A word version of the full MBAC 423 syllabus.
A pdf version of the full MBAC 423 syllabus.
| Tues. Aug. 26 | Introduction | Chris Argyris, Teaching smart people how to learn Paul N. Edwards, How to read a book (optional) Pearlson & Saunders, Introduction (pp. 1-16) |
| Thurs. Aug. 28 | Systems Thinking | Joseph O'Connor & Ian McDermott, What is a system? J. Scott Armstrong, The systems approach Richard J. Boland, Fordley car park Slides related to the systems approach |
| • How could this meeting have been made more productive? • What are the systems that were discussed during the meeting? • What systems should be considered? • What would you recommend? |
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| Tues. Sept. 2 | The Information Systems Strategy Triangle | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 1 (pp. 19-34) Checkland & Howell, The information system which won the war A brief guide to preparing cases Slides of lessons learned from IS which won the war |
| • What characteristics of this system made it successful? • What about the way the systems were developed contributed? • When is the soft systems methodology most likely to be worth using? |
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| Thurs. Sept. 4 | Strategic Use of Information Resources | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 2 (pp. 38-56) Thomas H. Davenport, Information Strategy Wyndham International: Fostering High-Touch with High-Tech Slides related to information strategy |
| • What was the situation facing Wyndham in 2001? Why kinds of things were at stake for the chain and for the industry? • How central was technology to the strategy Wyndham chose to execute? • Is the strategy sustainable? Is it inimitable? What factors make it possible or impossible to imitate? |
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| Tues. Sept. 9 | Organizational Impacts of Information Systems Use | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 3 (pp. 59-78) Nicholas G. Carr, IT Doesn’t Matter Virtually there? (pp. 79-80) |
| Wens. Sept. 10 |
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster homework due
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| Thurs. Sept. 11 | Gathering and Presenting Information: the Challenger Case | Engineers at Morton Thiokol suspected that a relationship between ambient temperature and O-ring failure might jeopardize the safety of the scheduled launch. Here is the data they had on previous flights: Temperature/O-ring raw data
The engineers prepared and faxed 13 slides to NASA which were discussed in two long telephone conferences on the night before the launch. Here are their slides: Thiokol Presentation Slide three is missing from the above presentation. Here is slide 3. NASA attempted to learn from this tragedy as it has from others. Here is a link to their archive for the flight: NASA’s archive on 51-L |
| • What is wrong with the materials that Thiokol engineers faxed to NASA? • How could they be improved? • What could Morton Thiokol managers have done to convince NASA not to launch? • What lessons were learned from the Challenger disaster? • How did those lessons figure in the more recent Columbia disaster? |
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| Tues. Sept. 16 | Information Technology and the Design of Work | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 4 (pp. 81-102) Siemens AG: Global Development Strategy (A) |
| • What are the advantages and disadvantages of distributed development? • Where should NetManager development and product management take place? • What are the risks of this choice and how can they be minimized? |
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| Thurs. Sept. 18 | Information Technology and Changing Business Processes | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 5 (pp. 104-124) Nestle (pp. 124-126) |
| Each EAT will have ten minutes to make a presentation related to the status of its Technology Talk. The objective is to get feedback from others in the class about how the group’s work is progressing. | ||
| Thurs. Sept. 18 | Prelimary presentation of tech talks due | |
| Tues. Sept. 23 | Using Information Ethically | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 12 (pp. 306-322) Ethical Decision Making (pp. 322-324; critique one of the situations) |
| • Agree with your study group on one of the four situations • Using a critical thinking approach, take a position • Make the best argument you can against the position you have taken • Discuss the questions raised in the text |
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| Thurs. Sept. 25 | Architecture and Infrastructure | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 6 (pp. 127-150) Bush intercontinental airport in Houston (pp. 150-152) |
| Fri. Sept. 26 | Information Systems Principles for Weatherhead homework due | |
| Tues. Nov. 4 | Understanding the Enabling Technologies | Cisco Systems, Inc: Web Enablement |
| • Describe Cisco's IT architecture. What are its key components and defining characteristics? • What are its potential weaknesses and threats for future growth of the firm? • Identify important emerging technologies for Cisco and explain why they are important. |
