GRA8254 Management of IT, Fall 2008

[What's new] [Course overview] [Administrivia][Detailed seminar plan: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9]
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This is the home page for the MBA course GRA8254 Management of IT. The page is the primary communications vehicle for the course, containing all information necessary to participate, with the exception of literature which is either provided on paper or in Blackboard. Comments to Espen via email.

What's New?


Course overview

Thanks to the relentless increase in computer performance (often referred to as Moore's Law,) information technology is increasingly pervasive in all aspects of business or public administration: IT has a significant portion of all investments (frequently, information system investements are second only to housing); many of the most difficult decisions (strategic or administrative) to be taken by managers involve information technology, both as medium and content; and many actions (both external and external to the organization) are carried out in information technology, sometimes (for companies in hypercompetitive industries) directly, to steal a march on the competition. The Internet floodwave signals the beginning of an era where most markets will be electronic, and, consequently, competition international.

The intent of this course is to give the student an understanding of the role of information technology in organizations, the impact of the rapid technology evolution for business environments, and the challenge of managing the technology (and the organizational units charged with its introduction and support). The discussions will be within three main areas:


Administrivia

Use of computers
Extensive use of computers and the Internet is an integral activity of the course: Handouts, messages, discussions, most of the literature and some of the hand-ins will be done electronically. All communication between professor and students outside the classroom will at least initially be electronically.

Students are presumed to have a working knowledge of personal information technology, as well as a reasonable understanding of the different types of information technology (mainframe computers, personal computers, data networks etc.) and applications (transaction systems, data bases, decision support systems, electronic mail and groupware) in a modern organization, such as would be expected from someone who has worked in an organization using these tools for some years.  If you as a student feel you lack this knowledge, please take a look at the literature below - some of the books are quite good beginners' guides to the technology and the vocabulary.

Literature
 The main book of the course is Pearlson, K. E. and C. S. Saunders (2006). Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach, Wiley. (hereafter referred to as P&S). This book manages to be both brief, strategically oriented, technically adept, yet written so that it does not go stale as fast as most other IT books. Quite the thing to keep on the bookshelf when the MBA program is over and you encounter real IT managment problems.

If you need to look up technical words and concepts, I recommend the Wikipedia, which is excellent on technical topics - but since it is a community-written encyclopædia, caveat emptor applies. For those interested in the economic laws underlying the current Internet revolution, try Shapiro & Varian's Information Rules.  This book will be compulsory in a later elective course on electronic strategic business development. For the technologically challenged, books and texts are almost too numerous to mention.  No real recommendations here.

For any other book, well - try my favorite books page or book posts on my blog.

Class preparation
Each class will have at least one case, as well as some reading (articles and/or book chapters) associated with it. All material (except HBS cases) will be found in Blackboard unless a) it is handed out in class (normally, cases and some articles), or b) it is a recommended book, or c) the article is available on the web, in which case a link is provided from the course page. You are expected to prepare for each class by reading the assigned material, using the study questions to guide you if you wish.  For some classes, you are expected to answer one specific question, and delivering the assignment in Blackboard before 20:00 (8pm) the day before class. The answer to the assignment question should be short (no more than 200 words), I am looking for keywords, not filler. The assigned material, as well as the answers sent in by the students, will then be discussed in class.

Classroom discussion
This course is taught by the case method - so classroom discussion is the main interaction between teacher and students. It is crucial both for the students' understanding and the quality of the discussion that the students are intimately familiar with the contents of the case before the lecture begins. Although individual time required to analyze cases varies significantly, experience suggests that students should plan to spend at the very least two hours (more, if lacking in English language skills, business or computer experience) on reading and analyzing each case (exclusive of articles and other course reading), and prepare extensive notes of their analysis to guide them in their discussion. The cases will be accompanied by study questions, which provide guidance in analyzing the case. The articles or book chapters may also help in analysing a case, as well as discussions with your peers.

Grading
will be based on the following criteria: A tip about case preparation: Normally, it is not very useful to try to find extra information about the company (more than what is in the case).  It can, however, sometimes help to look for overall information about the industry and/or the technology - but don't overdo it!

Each paper is due before class on the day the case is to be taught (submitted in Blackboard and on paper to the teacher). A grade will be given within three days. Groups that are not satisfied with the grade of the first assignment have the option to write another (from the list) and pick the best one.


Detailed seminar plan

The class is divided into 18 modules, half of them double modules. The right to make changes at any time is most explicitly reserved.... Material is in Blackboard unless otherwise noted.
Class 0: Case teaching and preparation (September 4, 1400-1600)
What is this case stuff, anyway?  How can I survive and get the most out of a case-based course? Since case teaching is rather unfamiliar to many students, we will take an hour to discuss what case teaching means and how to prepare for it.
Preparatory reading:
Class 1: The evolution and role of IT in business
September 10, 9-1030
Introduction, course overview, work processes, administrivia, course objectives. What difference does IT make?

