CS 377/CLAS 194

The Information Revolution in Latin America

Obstacles and Opportunities through the Internet

Wednesday November 17

Product Development Overview

Guest Lecturer: Fred Gibbons

Living on Internet Time

Read: Living on Internet Time: Product Development at Netscape, Yahoo!, NetDynamics, and Microsoft
Read: Paving the Information Superhighway

Review: An overview of central concepts of strategy and business formation

Summary

This case study session will focus on how four companies, in the Internet software market, approach product development. The two readings are provided some perspective on a commercial view of the Internet. Class discussion will be split between software product development (with a focus on the Internet) and a wide ranging discussion of the Internet in general.

Study Questions

  1. Environment: Use the competitive forces to describe the Internet software market in 1996. Where are computer networks in their life cycle? Where is the Internet in its life cycle?
  2. Product Development: Compare and contrast development at Netscape, Yahoo!, NetDynamics, and Microsoft. What explains the differences? What sort of a development model do they follow (Market pull or technology push)? How would you position each of the companies in the price/features, newness, and risk matrices? How are these positions linked to each company's development strategy? How is software development different from hardware development? How is developing software for the Internet different from software development in general?

Customer and Internet Questions:

  1. Intercompany Communication: How is the Internet changing the relationships between companies (suppliers, competitors, etc.)?
  2. Intracompany Communication: How can companies (in the entire economy, not just the computer industry) use the Internet to operate more efficiently?
  3. Customers: How is the Internet changing the relationship between firms and their customers?
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