Almost Higher Education...

Right now I am sitting in my IS 431 (E-commerce) class. My teacher had an educational epiphany and decided to have us gain exposure to the e-commerce experience by ordering our book online. Not a horrible idea. The problem is that, in his infinite wisdom, he told us of this idea via email the day before classes started.

For being so "web-savvy" one would not think that he'd be so suprised when no one in the class had the book the next day. He assigned us all to read chapter one for a quiz in less than a week. No one seemed to object to this. I raised my hand.

"Excuse me, but how can you expect us to read the book when we just ordered it yesterday?"

"Well, how long is the shipping?"

"Here in Hawaii, the books come in Media Mail. That means slow boat. That means 3-4 weeks."

He was stunned. I was in turn stunned that he was supposed to be teaching us. He later confessed that this was his first time to teach this subject. That information most certainly did not stun anyone.

Today, we are talking about the difference between a Business Model and a Business Plan. We were passed out loaner books for class use until our mail order ones arrive. Here is what the book says:

"Business Model: A set of planned activities..."

"Business Plan: A document that describes a firm's business model."

That's sure helpful information. So, your Business model details your plan. Your Business plan details your model. How would I survive without an enlightening class such as this?

I'm glad that I only paid $0.75 for the book. I only wish the class tuition was similar.