mrmccoy's blog

Ecomm1 Blog for week of December 8

mrmccoy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:22:25 +0000

This week we finalized our paper according to the feedback we have received from peer reviews. We also tried to rewrite some sections to make the flow better. Some minor changes were made, but the bulk of the paper remains the same as before. It's just more polished now.

On Tuesday night, we compiled all of our slides together into one slide show for our presentation on Wednesday. We also made sure that all of the material was going to be covered in our presentation on Wednesday.

Blog Entry (week of 12/1)

mrmccoy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:29:50 +0000

This week, we worked on the rough draft. On Monday, I finalized what I had been working on last week. I had written a really rough copy of the pros and cons of outsourcing, so I edited that in preparation to integrate it into the bigger paper.

We've been having trouble finding the exact price it would cost Buy.com to outsource customer service, so I looked into that, and I was able to find a really good estimate. I added this estimate to my paper.

On Monday night, after I had finalized my section, we had a meeting to put all of our pieces together and work on making the paper flow well, even though it had many authors. The whole meeting took about an hour, and after the meeting we had the entire rough draft done except for the conclusion, which we added on Tuesday. We also had an idea of what we wanted to change for the final draft. At this stage, we are ready for peer reviews, and we are ready to start working on the final draft.

Week of 11/17

mrmccoy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:45:12 +0000

This week e-commerce team #2 worked on putting all the sections of the recommendation report together. We had all finished our research ahead of schedule, so we decided to try to write our rough drafts of each section before Wednesday. Today, we met at Hicks Library during the class period and put together our sections into our rough draft. At this point, we can continue to refine our writing until December 3 when the rough draft is due. With the extra time, I believe we will be able to write a better paper.

Project Log (week of 11/3)

mrmccoy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:36:08 +0000

My group did our final presentation for the whitepaper last Friday, so I thought that I was done with Buy.com and online customer service. However, today in class Professor Kerns introduced project 3, and I found out that project 3 will continue the topic from project 2. The difference is that project 3 required more detailed research. Because of this, I spent a little time on www.forrester.com looking at some of their research. I found some more detailed models for e-business and got an idea of where our improvements would really help Buy.com in the forrester.com model. On Forrester, I also found a number of articles about Oracle's customer relationship management system. I feel like this might be a good application to recommend if we decide to go with an in-house solution on the recommendation report. Hopefully, I will be able to look at some other CRM solutions soon to get a good idea of what different vendors offer in the way of online customer service and customer relationship management.

Weekly Research Blog

mrmccoy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:44:47 +0000

This week my main task was to finalize my section of the whitepaper. I realized that I had taken more of an informative approach to my writing, and I needed a more persuasive approach about the advantages and disadvantages of an in-house solution. Because of that, I took away some of my content about how the system could work to talk more about why the system should be done.

I also made my slides this week. I took the main points from my paper and turned them into 4 slides. I used 2 slides to explain what a good customer service system should do. I also spent 2 slides on the advantages and disadvantages.

Weekly Research Blog

mrmccoy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:38:49 +0000

This week my main task was to finalize my first draft of the whitepaper. I have already created a graphic to explain how the chat system I developed would work. In addition, I got a screenshot of a similar system in use on Purdue's MEL Library's website. I also did some additional research on the skype api and how it can be used to make a voice chat program in the website. I was able to see how to use Python or C# to develop a skype web application. I was mainly concerned with these two languages because they are the most likely languages that Buy.com is actually developed in.

After I had done more thorough research, I was able to write a more complete and accurate first draft, which will lead to a better final paper.

Topic Proposal: E-Commerce Websites Must Create Positive Experiences

mrmccoy — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:08:48 +0000

The Internet has become a crucial part of how companies operate because it allows them to reach out to the largest possible portion of their target market. However, that benefit is lost if a customer’s experience on the company’s e-commerce website is negative. Regardless of if a customer enters a brick-and-mortar store or an online store, sales are made based on whether the store can offer a product to satisfy the customer’s needs and whether the store can create a positive experience for the customer. Online stores must realize that they operate at the third and forth levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and operate accordingly. Physical stores offer customers advice, a chance to test products, and interactivity in general. If e-commerce sites can’t implement tools that emulate a salesperson or create an interaction between salespeople and customers, they will never reach their full potential. What sort of tools would create the same experience as a physical store on an e-commerce website?

Objective Statements Activity

mrmccoy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:43:03 +0000

To utilize my web design skills as a web developer.
A position as a web developer for Avenue A | RazorFish allowing me to develop my web design skills.
An oppurtunity to further develop my web design skills in a world-renowned web design firm.
Web developer with emphasis on Ajax-driven dynamic web sites.

Cover Letter Outline

mrmccoy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:05:32 +0000

I. Saw the job ad on monster.com and was interested
a. Job combines two strengths of mine
b. Sounds like a good position (posting #21213)

II. The job requires a large skillset, and I have a deep, broad skillset to match
    a. I am experienced in web development and data modeling.
    b. This job requires a mastery of several technologies which I possess.
    c. Job is interesting because it requires more than technical skills
        i. Communication is important to make things understood between business users and technical users
        ii. Project management skills are part of my personality

III. Request an interview
    a. Excited about the possibility of meeting to discuss how I might meet the company's needs
    b. Discuss how my skillset can aid Mayo Clinic's push into Bioinformatics and personalized medicine.
    c. Note that I am flexible, but traveling to MN requires some notice.

About Me

mrmccoy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:06:10 +0000

My major is Computer & Information Technology. I'm taking this class because it's a requirement for my major.