THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MIS 6302: Information Technology Strategy & Management (cross-listed with)

AIM 6349: Information Technology Strategy and Control

FALL 2010

Course Outline

Instructor: Dr. Indranil R. Bardhan

Office: SOM 3.414
Office Phone: 972-883-2736
Office Hours: Wednesday 6-7 pm
Class Hours: Wednesday 7 – 9:45pm
E-mail: bardhan@utdallas.edu

Text: AIM 6349 / MIS6302 readings packet in bookstore (Mandatory). Students have
the option of downloading electronic copies of readings articles through the UTD
Electronic Journal Database (JSTOR) and purchasing the cases directly from the HBS
Publishing web site.

Topic Outline: Major topics include:

IT Assessment and Scenario Planning
IT Architecture
IT Governance
IT Sourcing & Offshoring
Balanced Scorecard
Project Management

Student Learning Objectives

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

(a) Using scenario planning techniques to visualize IT and business options.

(b) Design and development of enterprise IT architecture.
(c) Assessment and development of IT governance strategies to manage effectively.
(d) Assessment and development of IT sourcing strategies.
(e) IT planning and reporting tools for monitoring and assessment of IT projects.
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 business analyst, IT manager, software manager, IT auditor, 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 will provide the basis for lectures
on various topics related to IT strategy development and execution. 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 via eLearning. It is your responsibility to print
and bring a copy to class. Lecture notes are meant only for students who register for this
course. On occasion, I will supplement the lecture notes with readings from other sources such
as McKinsey Quarterly and the business press. 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 (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 in the class. Attendance will be taken at each class.

2. Group case analysis and presentation (25%): The class will be split into groups. Each
group will discuss the group case in class which I will assign 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.

3. Mid-term Exam (30%): There will be a take-home, individual 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, individual exam during finals
week. Students will be tested on the course material taught through lectures, readings
and case discussions.

Grading Policy: The following grading policy will be adopted for the class: A, A-,
B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, P (pass), F (Fail). The weighted average score (based on the
above) table will be used to determine your grades at the end of the course.

Prerequisites

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

students enrolled at UTD. Students are not permitted to audit the class.
 CLASS SCHEDULE
Session Lecture Topics
I. I. Overview of IT Why companies need an IT
Strategy strategy
IT strategy competencies
II, III, & IV. How does scenario planning
Scenario Planning impact IT strategy?
Business strategy options
IT strategy options
V, VI & VII. Baseline IT analysis
IT Architecture Gap analysis
Technology selection
Implementation IT
architecture
VIII & IX. Types of IT governance
IT Governance structures
Organization change
management processes
Mid-Term Exam (take home)
X & XI. IT Sourcing & Factors affecting sourcing
Offshoring decisions
Application Service Providers
Offshoring
Readings: HBR Cases and
Articles, and Text
"Strategy and the Internet" HBR
March 2001 (Porter).
“The Real New Economy” HBR
October 2003 (Diana Farrell).
“Using scenario analysis to manage
the strategic risks of outsourcing”
Sloan Management Review,
Summer 1995, 36(4), page 61-71.
“Strategic Planning: A tool for
strategic thinking” Sloan
Management Review, Winter 1995,
pp. 25-40.
“UPS Strategic Planning” HBS
Case, 2006, 9-306-002.
“IM/IT Architecture and
Infrastructure” Chapter 6, Austin
and Boxerman’s textbook on
Information Systems for
Healthcare Management.
“Cisco Systems Architecture” HBS
Case, Nov. 2005, 9-301-099.
“Air Products & Chemicals” HBS
case, August 1995, 9-196-017.
"Six Decisions your IT People
Shouldn’t Make” HBR Nov. 2002,
(Ross & Weill).
“A Matrixed Approach to
Designing IT Governance” MIT
Sloan Management Review, Winter
2005, pp. 26-34.
“Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” HBR
Case
"Taking the Measure of Outsourcing
Providers” MIT Sloan Mgmt.
Review, Spring 2005 (Feeny, Lacity
& Willcocks).
Getting Offshoring Right” HBR
Dec. 2005 (Aron & Singh).
“Outsourcing at Office Supply Inc.”
Kellogg Business School case, HBS
Publishing, 2009
XII & XIII. IT planning and project
IT Planning & Reporting management
Balanced scorecard and
strategy maps
Performance analysis and
reporting; Business Analytics
XIV. Organizational Business value of IT
Impact and IT Value IT alignment
Miscellaneous Topics (if Social Networks
time permits) Software as a Service (SaaS)
Final Exam (Take home)
“Having Trouble with your
Strategy: Then Map it” HBR Sep –
Oct 2000 (Kaplan & Norton).
“Competing on Analytics” HBR
Jan. 2006 (Davenport).
“The IM/IT Portfolio Management
Office” Chapter 4, Austin and
Boxerman’s textbook on
Information Systems for Healthcare
Management.
“B&K Distributors: Calculating
return on investment from a web-
based customer portal” Kellogg case
study.
“A Practical Guide to Social
Networks” HBR March 2005
(Cross, Liedtka, and Weiss).