Proposed Postgraduate Paper for 2000 (2nd Semester) or 2001 (1st Semester)
Information Technology Management (ITM)
Content
Advances in information technology offer benefits from its products and services. These are
crucial for both economic and social development of a nation. Technological changes also create
additional challenges for managers as well as national policy makers. This course introduces
issues in information technology management at three levels: organisational, national, and
global. An in-depth study for managing information technology in an organisation is provided. It
further discusses the use of IT for gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. From a micro
perspective, this course provides an understanding of the information technology from
organisational aspects in terms of structure, process, and culture. From a macro perspective, it
looks at the development of the business-academia-government linkage model in developing
technological competence of a firm and a nation.
Objectives
A student who successfully completes this subject be able to:
(i)
develop an understanding of conceptual frameworks and a practical guide for current
information technology management issues;
(ii)
discuss how to identify opportunities for information technology in an organisational
setting;
(iii) develop an understanding for managing information technology related applications; and,
(iv)
understand organisational and national capabilities to sustain a competitive edge through
the information technology in a global environment.
Method of Presentation
Teaching methods include lectures; informal work and discussion groups; library research; and,
tutorials. Students are encouraged to review study materials prior to the lectures.
Assessment
This subject has the following assessment components.
____________________________________________________________________________
Assessment Items
Percentage of
Submission Date
Final Mark
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. Essay I (1,500 words)
20%
Week 5
(Individual Work)
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Essay II (3,000 words)
30%
Week 10
(Individual Work)
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Term Project & Seminar Presentation
40%
Week 12, 13
(Group Work)
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Class Participation
10%
____________________________________________________________________________
1
# Please note that marks may be scaled.
# Essays should be submitted on the due date. Penalties will apply to all late work, except in the
case of protracted (and certified) illness. One mark will be deducted for work for each day it is
overdue.
# No assignment will be accepted in electronic form.
# Plagiarism may result in a FAIL grade being recorded for the assignment task.
Essay I (1,500 words)
Essays should be discussion/opinion papers based on one of the following topics:
1. Strategic information technology management is the conventional information technology
management used in innovative ways;
2. Adoption of the state-of-the-art information technology is a solution for gaining and
sustaining competitive advantage in business;
3. IT allows companies to gain competitive advantage on a global basis. Regardless of size or
market share, a key indicator of success in the future will be understanding how IT can
integrate resources throughout a business
Essay II (3,000 words)
This is to be a proper academic piece of work that might be suitable for publication or
presentation at an information technology conference. Essays should be discussion/opinion
papers based on one of the following themes:
1. One of the most consistent patterns in business today is the failure of leading companies to
stay on top when technologies change. How would you assess information technology
strategy of your 'company' to alleviate this problem?
2. As technological change increases, managing the complexity of technology becomes more of
a management responsibility. Business managers need to take the lead in the management of
business IT; and,
3. Encouraging a positive attitude towards technology commits and involves all employees in
the search for competitive advantages achieved through IT.
All essays should be structured as follows:
Format: single spacing, blocked, 23x17 cm page size, headings numbered using Arabic numerals
and in bold capitals, font: size 12 'times', pages numbered in the bottom right hand corner using
Arabic numbers, length: 3,000-3,500 words excluding tables, diagrams and references.
Term Project and Seminar Presentation
Term project accounts for 40% of the overall grade. All groups which consist of a maximum of
6 team members will prepare a term project based on the critical analysis of an actual
information technology management planing and practice which already exists-or is being
developed-for a large organisation. Please submit a 3 page written proposal on the nature of the
project. Each group will be expected to give a formal presentation for up to 30 minutes with an
additional time allowance of 5 minutes for further discussion and questions. Due date for the
presentation report is 1 week after presentation.
ALL WRITTEN WORK WILL BE GRADED WITH THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA IN MIND:
# The extent to which the theme has been correctly interpreted and answered (15%);
# Originality (20%);
# Demonstrated understanding of the main concepts of the course (20%);
2
# Awareness of the literature (30%);
# Clarity and structure of written work and oral presentations (10%)
# The level of communications skills demonstrated (5%).
Guidelines for Referencing
Literature citations should be made in a uniform style in text and footnotes, and follow the
Harvard Systems with (Name, date) in the text and an alphabetical list of references following
the main body of the text, thus:
In the text: (Greener, 1987) or (Greener, 1987, p.15)
At the end of the paper:
Greener, M. (1987). The Penguin Business Dictionary (3rd edition). Penguin, London.