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested): In your spare time: Study questions:
  1. What are Malone & Rockart's key arguments? To what extent were they right? Wrong?
  2. What role does information technology play at Mrs. Fields?
  3. What roles and responsibilities do the managers (i.e., Debbie Fields, the controllers, the line managers, and the store managers) have?
  4. Would you like to be a store manager for Mrs. Fields? Why? Why not?
  5. What was computing technology like when Leavitt & Whisler wrote their article? What technological and organizational developments did they foresee and which did they miss?
  6. Which parts of Microsoft's strategy worked - and which didn't?
Assignment (to delivered in Blackboard):
Write 10 lines on my previous experience of using or managing IT in organizations and 10 lines on what I expect to get out of this course.


Class 2: The competitive impact of the Internet
September 10, 1030-1200
How should a traditional company meet the challenge of the Internet? The news and media industry is facing challenges from Internet-enabled companies, but has so far been successful in managing the transition. What is the reason for their success - and will they be able to keep it up?

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested): In your spare time: Study questions:
  1. What is the ownership structure of Schibsted – and what are the implications of it for their strategic outlook?
  2. Visit the web sites sesam.no/nyheter and google.no (and click on “Nyheter” in the top right area of the screen.) What are the implications for Schibsted of these types of services?
  3. How does Google’s business model differ from Schibsted’s? (note for exhibit 29: Google owns youtube.com and blogger.com. Microsoft owns msn.com, live.com and msn.no. Yahoo owns yahoo.com and flickr.com. Schibsted, in addition to the sites marked, owns nettby.no)
  4. Should Aamodt allow Sesam to crawl (collect information) from Finn.no?
  5. Is the free-sheet business a sustainable market? Why hasn’t it been successful in Norway?
  6. What implications do the last statement – about the cathedral or stock market approach – have for Schibsted’s future?

Class 3: IT in Value Chains
September 17, 0900-1030
Understanding the role of IT in value chain companies -- value chain integration, parameterization, customer interface.

Dell Computer CorporationRead and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested): Study questions:
  1. Dell's Direct model is widely admired, and many companies have wanted to emulate it. What competitive advantages does the business model give compared to traditional retail distribution models?
  2. Why isn't Dell's business model more widely used outside the personal computer business?
  3. What technology is typically used at each of Venkatraman's five stages? How has companies' ability to progress up these stages changed with the technology?
  4. According to Porter & Millar, what can IT do for the competitive power of a value chain?
  5. Porter and Millar's article is 18 years old--what parts are it still applicable, what doesn't work anymore?

Class 4: Value chain transformation: The case of Glamox
September 17, 1030-1200
In this class we will study the transformation, using IT, of a traditional value chain company, the Norwegian industrial light producer Glamox.

Read and be prepared to discuss:
Study questions
  1. What were the processes of ordering from Glamox before the redesign of the value chain? How did they change, and what effect did the changes have on the role of the salesperson?
  2. What is a SPOC?  What are the responsibilities of the SPOC?  What technologies
    and information is required to run a SPOC?
  3. What are the differences between the “standard” way of producing lamp fixtures,
    and the new, componentized process in terms of
    1.  lot size (how many units it is economically feasible to produce
    2.  reset time (how long time it takes from switching from one product to another)
    3.  design (where is design and product innovation applied)
    4.  management (what are the salient management parameters to consider)
    5.  long-term market position?
  4. In terms of Venkatraman’s article, which stage is the company at? Are all the parts of the company at the same stage? Which parts are leading and which are lagging,and why?
  5. At the end of the case, what should Christian Thommessen do?

Class 5: Building a consulting company on open source, September 23rd, 0900-1030
Trond HeierGuest lecturer Trond Heier, CEO, Linpro AS
Linpro is a consulting and development company based on the Linux operating system and open source code. The company currently has more than 100 employees and has been involved in a number of interesting developments, effectively establishing open source as a viable software alternative for many companies in Norway. Trond Heier has extensive experience from developing growth companies, having been CEO of Intermedia Invest A/S and VP of international markets for Software Innovation ASA. He has a M.Sc. in Engineering from NTH and an MBA fra Insead.

Trond will discuss two issues: How to manage and grow a small, technical consulting company, and how to market open source technology, particularly to larger clients.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Class 6: IT in Value Shops, September 23, 1030-1200

Value Shops - companies that solve problems on behalf of customers - exhibit their own peculiarities in value processes and IT systems - and require their own kind of IT management.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading: In your spare time:

Study questions:

  1. What purposes does information technology serve in a Value Shop organization?
  2. What are the differences between McKinsey and Andersen Consulting in their use of information technology? Why?
  3. How do information systems in a Value Chain differ from those in a Value Shop?
  4. What obstacles do you think you will face when implementing knowledge system in a stockbroking company?  A hospital?  A law firm?

