The purpose of the thesis is to explore how the legacy firms extend their online business. Should they integrate the online business division with traditional division in order to leverage the established competency, or spin off the online business division and keep it separate from the traditional division in order to get more flexibility and focus? The study tried to find the factors that effect firms to keep the online business separate from established business or urge firms to integrate the online business in-house. These factors can help firms decide whether to keep or spin off the online business division. The main conclusions of this thesis: 1. Check the shock of the online business Explores the idea of "disruptive technology" that clashes with the current culture/business model versus "sustaining technology" that enables further success of the current culture/model. If the internet business is disruptive technology, you should spin it off. 2. If interrelationship between the established business unit and the internet business unit can bring competitive advantage to each other, or the established business unit have the core competency or resource to make the internet business unit competitive, you should take advantage of the synergy by horizontal strategies.

In the field of consumer goods the ecommerce industry has been growing rapidly. This rapid growth has created significant pressure on traditional retailers forcing them to institute change or risk being removed from the market. The primary objective of this study was to examine the shopping behavior of Umeå inhabitants in the Retail vs. Online Channels of the clothing sector. The goal was to identify key decision factors that cause consumers to choose a specific purchasing channel and use this information to create and test a conceptual model. The model focused on five decision factors including: (1) Loyalty (online, retail), (2) Physical Product, (3) Price, (4) Promotion, and (5) Convenience. We were also were interested in whether IT affinity (level of Internet browsing experience) had a direct relationship to the decision factors. To satisfy our research objective a deductive quantitative method was chosen. Information was tested in the form of a self-completion survey using a sample taken from 113 Umeå, Sweden residents between the ages of 18-29. This age group was specifically chosen, as almost 90% made purchases within a 4-month period (HUI, 2012 p.6). In the final analysis we concluded that all five decision factors in the Online Channel correlated whether positively or negatively, i.e., in some manner affected the final purchasing decision. The decision factors Loyalty Online, Promotion, and Physical Product were the strongest factors influencing the decision to purchase online. Price and IT Affinity correlated with Convenience, which in turn, correlated with Promotion, a decision factor contributing to online purchasing. Physical Product negatively correlated. Regarding the Retail Channel, the Physical Product was the strongest and only significant decision factor correlating positively to retail purchasing. With this understanding we conclude to a certain extent that consumers with a strong desire to try a physical product need other motivational factors to change channels toward online purchasing. Research on a larger scale would provide additional insight in this rapidly growing and interesting market.

Abstract U.S. middle schools are increasing offering blended learning curricula that integrates virtual and face-to-face instruction, but the effectiveness of this mode of instruction at the middle school level has not been adequately explored. This investigation provides additional data to the current body of knowledge related to blended learning as a viable option for middle school students. The theoretical framework for this investigation derives from Lev Vygotsky's social development theory and Jean Piaget's constructivist theory of knowledge. The central research question focused on the difference in achievement scores between 6th grade students participating in a virtual course as compared to the 6th grade students participating in a face-to-face course, and the difference between the overall scores of the thirty-five 6th grade students in the two respective courses as compared to the thirty 7th grade students. A causal-comparative research design was used. An ANOVA was conducted and the achievement scores of the total sample size of sixty-five 6th and 7th grade students at a charter school located in the U.S. state of Maryland were analyzed. The 6th grade students scored higher than the 7th grade students in virtual learning. In both grade levels, achievement scores were higher for students who had taken the virtual course, illustrating the merits of virtual learning for middle school students. This study provides data that may influence organizational leaders' decision making regarding whether to use a blended learning model at the middle school. This study supports virtual learning and can contribute to positive social change by supporting the creation of more blended learning middle schools in Prince George's County