Roberts, J. and R. Scapens (1985). 'Accounting Systems and Systems of Accountability:
Understanding Accounting Practices in Their Organisational Context'. Accounting,
Organisations and Society, 10, pp. 443-456.
Works by the same author should be listed in chronological order. Where reference is made to
more than one work published by the same author in a single year, the suffix a, b, etc. should
follow the date, thus: (Greener, 1989b). If an author's name is mentioned in the text, it need not
be repeated in the citation, thus: "Greener (1989, p.5) claims that ..."
Reading List
Burgelman, R., Maidique, M, and Wheelwright, S. (1998). Strategic Management of Technology
and Innovation. Irwin/McGraw-Hill (international edition)
Cats-Baril, W and Thompson, R (1997). Information Technology and Management. IRWIN
Publishing.
Daniels, C (1994). Information Technology-The Management Challenge. Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company.
Boar, B (1993). The Art of Strategic Planning for Information Technology. John Wiley & Sons.
Dussauge, P; Hart, S and Ramanantsoa, B. (1987). Strtaegic Technology Management. John
Wiley & Sons.
Bresson, C. (1987). Understanding Technological Change. Black Rose Books.
Journal Reading List
International Journal of Technology Management
Technovation
Strategic Management Journal
Sloan Management Review
Journal of Information Technology
Journal of Information Management
MIS Quarterly
Journal of Information Systems
Scandinavian Journal of IS
Journal of Management
OMEGA-International Journal of Management Science
Lecture
Activities
Readings
3
____________________________________________________________________________
1
Orientation & Course Preview
Lecture
Introduction to Information Technology Management (ITM)
2
Information Technology and Industry Structure
Lecture
External Readings:
Handouts
i) Technology transfer in Thailand: descriptive validation
of a technology transfer model by Wong, J.
ii) Technology Management and Information Technology
Strategy: Preliminary Results of an Empirical Study of
Canadian Organisations by Philip, Akrishnan and Mawalkar
iii) Changing IT and IT Management by Benamati, Lederer and Singh
iv) Government Strategies to Promote the Diffusion of Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI): What We Know and What We Don't Know
by Damsgaard and Lyytinen
3
Information Technology and Competitive Advantage
External Readings:
i) An Examination of IT Planning in a Large, Diversified Public
Organisation by Byrd, Sambamurthy and Zmud
ii) Technological Discontinuities, Competition and Firm
Performance by Ehrnberg and Sjoberg
iii) IT Planning in the 1990's: Directions for Practice and Research
by Boynton and Zmud
iv) A Methodology for the Evaluation of IT for Strategic
Implementation by Elliot and Huish
v) Planning for Information Networks by Sullivan and Smart
vi) National Technology Policy and Computer Production in
Asia-Pacific Countries by Dedrick and Kraemer
Lecture
Handouts
4
Technological Strategy and Choice
External Readings:
i) Technology Strategy in UK Firms by Clarke, Ford,
Saren and Thomas
ii) Enhancing the User Role in the Development of Technical
Standards for Telecommunications by Hawkins
iii) Politics and the Function of Power in a Case Study of IT
Implementation by Levine and Rossmoore
iv) Strategically Focused Engineering: Design and Management
by Eschenbach and Geistauts
Lecture
Handouts
5
Technology-Based Strategies: Partnerships and Strategic Alliances
External Readings:
i) Managing a Major Technological Change by Langowitz
ii) Private Sector Initiative for IT Development by Iida
iii) Designing Public Private Partnerships for IT by Nettleship
iv) Preparation for New Information Society: From Regional
Cooperation to Domestic Development in the Asia-Pacific
Region by Cho and Lee
Technology, Structure and Process
Lecture
Handouts
6
Lecture
4
External Readings:
i) The Impact of Technology on Corporate Strategy and
Organisation: Illustrative Cases and Lessons by Abetti
ii) Senior Management's Critical Role in Strenghtening
Technological Competitiveness by Gold
iii) Radical Process Innovation Using IT: The Theory, the
Practice and the Future of Reengineering by Martinsons
Handouts
7
Technology, Process and Culture
External Readings:
i) Human factors and the innovation process
by Livesay, H; Lux, D; and Brown, M
ii) Guidelines for the design of an innovative strategy
by Orizaola, E
iii) The Strategic Management of Technological Innovations:
A Review and a Model by Shrivastava and Souder
Lecture
Handouts
8
Management of Technological Innovation:
The Case ITel
Lecture
Management of Technological Diffusion:
Smart Cards and Its Applications in Banking,
Healthcare Industry
Lecture
Technological Capability and Management Issues in
AsiaPacific
Lecture
10
11
12
Case presentation
13
Case presentation
5