In the most recent assignment, you were asked to develop information systems principles that would contribute to achieving the goals set out in Weathehead’s strategic plan.
The following principles are a result of distilling ideas from the assignment. In some cases, a principle as stated below was provided by one of you. More often, it is the result of combining thoughts from several of you or from critiquing the way a principle was originally proposed. For some of the principles I proposed a meaningful opposite. Some may not meet the tests of principles, but will serve as a starting point.
These will serve as the basis for a discussion in class. Thanks for your input. I think we have some interesting material to work with. I have organized the principles into categories that, while somewhat arbitrary, may help to focus our discussion.
Support for career and placement activities
Career-related information should be made available in forms that deliver it rapidly and securely to our students and qualified alumni.
Opposite: Students should come to the office to access the information in the form that it arrives in. [Ryan Wilson, section 1]
Use information systems as a vehicle for interaction between students and companies. [Tetsuya Yoshioka, section 2]
Job-opening announcements should be integrated with our alumni database, industry information, and company-based projects to provide students with a comprehensive view of employment opportunities.
Opposite: Job-opening announcements should be made available to students in the simplest form possible. [Paul Loranger, section 1, Rafael Melo, section 3]
Support for differentiation
Information systems will be used to provide internal stakeholders with access to feedback from all of the school’s stakeholders. [Keith Kazmer, section 1]
Technologies that aid students in developing and applying transformational ideas should be given priority over (what?—those that reinforce conventional approaches to business and education?) [Cara Tenenbaum, section 2]
The information systems staff will support innovative courses and research efforts.
Opposite: A generic approach to supporting classes and research will reduce personnel costs. [Matt Mylet, section 3]
Because Weatherhead has different values and goals than other MBA programs, its database will be designed to accommodate its distinctive needs. [Glen Guyuron, section 3]
Support for community
Information systems will serve as a means to connect people (including physically) at Weatherhead.
Opposite: Information systems will be used to automate functions or to make connections less important than they were. [Masahiko Yoshida, section 2]
To foster connected communities, our information systems will rely upon a centralized server that will connect all of the parts and replace the many applications in current use. [Sarah Busch, section 2; Tetsuya Yoshioka, section 2]
To enhance life long learning, we will insure that our faculty staff, students and alumni can connect with one another any time from anywhere. [Ioannis Sotiriou, section 2]
Alumni shall have direct access to Weatherhead proprietary career resources and shall remain informed of significant school announcement/s events and current students and faculty shall have limited access to alumni contact information. [Hermione Malone, section 2]
In order to engage our external stakeholders, the boundaries between internal and external systems will be as seamless as possible. [Jinzi Liang, section 3]
To enhance and foster creative dialogue among students and faculty, we will use innovative technologies that support new modes of expression. [Raland Hatchett, section 3]
Supporting and shaping the stakeholders for this institution by providing a non-traditional culture base. [Adena Tutino, section 3]
Alumni databases serve to encourage and maintain strong, life-long ties to the Weatherhead community and to facilitate networking opportunities for alumni and current students. [Colleen Griffith, section 3]
Support for openness and partnerships
Stakeholders should be represented in the design and development of our information systems. [Brian Linz, section 1]
Information regarding career services, job placement, and faculty research will be shared openly between WSOM and students and alumni for life. [Patti Schaar, section 1]
We will educate all stakeholders to identify, communicate, and utilize opportunities for sharing information.
Opposite: Our information strategy will be largely internally focused. [Hitesh Chaudhari, section 1]
Systems will be designed to take advantage of alumni as a source of new ideas and to engage them in life-long learning. [Gonzalo Sole, section 1]
Our information systems should enable the free flow of information to the stakeholders, especially students, faculty and staff. [Vishal Khetriwal, section 1]
In order to allow alumni, employers, and students to be more involved in decisions about its programs, we should extend the reach of our information systems to encompass those groups and facilitate communication among them. [Ramesh Srinivasan, section 1]
Students of other schools and others around us will be allowed to make use of our information systems with certain limits to prevent undue financial burden. [Ruoh-Chung Chou, section 1]
We look to make the connection between the almni and students easy and free-flowing. [Bobby Riether, section 2]
Because we value collaboration of ideas, efforts and work, we require an organization that is open to its students, faculty, alumni and partners. [Michael Diem, section 2]
All application information and most information required to complete requirements will be available on an anywhere and anytime basis.
Opposite: Application information will be available on request. [Nilesh Kulkarni, section 3]
When developing external information (such as websites), we will take all potential users, including students, professors, staff, alumni, prospective students, employers and donors, into consideration.
Opposite: Systems will be developed based on the expressed needs of the most immediate and obvious users.
Motivation: Visitors should not feel like outsiders. [Matt Mylet, section 3]
We will favor openness and accessibility both to our systems and to the information our faculty and student researchers produce. [Sharon Huang, section 3]
Each user will have unlimited access to the information provided so long as that does not conflict with the privacy or security of others. [Garick Shmois, section 3]
Our information network should allow students and faculty to create partnerships with alumni, local companies, and other universities. [Paul Yu, section 3]
In order to involve alumni, software applications will be chosen and implemented with alumni in mind first. [Shay Hope, section 3]
We will share and provide access to available resources to assist in the economic development of our community. [John Guthrie, section 3]
Our information systems will provide for advanced communications with our alumni, helping student and faculty to acquire and provide updated information from and to the business world. [Yordan Zlatev, section 3]
Information about alumni will be used to integrate them into the life of the school. [Rafael Melo, section 3]
Improve relations and communication with employers and alumni in order to facilitate a cutting edge curriculum. [Khalid Arafah, section 3]
As we recognize the value of our alumni, we will facilitate their access to the resources of the school. [Rolando Alcala, section 3]
Support for information sharing and privacy
Internal information sharing [to meet our research goals] will not be structured or monitored, so that the process is allowed to evolve naturally.
