[STERN]

15.566:
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS AN INTEGRATING FORCE IN MANUFACTURING

SPRING 1998


NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, ON-LINE CASE

Browse the on-line case: Netscape Communications Corporation. By Professor Haim Mendelson, Stanford Graduate School of Business.


Background Materials


Netscape Communications, Inc. Electronic Commerce Products page.

Business Week cover story on Netscape, February 10, 1997.

Business Week cover story on Microsoft, July 15, 1996, and a short article on the browser wars from this issue.

Two articles from the February 12, 1997 issue of the Wall Street Journal related to the browser wars:

 

Case Preparation Questions

Please visit the above sites on the web. As you prepare the on-line Netscape case, address the following questions as these will form, in part, the basis for our class discussions. You do not have to turn in a written case report.

  1. What is electronic commerce?
  2. What are the key information technologies that enable electronic commerce?
  3. What products does Netscape offer to support electronic commerce?.
  4. Who are Netscape's competitors?
  5. Who are Netscape's partners in strategic alliances?
  6. What is the current status of the 'browser war' between Microsoft and Netscape? What are the key dimensions of competition in the browser market?
  7. What is the current status of the 'web server war' between Microsoft and Netscape? What are the key dimensions of competition in the web server market?
  8. At this time what are Netscape's key strengths and weaknesses and what recommendations would you make to their CEO?
  9. What do you make of the recent efforts by the Justice Department to limit Microsoft's "bundling" of Internet Explorer with their operating system?
  10. What is your prediction for Netscape's future?