THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MIS 6302: Strategic Impact of Information Systems

AIM 6349: Information Technology Strategy and Control

Course Outline

Instructor: Dr. Indranil R. Bardhan

Office: SOM 4.431
Office Phone: 972-883-2736
Office Hours: Tuesday 3-4 pm, Thursday 1:30 – 2:30 pm, and Saturday 11:15 am –
11:45 am (after class).
E-mail: bardhan@utdallas.edu

Text: AIM 6349 / MIS6302 readings packet in bookstore (Mandatory), and

“Corporate Information Strategy and Management: Text and Cases” Custom text
(Primis) by Lynda Applegate, Robert Austin, and Warren McFarlan. McGraw-
Hill Irwin, 2003 (Optional)

Topic Outline: Major topics include:

• IT Assessment and Scenario Planning
• IT Architecture
• IT Investment Value Analysis
• IT Sourcing
• Balanced Scorecard
• Project Management
• SAP’s Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) software

This is an approved MBA elective course and a core course for the following M.S.
concentrations
ƒ E-business Information Technology concentration (MS in Information
Technology and Management)
ƒ Information Management concentration (MS in Accounting and Information
Management)
ƒ Management Consulting concentration (MS in Accounting and Information
Management)
ƒ Audit and Assurance Services concentration (MS in AIM)

It is also an approved elective course for the following M.S. concentrations

ƒ Information Technology Management & Consulting concentration (MS in
Information Technology and Management)
ƒ MBA concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Course Overview

There is much confusion and misunderstanding in the information technology (IT )

community. Many do not understand the purpose of the technologies that they deploy.
They do not understand why the IT industry is a $2.0 trillion-plus worldwide industry
growing at over 10% per year. Some think the purpose is to “reduce costs,” some think it
is to “help in making better and faster decisions,” and others think it is to simply improve
productivity. This understanding is very near-sighted and shallow.

The purpose of IT is to enhance competitiveness. It is to provide a robust resource for the

building, compounding and sustaining of competitive advantage for the enterprise. Cost
reduction, expedited decision making, and improved productivity, while important, are
but specific instances of this greater purpose. In the new millennium, the purpose of IT is
to provide the foundation of competitive advantage for the enterprise.
This course has been designed to explore the strategic management and control issues
associated with information technology. This course provides a framework to understand
how IT strategy aligns with business strategy and how to develop an enterprise-level
information technology strategy. In this course, you will learn how the core
competencies of IT strategy are applied in the e-business context and will enable you to
understand what are the key information requirements for developing an IT strategy, how
to develop an information systems architecture, conduct IT sourcing analysis, and value
and manage IT investments. The course will provide real-world case studies related to
the issues of IT strategy and control in different industries.

Upon completion of the course, you should be able to explain what IT strategy is and
how it addresses customer needs, recognize the conceptual components, tools, and
techniques associated with each of the IT strategy competencies, and apply these
competencies to specific real-world applications and research areas. You will also be
exposed to the Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) module within SAP and how it is
used to develop performance management and reporting templates including the balanced
scorecard and management cockpit. This is a very useful capability for business analysts,
accountants and IT managers for understanding the business value and impact of IT.

This course is intended for MBA as well as graduate (M.S.) students in Accounting, MIS,
Management Science, Operations Management, and Computer Science, who intend to
specialize in Information Technology Management. Typical career paths would include
(but not limited to) positions as Telecom analyst, IT manager, software manager, and IT
management consultant.

Course Format

Classes will include a mixture of lectures, case discussions, published articles, student
participation, and class presentation by students. The articles and text book will provide
the basis for lectures on various software management topics. The Harvard Business
cases will provide the framework for class discussion, and we will outline the key lessons
learned for each situation. Students will be evaluated based on a mid-term exam, take-
home final, group case analysis, and class participation.

Lecture notes will be provided electronically to students before class. It is your

responsibility to print and bring a copy to class. Lecture notes will not be provided to
students who are not registered in this course and should not be shared with other
students. On occasion, I will supplement the lecture notes with readings from other
sources such as McKinsey Quarterly and the business press.

Grading

Course grades will be based on the following components:

1. Class participation (15%): You are expected to prepare beforehand for each
class, participate actively in the discussion of cases and readings, and contribute
to the learning experience of the class. Attendance will be taken.

2. Group case analysis and presentation (30%): The class will be split into
groups. Each group will discuss the group case in class which I will hand out at
the beginning of the semester. Specific case assignments will be provided the
week before it is due. Case analysis and presentation is a group effort, and each
presentation should be approximately 20-30 minutes in duration.

3. Mid-term Exam (25%): There will be a take-home mid-term exam. Students

will be tested on the course material taught until that time.

4. Final Exam (30%): The final exam will be a take-home exam during finals week.
Students will be tested on the course material taught through lectures, readings
and case discussions.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. However, it is restricted to graduate

students only.
 CLASS SCHEDULE
Session Lecture Topics
I. Overview of IT • Why companies need an IT
Strategy strategy
• How does IT strategy enable
value creation
• Key IT strategy competencies
II & III. • Essential concepts
Scenario Planning • How does scenario planning
impact IT strategy?
• Business strategy options
• IT strategy options
• Real-world example
IV, V & VI. • Baseline IT analysis
IT Architecture • Gap analysis
• Technology selection
• Implementation IT
architecture
VII. IT Governance • Types of IT governance
structures
• Organization change
management processes
• Project management office
Mid-Term Exam • Take-home
VIII and IX. • Assessing costs and benefits
IT Valuation • Portfolio risk / return analysis
• Real Options Analysis
X. IT Sourcing • Factors affecting sourcing
decisions
• Application Service Providers
Readings: HBR Cases and
Articles, and Text
• "Strategy and the Internet"
HBR 2001 (Porter)
• "Note on Information
Technology and Strategy"
HBS 9-193-137 (Nolan)
• Chapter 1
• Group case discussion
• Chapter 2
• 2 Scenario planning articles
by Clemons and Schoemaker
(Sloan Management Review)
• Group case
• "Managing Information: The
IT Architecture" HBS 9-193-
059 (Seger & Stoddard)
• Group case discussion
• "Your Next IT Strategy" HBR
2001 (Hagel)
• Group case discussion
• Chapters 7 and 8
• “Capital Projects as Real
Options” HBR (Luehrman)
• “Strategy as a Portfolio of
Real Options” (Luehrman)
HBR 1998
• “Real Options: Valuing
Managerial Flexibility” HBR
9-294-109 (Edleson)
• “Investment Opportunities as
Real Options : Getting Started
on the Numbers” HBR July-
Aug 1998 (Luehrman)
OPTIONAL
• "Application Service
Providers" HBS (Eisenmann)
• “How to Manage an IT
 Outsourcing Alliance” Sloan
Management Review, Winter
1995 (McFarlan)
• Group case discussion

XI. IT Planning & • IT planning and project • “Having Trouble with your
Reporting management processes Strategy: Then Map It” HBR
• Balanced scorecard and Sep – Oct 2000 (Kaplan &
strategy maps Norton)
• Performance analysis and • Group case
reporting

XII. Organizational • IT spending and value • McKinsey Quarterly articles

Impact and Alignment of • IT alignment • Guest Speaker
IT • IT integration for M&A

XIII. Introduction to SAP • Balanced Scorecard and • Class handouts

- Strategic Enterprise Performance Reporting in • SAP demo sessions
SEM
Management Module
• Developing a management
cockpit using SEM

XIV. Final Exam