Opposite: We will develop a coherent database for internal sharing of our research-related activities. [Emily Davis, section 3]
Research productivity and overall impact will be enhanced through targeted databases. [Meg Costin, section 3]
Information that enhances and expands learning processes will be accessible for all parties with involvement or interest in the school [Glen Guyuron, section 3]
Each faculty member is solely responsible for the data he/she provides via the system, and for making sure that data reaches the system in the manner he/she intended. [Glen Guyuron, section 3]
Support for teaching and learning
In order to improve the ease and quality of research and learning, we will make available and encourage increased use of cutting-edge, innovative computer and networking technology. [Avinash Chandiramani, section 1]
To provide the faculty, students and collaborative partners with the most advanced technology in support of teaching, research, and collaboration. [Meredith Engelke, section 1]
Our information systems must be adaptable to change and current market trends. [Stephanie Phillibert, section 1]
We will make information available to students when they have time to make us of it and will keep communication open between faculty, staff and the student body at all times.
[Stephanie Phillibert, section 1]
Information technology and the proper resources will be available at all times to students, faculty, and alumni for the promotion and reflection of ideas. The ability to expand and refine ideas is accessible at one’s fingertips. [Mark Abruzzo, section 1]
The use of information technology and its resources will provide benefit through expanded learning tools outside of the school, region, or country. [Mark Abruzzo, section 1]
Use technology to promote individual thought and discussion. [Mark Pennington, section 1]
Each student will be responsible for creating a unique, hands on learning experience for him/her self in conjunction with members of the faculty and staff; various resources—the latest technologies, libraries, alumni, and corporate entities—will be available. [Scott Nearman, section 3]
Every professor and student can establish there own web pages and databases, which will be linked in logical ways and made available to anyone. [Pwijun Gao, section 3]
Virtual classrooms will be used to supplement and extend the experience of the physical classroom.
Opposite: Virtual classrooms will be used as the primary means of interaction between students and faculty. [Nilesh Kulkarni, section 3]
The school will provide the best technology available to maximize learning, teaching, research and outreach. [Garik Shmois, section 3]
To encourage the development of our research-based teaching facility, we will remain at the forefront of informational technology, thereby exposing our students and faculty to the latest innovations and databases. [Paul Yu, section 3]
Provide that information that is needed to support maximum interaction for the school community and the business sector at large. [Imran Hussain, section 3]
A myriad of learning styles are supported using the technology applications offered throughout the Weatherhead MBA experience. [Colleen Griffith, section 3]
To attract highly talented and motivated students as well as world-class faculty, we will provide them with the latest information and communication technology in support of our educational program. [Rolando Alcala, section 3]
Support for research
Systems will facilitate sharing research information freely but securely among faculty. [Michelle Han, section 1]
Information systems should engage alumni in ways that make them partners in shaping management research.
Opposite: Alumni databases will be oriented toward fund-raising or toward placement. [Michael Belsito, section 2]
Information generated or maintained by the school especially in the field of research will be available to the public through the use of innovative technologies. [Voltaire Trinidad, section 2]
Research, in all stages of production, should be shared with both the internal and external communities.
Opposite: Research should be shared only once it has been peer-reviewed. [Maria Ostuni-Felch, section 1; Rafael Melo, section 3]
In our key and distinctive research areas, we will initiate information sharing with other top business education institutions.
Opposite: We will rely upon conventional outlets to publish our research results. [Emily Davis, section 3]
Scholastic management information should facilitate the faculty in it pursuit of fostering an environment suitable to the achievement of academic excellence. With an eye toward realizing this goal, each employee will be expected to actively participate in the decision making process. [Scott Nearman, section 3]
In order to aid collaboration while defending competitive advantage, research data will be made available to all current Weatherhead faculty, students and staff and will be kept inaccessible to any outside parties. [Sam Brown, section 3]
Support for quality and controls
In order to ensure competitive service delivery, we will always compare our systems to those of peer institutions. [Ioannis Sotiriou, section 2]
Mindful that each technology has its own life cycle, we will invest in new technologies only when deficiencies of our current technologies and benefits of the new ones are obvious to us. [Saanya Gill, section 2]
To avoid redundancy and to exploit its value as an asset to the school, information will be kept secure and made available only to authorized users. [Faiza Chogle, section 2]
Each member of the community will critically assess the relevance/importance of the information they wish to disseminate as well as the medium in which it is distributed. [Rick Gambs, section 2]
All information systems will be set up in a flexible manner while always considering future possibilities. [Vincent Amato, section 3]
Because we want to be responsive to student needs, employees are encouraged to solve IT problems that prohibit responsiveness. [Glen Guyuron, section 3]
World-class faculty utilizing world-class technology will attract world-class MBA students who go to work for world-class employers upon graduation. [Colleen Griffith, section 3]
A suite of current, commonly used business applications will be serviced by ITG staff. Users may also have any additional applications they wish and will be responsible for those. [Sam Brown, section 3]
ITG employees will maintain knowledge of the latest information technologies, and will act as zealous advocates for the continual modernization of the information system. They will also achieve familiarity with every component of the system, maintaining their ability to provide fast and effective service. [Sam Brown, section 3]
Miscellaneous
Provide the latest IT equipment and most abundant research resources and give the maximum freedom to utilize them. [Eric Yu, section 2]
The IT infrastructure should encourage individual to share and create information such that it is never stagnant. [Karen Hodys, section 2]
Be unconventional. [Ankur Deora, section 3]
Information technology is the preferred method for disseminating information needed by the students, faculty, staff, and/or alumni. [Liz Leeson, section 3]