GRA8254 Management of IT, Fall 2005

[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 "self" followed by the at sign, followed by espen.com

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
There are no compulsory books in this course - the literature will be cases and articles, available in Blackboard, directly from the Internet or handed out before class.  The books below are recommended only and may be read by students for updating areas the student feels weak in, or as reference books:

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 each class, 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 fine 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 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 16 1345-1445)
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 22, 0900-1200
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: IT in Value Chains, September 29, 0900-1200
Understanding the role of IT in value chain companies -- value chain integration, parameterization, customer interface.

Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the especially interested): Study questions:
  1. What is the role of information technology at Dell Computer?  What competitive advantages does the Dell Direct model give compared to traditional retail distribution models?
  2. 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?
  3. According to Porter & Millar, what can IT do for the competitive power of a value chain?
  4. Porter and Millar's article is 18 years old--what parts are it still applicable, what doesn't work anymore?
Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard):
The Catatech case: Is the Internet a threat to Catatech? Why? What should Marisa do about it? Write a short memo to Marisa answering these questions (400 words max).
Class 3: IT in Value Networks, October 3, 1300-1600
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 4: IT in Value Shops, October 6, 0900-1200

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: Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard):
What are Andersen Consulting's main issues in implementing knowledge management systems?

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?
  5. Who was Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper? How long is a nanosecond?
Class 5: Managing IT Economics, October 10, 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):
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.

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 Internet bandwidth?
  4. Who was Doug Engelbart?  What is "bootstrapping"?
Class 6: Managing IT development and delivery, October 13, 0900-1200

How should the Information Systems Resource be governed and organized? How should development projects be managed? We will discuss IT governance based on a presentation from the Concours Group, and discuss a systems development project (CONFIRM) that failed. Read and be prepared to discuss:

Further reading (for the specially interested): Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard):
Why did the CONFIRM project fail? (Consider technical, organizational and strategic reasons.)

Study questions:

Class 7: Managing IT-business boundaries -- outsourcing and IT leadership, October 17, 1300-1600

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):
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?

Study questions:

  1. What are the main differences between McFarlan & Nolan's view of what outsourcing is and Lacity & Hirschheim's? Why are their views different, and how do the differences influence their conclusions?
  2. Why has outsourcing become so popular?
  3. What is "human-centered information management", and what organizational mechanisms can we use to get it?
  4. What is XML? Why is it considered such an important technology by Hagel and Brown?
  5. Who was Stephen Wozniak -- and what was it that was "insanely great?"
Class 8: Understanding technology in your life and society, October 20, 0900-1200

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.: Assignment (to be delivered in Blackboard):
What is RFID?  Why did Gillette and Walmart decide to start experimenting with the technology?  Why did they stop?

Study questions:

  1. What is a disruptive technology?  Why do existing, dominant companies often fail to respond to it?
  2. When was the 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 9: Final class, October 23, 1300-1600

Each group prepares a paper and hands it in at beginning of class (see assignment described above). Each group will also bring a three-slide presentation to class, summarizing the group's answer to the questions in the paper. The presentation is to be prepared as if you were a consulting team charged with supporting the case protagonist.

Read and be prepared to discuss (will change):

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Last updated: October 19, 2005.

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