Class 7/8: IT in Value Networks
October 1, 0900-1200
Value networks - companies that mediate interaction between customers - tend to have interesting IT use. We will review some well known cases of strategic use of information technology in value networks, specifically the case of American Airlines, famous for its SABRE system, and the case of Pacific Pride -- a less known, but not less interesting example of IT in networks.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested): In your spare time: Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard):
What benefits has American Airlines derived from its SABRE computerized reservations system from the 1950's to the 1990's?

Study questions:

  1. What are the economic characteristics of an airline?
  2. What are the similarities, in terms of the competitive dynamics and IT use, between the telecommunications industry, airlines, and banks?
  3. (this one is tricky) How valuable are Pacific Pride's information systems?
  4. Who was John von Neumann?  What is the "von Neumann principle"?

Class 9: Managing IT as a service (lecture)
October 8, 0900-1030
This class will be a lecture introducing the concept of IT management as running a business within the business, necessitating the development of a service-centric IT organization with roles and interfaces defined and designed according to the IT demand and supply maturity of the organization. The following report is background reading:

Class 10/11: Managing IT Economics, Oct 13, 1300-1600

The economics of investing in and using information technology: One of the hardest problems of managing IT is deciding on how much to spend on IT and understanding what the economic effect of the investment is.  We will look at this topic both from the viewpoint of a single company and by examining data from many companies.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading for the specially interested: Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard, individually. NOTE: Deliver this not in the digital dropbox, but in the assignment under the Assignments heading.):
Imagine you are a CEO worrying about whether you are spending too much or not enough on information technology. How would the InformationWEEK 500 study help you? For help with the analysis, here's an Excel worksheet with the numbers. Use Shift-click to download the file to your own computer, then analyze it there using Excel or another spreadsheet. (Note: Max. two pages, including everything. The shorter the better... Note also that since the article is from 1995, the technological discussions are rather dated - read them less as gospel and more as genre.)

Study questions:

  1. Why did white-collar productivity not increase as much as blue-collar productivity in the period 1985-95?
  2. What are Hitt & Brynjolfsson's three measures of information technology profitability -- and their conclusions about them?
  3. How do you justify spending money on upgrading desktop computers and increasing  Internet bandwidth?
  4. What is your assessment of the new process for managing IT priorities at VWoA?
  5. How should Uwe Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system?
  6. What should he do about the unfunded Supply Flow project?
  7. Who was Doug Engelbart?  What is "bootstrapping"?

Class 12/13: Managing IT-business boundaries -- outsourcing and IT leadership, Oct 16, 0900-1200

The functional management of IT is tricky, involving both operational excellence, managing technology employees, managing customer expectations and dealing with a multitude of vendors and consultants. As with most management issues, we learn the most when we study things that don't work well....

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading for the specially interested: Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard - individually, and in Safeassignment, before 20:00 October 15.):
Who is responsible for the Manufact situation? Should John Smith take the offer from Jim Lawler? If he takes the offer, what conditions should he set? (Maximum 400 words).

Study questions (more to come):

  1. Why has outsourcing become so popular?
  2. What is XML? Why is it considered such an important technology by Hagel and Brown?
  3. Who was Stephen Wozniak -- and what was it that was "insanely great?"

Class 14: Managing IT development and delivery, Monday Oct. 20, 1030-1200

How should development projects be managed? We will discuss a systems development project (CONFIRM) that failed. 

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the specially interested):
Study questions:
  Class 15/16: Understanding technology in your life and society, Oct. 23rd, 0900-1200

Enterprise search technology: Davor Sutija, FAST

Society, ethics and the individual in a digital world.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested).  Yes, I know I went off the deep end here, but you need something to occupy you when this course is over.:

Study questions:

  1. What is a disruptive technology? Why do existing, dominant companies often fail to respond to it?
  2. When was the (computer) mouse invented, and by whom?
  3. How about the graphical user interface (GUI) with windows (sometimes called WIMP interface)? The laser printer?
  4. How does thinking about privacy differ between Europe and the United States?
  5. Within our lifetimes, computers that are smarter than people will not only be possible, but common.  Agree or diagree?  Why?
  6. Check out www.archive.org. What does the site do? Is this necessary?
  7. What is the Turing test? Do you think we can create a machine that can pass it?  Would that be a thinking machine? 
  8. Who is Bill Joy? What is Java?

Class 17/18: Final lecture, October 30 9-12, the groups present their case solution to the final case.

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