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| Tues. Nov. 4 | Systems Success and Failure paper due | |
| Thurs. Nov. 6 | The Management Information Systems Organization | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 8 (pp. 183-212) Hostile IS outsourcing: The story of Manufact (pp. 213-214) |
| Tech Talks | 3G Wireless (672, 679) | |
| Mon. Nov. 10 | Outsourcing: The Kodak—IBM Experience | Plenary session (10:30 am—12:15 pm in the forum) |
| Frank Palm (from the IBM side) and Vaughn Hovey (from the Kodak side) will join us to describe and answer questions about the development and early history of that important business model. These two men were the senior managers responsible for the landmark outsourcing agreement that redefined that industry. | ||
| • Use the web to develop a basic understanding of the agreement and Kodak's requirements • Prepare at least one question for Mr. Palm and/or Mr. Hovey that will provide you with insight about things that IBM and Kodak learned from executing this model that might be applicable in other situations today. |
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| Mon. Nov. 10 | Disruptive Technologies homework due | |
| Tues. Nov. 11 | Making a Business Case for IT Investments | Consumer Products International Biogenetica San Jose ITSA Replacement |
| • What is the primary basis for the argument in each of the two cases? • What is the potential strategic impact of each system? • How essential are the investments? • How would you compare the quality of the two presentations? • How would you compare the quality of analysis in the two cases? |
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| Tech Talks | Nanotechnology and MEMs (668, 677, 684) | |
| Thurs. Nov. 13 | Doing Business on the Internet | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 7 (pp. 153-181) Amazon.com (pp. 181-182) |
| Tech Talks | Linux (678, 680) Voice over IP (670) |
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| Tues. Nov. 18 | Disruptive Technologies | Online Music Distribution in a Post-Napster World |
| • What about peer-to-peer makes it a potentially disruptive technology? • What are the pressures that account for revenue declines of the music industry? How can the relative importance of each be estimated? • What kinds of business models might effectively be employed in the current record industry situation? • How might these same technologies affect other industries? |
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| Tech Talks | OLEDs (673, 682) Ubiquitous Computing (667) |
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| Tues. Nov. 18 | Draft of Information System Assessment due (optional) | |
| Thurs. Nov. 20 | Funding IT | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 9 (pp. 215-237) Postgirot Bank and Provment AB: Managing the Cost of IT Operations |
| • Who is responsible for assuring technology success at Lennox? • Should Roland extend his use of the IM-System to include the NT servers? • How should the measurements provided by the IM-System be integrated into corporate-wide management processes? |
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| Tech Talks | Virtual Private Networks (669, 681) Payment Systems (674) |
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| Tues. Nov. 25 | Project Management | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 10 (pp. 239-271) Metalica (prepare ONLY Scene One) The Metalica case is available from the publisher. |
| • How well prepared was Metalica to undertake the implementation of SAP at the outset of the case? • What was different about San Diego? How would you assess a successful implementation? • What are the risks involved in implementing integrated corporate systems and has Metallica guarded against them effectively? |
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| Tech Talks | eBooks (671, 675) | |
| Wens. Nov. 26 | CIO Executive Dialogues homework due | |
| Tues. Dec. 2 | Enterprise Resource Planning Systems | Metalica (prepare ONLY Scene Four) |
| Tech Talks | Biometrics (683) 3G Wireless (676) |
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| Thurs. Dec. 4 | Customer Relationship Management | Quest Foods Asia Pacific and the CRM Initiative |
| • How would you rate McNeil as a manager based on the progress he has made on CRM? • Which of the three options would you recommend? • What overall advice would you offer McNeil? |
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| Fri. Dec. 5 | Knowledge Management | Pearlson & Saunders, Chapter 11 (pp. 274-303) Prepare cases: McKinsey and Company (pp. 303-305) Knowledge Management at Andersen Consulting |
| • What is the role of information technology in Andersen's knowledge management strategy? • What behavioral and organizational changes would Andersen need to have effective knowledge management? • What are other challenges in knowledge management facing Andersen? |
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| Fri. Dec. 5 | Does IT Matter? homework due | |
| Information System Assessment due | ||