THE WALLACE E. CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
MD254: e-Service Operations Management
Spring 2003
MD254 Home
Week 3
Hybrid ("Bricks and Clicks") e-Services: Operational Issues
Assigned Readings
EOM, Chapter 4: The Hybrid E-Operations Model: Requirements Definition and Quality Metrics
Case Study Assignment
CASE STUDY: “Rice Epicurean Online Shopping: Decadence or Destiny?” B. Ives and G. Piccoli, Communications of the Association for Information Systems
[How to Obtain the Case: Go to http://cais.aisnet.org/, click on “Contents” on the left menu, scroll down to the article (Volume 9, Article 18). Where you are asked for username and password, enter “gheim” and “temp”. Note that you may also access this through the BC library, via the page http://www.bc.edu/libraries/resources/ejournals/a-z/s-indexc/.] This case study describes the experience of a family relying on an online grocery shopping service offered by an eight-store grocery chain in Houston, Texas. The grocer, Rice Epicurean, is able to field a sophisticated web shopping experience inexpensively and quickly by relying on an Application Service Provider, MyWebGrocer, for the underlying information technology.
CASE QUESTIONS:
1. Which traditional (physical/person-to-person) service aspects are involved with Rice Epicurean delivering e-services? What operational challenges do they provide?
2. Which aspects of the e-service (the online, digital portion) are provided by Rice Epicurean? Which aspects of the e-service are provided by MyWebGrocer?
3. What are the competitive and/or operational performance advantages of the “bricks and clicks” approach used by Rice Epicurean, relative to a traditional grocery store, and relative to a “pure play” online grocer?
| Keyword Legend E-SERV = E-Service: 24 Ways to Keep Your Customers … ECOM = E-Commerce Operations Management EOM = E-Operations Management FITZ = Service Management: Operations, Strategy and Information Technology |
Related Readings: For Further Information