ISM 158: Business Information
Strategy
(spring 2007)
This class
considers the role of information in business strategy. In particular, we focus on decisions
regarding information technology and information systems to give a business
competitive advantage over other companies.
We will focus on case studies to see why some businesses are more
successful than others in building information systems that lead to
organizational and individual efficiencies.
We look at
how information impacts industries, markets and countries, and leads to
technology development. We develop an
understanding of design and maintenance of networked organizations, including
issues of leadership and management. A
full list of topics is given in the table below.
Note: This
class satisfies the writing-intensive (W) requirement
Business Plan Individual
Assignment (due May 15 and May 24)
Business Analysis Group Project
(due May 8, May 29 and June 7)
Details
10:00 –
11:45am, Tue/Thu
Physical
Sciences room 140
Instructor
Kevin Ross
Office
hours: Tue 3:30– 5pm, E2 room 559
Teaching Assistant
Joseph Rios
Text Book (required)
Corporate Information
Strategy and Management
Authors:
Applegate, Austin and McFarlin
(Available
from bookstore)
We will
follow the outline and cases of the text fairly closely, and students are
expected to read the assigned chapter or case before each class. Links take you to lecture notes – previous
year material will be replaced after each lecture.
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|
Date |
Topic ( |
Case ( |
Presentation |
Assessment |
|
1 |
Tue,
April 3 |
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Thu,
April 5 |
No class
– Instructor Away |
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|
|
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2 |
Tue,
April 10 |
|
Ingrid
Gain |
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|
|
3 |
Thu,
April 12 |
|
Johan
Stenberg |
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|
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4 |
Tue,
April 17 |
Jose Solorio |
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||
|
5 |
Thu,
April 19 |
|
Bonnie
Suveerachaimonti Ian
Andersen |
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6 |
Fri,
April 20 9:00-10:45am E2 room
506 |
(makeup
class) |
Andrew
Back Brendan
Cadam |
Project
Team and Topic Due |
|
|
7 |
Tue,
April 24 |
|
Kee-Yip
Chan Kimberly
Bernet |
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8 |
Thu,
April 26 |
|
Calvin
Chau Jack Dai |
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9 |
Tue, May
1 |
|
Mark
Haberman Shira
Ben-Or |
|
|
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10 |
Thu, May
3 |
|
Eduardo
Hernandez Cody
Irving |
|
|
|
11 |
Tue, May
8 |
|
Sungeun
Kim Matthew
Archambault |
Project
Proposal Due |
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12 |
Thu, May
10 |
|
Cody
Irving Patrick McCue |
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|
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13 |
Tue, May
15 |
|
Brian
McLaughlin David
Challoner |
Optional
Business Plan Draft |
|
|
14 |
Thu, May
17 |
|
Nicholas
Nelson Christopher
Park |
|
|
|
15 |
Tue, May
22 |
|
Blake
Pereira Steven
Moody |
|
|
|
16 |
Thu, May
24 |
|
Jason
Reiber Ian
Rogren |
Business
Plan Due |
|
|
17 |
Tue, May
29 |
|
Simon
Solvason |
Optional
Project Draft |
|
|
18 |
Thu, May
31 |
|
Nathaniel
Sharp Michelle Swenson |
|
|
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19 |
Tue, June
5 |
|
Oliver
Threshie Stephen
Sefcik |
|
|
|
20 |
Thu, June
7 |
Alexander
Tuch Jason
Ulit |
Project
Due |
||
|
|
Wed, June
13, 8am |
Final
Exam |
|
|
Final
Exam |
Please note
schedule change first and third weeks
Assessment
|
|
Value |
Due date |
|
News
Presentation |
5% |
Throughout |
|
Quizzes |
10% |
Throughout |
|
Discussion
Participation |
10% |
Throughout |
|
Business
Plan Individual |
10% |
Thu, May
24 |
|
Group
Project |
40% |
Tue, May
8 and Thu, June 7 |
|
Final
Exam |
25% |
Wed, June
13, 8:00 – 11:00am |
Policy
Assignments
are due at the start of class on the
due date. Late assignments, missed
presentations and quizzes will result in zero grade unless specific permission
is given by instructor at least one week in advance.
News presentation
Each
student will present one news story to the class during the quarter. The story can be from any source, and
describe an interesting recent development in the use of information for
business strategy.
The
presentation should be professionally presented using powerpoint or similar
technology. It should be 5-8 minutes in
length, and include both factual information (who is doing what and why?) and
some commentary (your opinion – is this a good idea – why?!) on the story. All news sources that have been used should
be acknowledged with specific references on a final slide.
The student
is responsible for one of (a) bringing the slides on a laptop, (b) bringing
slides on a USB drive that will work on instructor’s laptop, or (c) emailing slides to the instructor the
night before the presentation.
A schedule
of presentations will be posted at the end of the first week, and changes can
only be made with permission of the instructor.
Quizzes
There will
be up to five surprise quizzes over the quarter. These will be fairly short and test knowledge
of the text and cases. Students who are
absent the day of a quiz will receive a zero grade for that quiz unless they
have informed the instructor at least a week in advance that they have to miss
class (for some legitimate reason).
Discussion Participation
We will
discuss cases approximately once per week.
Active participation in the discussions of the cases and the course
material is expected and examined.
Business Plan Individual Assignment
You will be
provided with a scenario for a business information system problem, and be
required to make a written proposal of a solution, as the chief information
officer. See link above.
Business Analysis Group Project
The major
assignment in this class is a comprehensive project. You will analyze a major (at least 1000
employees) company, and study how they use information and information systems
to achieve competitive advantage. See
link above.
The project
can be completed in groups of two or three, as you select, and the company is
chosen by the group.
Final Exam
The final
examination will cover the topics from the whole year. You will not be allowed to bring notes into
the exam room.