Overview:

This chessboard in this activity represents one of the most powerful games in business today. As you pass your mouse over the squares of the game board, you will find links to get you started with your research assignment. The men and women represented here, through expertise and strategy, have become the current kings and queens of the world of online business. This is a world of power and speculation where every move is crucial to the successful outcome of the enterprise. There is much to be gained from studying the masters of the game.

The links given for each of these contemporary leaders are presently active and you may find out more about each one by using web search engines to do further research on these "movers and shakers" and the companies they represent.

Find two role models from among the thirty-two choices given. Prepare a report profiling each of your choices and tell why these two leaders inspire you. Compare and contrast the information you find on each of your role models. What can you learn from following their examples as you create your own plan for success in the business world?

Learning Outcomes:

learners will be able to:
1) identify the movers and shakers in the new e-commerce world.
2) gain experience practicing research methods using the internet.
3) exercise critical and analytical thinking regarding researched materials.
4) gain perspective on attributes of successful business leaders in the world of e-commerce and the web.

Suggestions: To enrich or extend this learning activity, you may want to give the following as
additional assignments.

It may be helpful to review the workings of a web browser search engine. You may also want to give the URLs for those search engines you prefer to have students use for this assignment. Remind learners that by putting quotation marks around the name of the person they are researching or plus signs between the first and last name, the engine will know to search for both first and last name together.

The reports assigned may be submitted in a variety of ways. If you require hard copy, you will want to be sure to remind learners of the criteria for their preparation, for example:
1. This research report is to be word processed.
2. This report will be 500-700 words, double spaced using a 12 point font.
3. The cover sheet must include your name, class section and the date.
4. Remember to use the spell check function of the word processing package before printing.

If you want students to submit their assignments by e-mail, you may need to clarify instructions regarding your e-mail address, how attachments are done, where students can get technical help if needed, and the deadline for submission i.e.: midnight October 14.

Every effort has been made to give variety to the links and to choose links that will give students an awareness of various sites on the web that feature e-commerce news and biographical articles and interviews. When using external links, there is no absolute guarantee that these links will remain active for a predictable length of time.
Usually, students will inform their teachers when they come across a dead link. It would be a good idea to notify McGraw-Hill in the case of a link that is no longer active.

NOTE to the editor:

The table contains the names, teaser captions and hyper links to a web site that contains biographical data about the person listed. The idea of this is to have a chessboard with every other square containing the name of a person. When the mouse goes over the name, the teaser is read and the link can be activated. Links given are selected from those presently available on the web.