THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MIS 6302: Information Technology Strategy & Management

SPRING 2010
Classroom: 2.103

Course Outline

Instructor: Professor Sumit Majumdar, Office: SOM 3.433, Office Phone: 972-883-4786,
Office Hours: By appointment, E-mail: majumdar@utdallas.edu

Text: Readings are on the e-learning website. Students have the option of downloading
electronic copies of readings articles through the UTD Electronic Journal Database.

Topic Outline: Major topics include:

 Why an IT Strategy?
 The IT Foundations of Strategic Advantage
 IT Architecture
 IT Benefits
 General Purpose Technology
 New Models of IT Strategy
 Web 3.0
 IT and the New World of Mobility

This is an approved core course for the following M.S. concentrations

 E-business concentration (MS in Information Technology and Management)
 Information Management concentration (MS in Accounting and Information
Management)

It is also an approved elective course for an MBA and for the following concentrations
 Information Technology Management & Consulting concentration (MS in
Information Technology and Management)
 MBA concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
 Audit and Assurance Services concentration (MS in AIM)

Student learning Objectives/Outcomes

In this course, the intent is to provide students with the basic background and
skills that will allow them to assess and develop strategies for managing IT
organizations, including but not limited to the assessment of existing IT strategies
and engage in strategic planning sessions. The key learning objectives include
developing an understanding of:

(a) Using strategy analysis and planning techniques to visualize IT and business options.
(b) Design and development of enterprise IT architecture.

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 (c) Assessment and usage of strategic planning frameworks strategies to develop
effective business models.
(d) Assessment and development of Web 3.0 applications and opportunities.
(e) Assessment and development of Mobile Web applications and opportunities.

Course Overview

There is much 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 misplaced.

IT enhances competitiveness and provides a robust resource for the building, compounding
and sustaining the competitive advantage of an 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.

Also, information and knowledge based businesses are emerging almost at the speed of light.
Continuous new technological innovations have brought forth new industries, segments, niches and
spaces where none existed before just a few years ago. What was true in 2001 is no longer true in
2010, and firms which were dominant in their global segments in 2003 are now dead. The
emergence of Web 2.0 has been astounding, yet Web 3.0 is on the horizon. Mobile phones were not
so long ago an expensive toy. Now they are ubiquitous and very soon will be as necessary as the air
we breathe.

This course has been designed to explore the strategic management and business
development issues associated with information technology. This course provides a framework to
understand how IT strategy aligns with business strategy, how to develop an enterprise-level
information technology strategy and how to generate workable and effective business models in the
new age of IT.

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 and how to develop an information architecture. Based on such ideas and
the use of information architecture, you will conduct analysis of how to develop business models
and plans in two of the current hottest areas in IT, the Web 3.0 space and the Mobile Web space.
The course will also provide real-world case studies related to the issues of IT strategy 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 in creating sustainable strategies.

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

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Information Technology Management. Typical career paths would include positions as business
strategy analyst, IT manager, software manager, business auditor and IT management strategy
consultant.

Course Format

Classes will include a mixture of lectures, case discussions, published articles, student
participation, and class presentation of cases and strategic plans for IT-based businesses by students.
The articles will provide the basis for lectures on various topics related to IT strategy development
and execution.

The 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 case write-ups, class participation and
the development of two strategic business plans for new Web 3.0 and Mobile Web business
opportunities.

Class materials will be provided electronically. It is your responsibility to print and bring a
copy to class.

Occasionally, I will invite guest speakers to lecture on specific topics related to emerging
topics related to IT Strategy and discuss specific applications within their organizations.

Grading

Course grades will be based on the following components:

1. Class participation (20%): You are expected to prepare beforehand for each class,
participate actively in the discussion of cases and readings, and contribute to the learning
experience in 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 case in class which will be assigned during the semester. Specific case
assignments will be provided in advance. Case analysis and presentation is a group effort,
and each presentation should be approximately 30 minutes in duration. The cases are to be
no more than 4 pages in length, and handed in the next class.

3. Report or Strategic Business Plan on a Semantic Web Business Application (25%):

Students will develop a strategic business plan for a Semantic Web business application. This
will be developed in groups and there will be two presentations, one preliminary and one
final, on assigned dates. This will be no more than 15 pages in length.

4. Report or Strategic Business Plan on a Mobile Web Business Application (25%):

Students will develop a strategic business plan for a Mobile Web business application. This
will be developed in groups and there will be two presentations, one preliminary and one
final, on assigned dates. This will be no more than 15 pages in length.

5. Templates for creating strategic business plan are given in the readings. Also see the site:
http://www.strategicplantool.com/

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Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. It is restricted to graduate students only.

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 CLASS SCHEDULE

Class Session
Topic Readings and Cases
Number and Date
 The Next Frontier in IT Strategy: A McKinsey
January 13, Survey
1 Introduction
2010  Mastering the 3 Worlds of Information Technology,
by A. McAfee
 Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive
January 20, Why an IT
2 Difference, by A. McAfee and E. Brynjolffson;
2010 Strategy
 IT Doesn’t Matter, by N. Carr
The IT  Strategy and the Internet, by M. Porter;
January 27, Foundations of  Architecture Strategy by D. Bredemeyer and R.
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2010 Strategic Malan;
Advantage  Meta-IT by A. Khanna
February 3, Strategy and IT
4  Intel, by A. Marcus
2010 Case Study
IT Strategic  Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It,
February
5 Planning and by R. Kaplan and D. Norton;
10, 2010
Control  Various Items on Strategic Planning
 GE, Dell, Intel, and Others: The Competitive
Advantage of Information Technology;
 Global Information Technology Report, Chapter
February 2.1 and 2.2;
6 IT Benefits
17, 2010  Managing the Realization of Business Benefits from
IT Investments, by J. Peppard, J. Ward and E.
Daniel;
 Competing on Analytics, by T. Davenport
February IT Benefits Case
7  Dell, by A. Marcus
24, 2010 Study
 What is Web 2.0, by T. O’Reilly;
 Radically Simple IT, by D. Upton and B. Staats;
March 3, New Models of
8  IBM’s Vision of the On Demand Enterprise, by
2010 IT Strategy
M. Zisman;
 Your Next IT Strategy, by J. Hagel and J. Brown
 Knowledge Services on the Semantic Web, by G.
March 10, Mentzas, K. Kafentzis and P. Georgolios;
9 Semantic Web
2010  Information Ecology, by Y. Malhotra;
 Tutorial on the Semantic Web, by I. Herman
March 24,
10 Semantic Web Strategic Business Plan First Presentations
2010
 Global Information Technology Report, Chapter
March 31, The New World 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4;
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2010 of Mobility  The Emerging Value Network in the Mobile Phone
Industry: The Case of Japan, by J. Funk

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  Assessing New Cell Phone Text and Video
April 7, Mobile Web Services, by R. Rice and J. Katz;
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2010 Business Models  The Mobile Commerce Value Chain: Analysis and
Future Developments, by S. Barnes
April 14,
13 Mobile Web Strategic Business Plan First Presentations
2010
April 21,
14 Final Presentations Semantic Web Strategic Business
2010
April 28,
15 Final Presentations Mobile Web Strategic Business Plan
2010