THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MIS 6302: Information Technology Strategy & Management

SPRING 2011
Classroom: 1.102
Tuesday 7 to 9.45 pm

Course Outline

Instructor: Professor Sumit Majumdar, Office: SOM 3.433, Office Phone: 972-883-4786, Office
Hours: By appointment, E-mail: majumdar@utdallas.edu; Cell Phone: 469 878 1686

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.

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 (b) Design and development of enterprise IT architecture.
(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 of IT is to “reduce costs;” some others think it is to “help in making better
and faster decisions;” while 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. Based solely on IT alone, new businesses have emerged and changed the economic
landscape of nations. Companies such as Google and Facebook did not exist 10 to 15 years ago. Today,
they are the giants of enterprise.

Hence, 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.

Thus, 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 a very expensive toy. Now they are ubiquitous and very soon
will be as necessary as the air we breathe. We cannot live without them. Very soon, many new businesses
will be based solely on the mobile phone.

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 models for businesses 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.

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 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 (MS) students in Accounting, MIS,
Management Science, Operations Management, and Computer Science, who intend to specialize in
Information Technology Management.

Typical career paths would include positions as business strategy analyst, IT manager, software
manager, business auditor and IT management strategy consultant. Ideally, the class should spawn several
entrepreneurs.

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 small business plans related to the strategies 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 several 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

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 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 10 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 10 pages in length.

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

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 Survey
January 11,
1 Introduction Mastering the 3 Worlds of Information Technology, by A.
2011
McAfee
Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive
January 18, Why an IT
2 Difference, by A. McAfee and E. Brynjolffson;
2011 Strategy
IT Doesn’t Matter, by N. Carr
Marcus – Chapter 1
January 25, Concepts of Grant – Chapters 1 to 4
3
2011 Strategy Teece – Business Models
Porter – Summing up Strategy
The IT
Strategy and the Internet, by M. Porter;
February 1, Foundations of
4 Architecture Strategy, by D. Bredemeyer and R. Malan;
2011 Strategic
Advantage Meta-IT, by A. Khanna
February 8, IT Strategy Case
5 Intel, by A. Marcus
2011 Study
IT Strategic Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It, by R.
February 15,
6 Planning and Kaplan and D. Norton;
2011
Control Various Items on Strategic Planning
GE, Dell, Intel, and Others: The Competitive Advantage
of Information Technology;
Global Information Technology Report, Chapter 2.1 and
February 22,
7 IT Benefits 2.2;
2011
Managing the Realization of Business Benefits from IT
Investments, by J. Peppard, J. Ward and E. Daniel;
Competing on Analytics, by T. Davenport
March 1, IT Benefits Case
8 Dell, by A. Marcus
2011 Study
What is Web 2.0, by T. O’Reilly;
Radically Simple IT, by D. Upton and B. Staats;
March 8, New Models of IT
9 IBM’s Vision of the On Demand Enterprise, by M.
2011 Strategy
Zisman;
Your Next IT Strategy, by J. Hagel and J. Brown
Knowledge Services on the Semantic Web, by G.
March 22, Mentzas, K. Kafentzis and P. Georgolios;
10 Semantic Web
2011 Information Ecology, by Y. Malhotra;
Tutorial on the Semantic Web, by I. Herman
March 29,
11 Semantic Web Strategic Business Plan First Presentations
2011
The New World of Global Information Technology Report, Chapter 1.2, 1.3
12 April 5, 2011
Mobility and 1.4;

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 The Emerging Value Network in the Mobile Phone
Industry: The Case of Japan, by J. Funk
Assessing New Cell Phone Text and Video Services,
April 12, Mobile Web by R. Rice and J. Katz;
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2011 Business Models The Mobile Commerce Value Chain: Analysis and
Future Developments, by S. Barnes
April 19,
14 Mobile Web Strategic Business Plan First Presentations
2011
April 26,
15 Final Presentations Semantic Web Strategic Business
2010
16 May 3, 2011 Final Presentations Mobile Web Strategic Business Plan