses, trade magazines and well-respected sources of related Internet material as you find to be relevant. There should be a minimum number of FIVE (5) relevant references in your paper, and only ONE (1) of these sources may be from a website.
University Referencing/Citation Style Guide
The University has published a style guide to help students correctly reference and cite information they use in assignments. A copy of the University’s citation guides can be found on the university’s web site:
It is imperative that students correctly cite sources of information. Failure to do so will result in an automatic fail grade being awarded to the student. Plagiarism and collusion are serious offenses and will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Marking
Papers will be marked as follows:
10 marks Excellent analysis.
Evidence of a large amount of effort and research.
Very well thought out and justifiable conclusions.
Excellent use of language, structure of discussion.
Excellent citations and references.
7.5 marks Good response.
Evidence of a good degree of effort with more than minimum research.
Well thought out and justifiable conclusions.
Good use of language, structure of discussion.
Good use of citations and references.
5 marks Average response.
Evidence of a moderate degree of effort with minimum research.
Conclusions generally justified.
Acceptable use of language, structure of discussion.
Incomplete, missing or inconsistent citations and references.
2.5 marks Below average response.
Evidence of little or no effort and little or no research.
Little justification of conclusions evident.
Poor use of language and structure, poor or missing citations and referencing.
0 marks Not submitted
Notes to assist students in writing this issue paper:
• Subject Analysis. Many assignments are often just quotes and references strung together without much in the way of reasoning. That style of writing is not analytical and not acceptable for submission. Students need to demonstrate their thinking (analysis and interpretation) and references should be used to support these interpretations.
• Effort. There should be plenty of references and the references should be cited in-text (not just listed at the end). References must include non-internet sources, such as journals, bulletins, magazines, textbooks, reports, case studies.
• Layout and Presentation. The document must be well presented (i.e. look professional), with appropriate language, correct spelling, grammar, citations and referencing.
• Focus. There must be a focus for the discussion. The discussion must be well structured so that there is a logical thread throughout when reading. The introduction will highlight key issues to be discussed while the conclusion must identify a ‘reason’ for the discussion.