Course Outline

Course Details
Academic Session

2014-15

Term

III

Course Name

IT for Business

Name of Instructor

Prof. Arindam Mukherjee

Course Objectives

Over last few decades, Information Technology (IT) has cast its influence over most business activities. Beginning as a support tool,
IT has evolved into a strategic necessity. It is imperative that todays managers must learn to use information for better decision
making, understand how IT transforms business, and make IT investment decisions wisely. This course aims to give the students an
overview of the overall role that IT plays in an organization, the impact that it is likely to have on an organization and the challenges
that technology brings forth with it. The course is also aimed at introducing students to recent trends in computing and decision
support tools and enterprise technology application environments focusing on the management aspects related to them.
Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student should be able to

1.

Understand how IT can be leveraged to gain competitive advantage.

2.

Appreciate the nuances of managing information technology and anticipate the impact of IT on organizations

3.

Comprehend the challenges in emerging Information Technology trends

4.

Recognize the need for enterprise applications and their suitability to organizations

5.

Able to identify challenges in building and managing information systems projects

Pedagogy

The dominant pedagogy will be case discussions, lectures and problem-based learning.

Resources Required for the Course

A. Prescribed Text Book

Business Driven Technology 6th edition Paige Baltzan McGraw Hill

B. Additional References if any

Management Information Systems 12th edition Laudon and Laudon Pearson
Managing Information Systems in Business, Government and Society Rahul De Wiley

C. Cases to be procured
1.

Otis Elevator: Accelerating Business Transformation with IT (9-305-048)

2.

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

3.

Zara IT for Fast Fashion (9-604-081)

4.

Hilton Hotels: Brand Differentiation through Customer Relationship Management (9-809-029)

5.

Barnes & Noble Managing the Ebook Revolution (9-613-073)

6.

Managing Knowledge & Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (HBS Case No 9-603-062)

7.

Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO (9-604-080)

8.

Living on the Internet Time (9-697-052)

9.

Cisco Systems Inc : Implementing ERP (9-699-022)

10. Building Watson, not so elementary my dear (9-612-017)

11. Harley Davidson Company : Enterprise Software Selection (9-600-006)

Evaluation Method

Course Evaluation
Sr. No.

Component

Weightage (%)

Duration Of
Examination

Nature of Examination
(Open Book /Closed Book)

a)

Mid Term Examination

30%

1.5 hours

Closed Book

b)

End Term Examination

30%

2 hours

Closed Book

c)

Project Assignments

10%

d)

Case Presentations [in groups]

20%

e)

Article Presentations

10%

Session-wise Plan
Session No.

Topic(s) to be covered

Reference(s), if any

Session-1

Introduction: Why is IT important? Why do

organizations grapple with IT?

Erik Brynjolfsson The productivity paradox of

information technology (Communications of the
ACM 1998)

Session-2

What is an Information System?

F Waren McFarlan The Information Archipelago:

Plotting a course (HBR Jan-Feb 1983)

Session-3

Competing with Information Systems

Session-4

Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy:

Critical Success Factors

John Rockart Chief Executives Define their own

Session-5

Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy:

Value Chain

Michael Porter Victor Millar How Information

Gives you Competitive Advantage (HBR Jul-Aug
1985)data needs (HBR Mar-Apr 1979)

Nicholas Carr The End of Corporate Computing

Sloan Management Review Spring 2005

Session-6

IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

Designing and Managing the Information Age IT

Infrastructure (HBS 9-196-005)

Session-7

Business Intelligence

Analytics 3.0 (HBR Dec 2013)

Session-8

Enhancing Decision Making

Gorry Scott Morton A framework for Management

Information Systems (Sloan Management Review
1989)

Session-9

Securing Information Systems

Lew McCreary What was Privacy? (HBR October

2008)

Session-10

Enterprise Applications

Thomas Davenport Putting the Enterprise into the

Enterprise System (HBR Jul - Aug 1998)

Session-11

Process Management

Reengineering Work: Don't Automate, Obliterate

Supply Chain Management Systems

Joan Magretta The Power of Virtual Integration: An

Interview with Dell Computer's Michael Dell (HBR
Mar - Apr 1998)

Session-12

Michael Hammer The Superefficient Company

(HBR Sep 2001)

Session-13

Customer Relationship Management Systems

Russell S Winer A Framework for Customer

Relationship Management (California Management
Review Vol 43 No 4 Summer 2001 CMR 209)

Porter Strategy and the Internet (HBR Mar 2001)

E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods

Jeffrey F Rayport and John Sviokla Exploiting the

Virtual Value Chain (HBR Nov - Dec 1995)

Session-15

Managing Knowledge

Miklos Sarvary Knowledge Management and

competition in the consulting industry California
Management Review Vol 41 No 2 Winter 1999
CMR 144

Session-16

Building Information Systems

Session-17

Managing Information Systems Projects

Session-18

IT enabled Change

Session-19

Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

Session-20

Managing Information Systems

Session-14