Week 1
Discussion
There are
many examples of businesses using IT for strategic purposes. I’d like each
of you to do some research, or draw from your own experience, and tell us
about a company that used some form of information technology for STRATEGIC
purposes. Please be sure to tell us what the strategy was that they were
working toward.
Post your
answer here as a response to this discussion. The company you select can be any business
organization, including the one where you currently work or have worked in the
past (if appropriate). I’m not asking you to reveal company/governmental
secrets. Just use broad terms to describe the business process/strategy that
was addressed and then give a brief description of the technology solution that
was used.
For this
week, every member of the class should do a main posting by Thursday midnight, and
respond to at least two other class members by Sunday midnight. You should
check back to see if I or anyone in the class have a question for you, or a
comment that you want to respond to. Please review the Grading Rubric for
Participation, as shown in the Syllabus under Project Descriptions Additional
Course Information.
Here’s an
example of the kind of thing I am looking for from you:
The
following article appeared on page B4 (Corporate News section) of the Wall
Street Journal on Tuesday, August 24, 2011. It described a new ticketing
service being implemented by a company that promotes concerts. As I read this,
it seemed to me that what was being described was a company that was adding
some technology related to one of their prime business strategies that would
allow them to capture business income associated with that strategy that was
previously unaccessible to them, at least not directly.
Week 2
Discussion
IT Trends
and Predictions for Priorities in the Future
A key
challenge to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and their staff is the
ever-changing landscape in the Information Technology world. CIOs must be
concerned not only with overseeing the current operation of the IT Department
and how it best supports the business strategy, but they must also be focused
on the years ahead. This is important, first to ensure that today’s technology
decisions will likely align and be compatible with future requirements, and
secondly, that the CIO is well versed in the trends so he or she can advise the
business of the potential of technology advancements and concerns. This will
help the organization, overall, to make good business decisions.
The
Gartner Group, is a leading consulting and advisory group. You will find their
web site has interesting information. Also the library has access to some
subscriber services that provide access to information and reports not
available to the general public (look under Gartner in the database listings).
Their website
http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/predicts/
provides
summaries of Gartner’s predictions of what the top areas are that will likely
significantly impact IT this year and beyond. The summaries cover many
different aspects of IT.
Each of
you should select one of these predictions and add why you think it is a
significant concern for CIOs and IT staff. What do you think IT needs to
consider based on this? Do a little more research and see if you can find
additional information. Some of these areas may be ones you’re not really
familiar with and that’s to be expected. But each of you should be able to select
one that “makes sense” to you and address it in your response. Please
take a look at what has been posted by your classmates before choosing your
topic, and then select something that has not yet been discussed, if possible.
We will have duplicates, but let’s try to spread the discussion across as many
of the predictions as possible.
Remember
– your initial posting is due by Thursday midnight; it should be about two
short paragraphs in length and it should be posted by clicking on
“Respond”. Then, you should reply to at least two different postings
by other classmates before Sunday midnight. Everyone has a responsibility to
check back and see if any questions have been posed to them, and to respond as
you would in a classroom setting.
Week 3
Discussion
Last
week, we covered Business Processes, including Process Improvement through
streamlining and reengineering, and process modeling of both the As-Is and the
To-Be processes.
Drawing
from your own experience, select a process (a set of specified steps to
accomplish a task) used at your place of work or in your interaction with a
business that you would like to see improved. Explain why you picked that
process. Explain how you would go about improving it. Who should be involved with
you? What are some of the questions you should ask about the current process?
How will you know if the process was actually improved?
I am
interested in the method to be used to improve the process, not a
solution. (For example, I am not looking for something like: “The Café
where I work is not selling enough coffee. We should use social media to
advertise more.” The discussion here is about how the Café would go about
deciding how to improve a process, who should be involved, what should be
considered, and what steps should be taken.) You should employ the techniques
discussed in class or those that you find in your research. Remember, outside
resources strengthen your responses.
Remember,
you should create a posting in response to the questions above by midnight
Thursday. These postings need to thoroughly respond to the questions. Then you
are to respond to at least two other students’ postings with comments,
questions and further discussion. If questions are posed, they should be
responded to by the original poster. Let’s have a great discussion and some
interesting examples to take a look at for improving business processes!
REQUIRED
Discussion for Week 4
ast week
we covered the seven primary characteristics of an IT infrastructure (the
“ilities”):
- Usability
- Maintainability
- Scalability
- Reliability/Availability
- Extensibility
- Portability
- Security
Please
select one of the seven characteristics above and respond with an example of
what this term means in terms of IT architecture and why it is so important to
a solid architecture to support information systems. These terms can be
applied to other aspects of IT and business in general, but the focus here is
on IT architecture. Some additional research will provide specific examples
including what companies have focused on in these areas. Simply typing “IT
Scalability” (or whatever characteristic you select) into your web browser
should provide good results, but be sure to evaluate the sources to make sure
they are relevant to this discussion. Remember to distinguish between objective
articles and vendor’s marketing information.
Initial
response posted as response to this main topic must be posted by midnight
Thursday and a minimum of two comments/responses to classmates’ postings is
required by Sunday midnight.) Be sure your posting addresses the discussion
questions. Let me know if you have questions. Failure to address discussion
topics appropriately will result in less than full participation credit. Be
sure to check back and see if other students or I replied to your posting and
posed additional questions or asked for additional information.
Note: In Stage 3 of your Case Study
(due next week), you’ll be identifying which of the “-ilities” above apply to
the solution you are proposing and how they apply, so you will need a good
understanding of these to do a good job with Stage 3.
Week 5Discussion
As the
Haircuts Case Study states, the owner has asked you to help her analyze
her business and apply a technology- related solution to improve the operation
of Haircuts. Before she expands her business, she wants to be comfortable
that she will actually have customers. Use what you have learned to answer the
following questions as they relate to Haircuts:
- List 3 or 4 questions about
the customers that Myra, as manager of the business, would want to have
answers to. Label each question as to whether it is strategic or
operational/tactical in nature. - What data would you gather
about the customers to be able to answer those questions? - What would be the top two
business benefits Myra could gain from this business intelligence? - What should she tell the
customers about why she is collecting data about them?
Remember,
your main response is due by Thursday and responses back to at least two
classmates are due by Sunday.
Week 6 Discussion
As
identified in the Haircuts Case Study, there are at least three areas
where Myra’s business could use improvement: Customer and Employee Scheduling,
Supply Management, and Customer Information and Marketing. Over time, each of
these will likely have an IT solution. However, you know that if you could
combine these into an enterprise system, you would be able to significantly
improve the operations of Haircuts. You begin your analysis by answering
the following questions:
- What opportunities are being
missed when each little area (scheduling, supply management, marketing,
and others) has its own “stove piped” data? (Provide some examples.) - What benefits will the
Haircuts business realize if you implement an enterprise-wide system?
Identify how Myra as the manager will benefit from having additional
information available. - What types of decisions that
she makes as the manager would be improved if she had all this information
in one place? - Would it make the most sense
to start with a CRM, an SCM or an ERP system for Haircuts and why.
Keep in mind that additional systems and functionality could come later.
Initial
responses are due by Thursday, and comments back to at least two classmates are
due by Sunday.
Week 7
Discussion
Referring
to the Haircuts Case Study, Myra, the owner, has asked you if outsourcing
some of the functions/processes would benefit her business. Identify which
function(s) you would recommend she outsource and explain why they would be
appropriate for outsourcing. List three competitive advantages Myra could get
by outsourcing and three challenges or risks in outsourcing, as well as what
she could do about them.
As
always, initial responses are due by Thursday and comments back to at least two
classmates are due by Sunday.
Please
address the following 3 questions:
- What do you think is the
most important project management consideration for the technology
solution that you proposed for Haircuts? - Explain briefly why you
selected it. - Discuss how you would ensure
that this aspect was well addressed to maximize your chance for success.
Your main
response is due by Thursday. Comments on classmates’ postings are encouraged,
but not required.
Many of
you have said that you have learned a lot during this class. I would like for
each of you to think back over the class and then share with us one new and
important concept that you learned during this class. It could be something
that peaked your interest, something you never heard of or did before,
something you struggled with, etc. Your response counts as part of this week’s
participation grade, and you are not required (but are invited) to respond to
your classmate’s postings.
