• An understanding of the main corporate strategy theories
• An understanding of the key strategic challenges for information management and IT related to global environments
• An understanding of how Multinational enterprises (MNEs) grow in the global environment using information and IT as strategic resources
• An ability to both recognize and analytically reflect on the international strategy issues related to information and IT management and to critically reflect on and connect the discussed theoretical perspectives to current information and IT management problems.
• An understanding of how important IT is for the ways MNEs chose to organize

IT and information management are prominent in strategy and strategizing, as they contribute to efficiency, effectiveness and innovation. But strategic analysis is often described as a ‘wicked’ problem, which tends to be

complex, hard to clearly define, interconnected with other (organizational) issues and generally characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity and conflict. Furthermore, the complexity of strategic issues and strategy-making is only

amplified with presence on the international scene as we see in MNE’s.

 

The basic objective of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of the field of corporate strategy in relation to information and IT, and provide them with tools and methodologies enabling them to take

a key role in developing a global IT strategy. The pedagogical model is intended to familiarize the students with issues in international business strategy as it relates to information management and IT, and to take the students from theory to strategy application through the use of case studies regarding multi-national enterprises (MNE’s).

 

At the bachelor level, we have almost exclusively looked at the organization as one integrated business primarily operating only in one market. In this course we look at global companies and companies made up of a large number of Strategic Business Units, where the challenge and requests for governance for the IT function are dramatically different.

 

The course is basically bridging the gaps between corporate strategy, information management and IT management. The pedagogical model takes into account that students have different entry level qualifications,

since it is assumed that students come with the skills acquired from the BA(im) HA(it) programs and international students taking the course as an elective. No technical skills are required. However, it is required that students have a certain familiarity regarding strategy literature. This means that students without any knowledge about strategy will need to study somewhat harder than those who have this background.

 

The course will start with a quick overview of the most relevant literature on general and corporate strategy and, and will proceed in exploring specific topics related to information and IT management for the MNEs. Some of

the key issues that we shall deal with will be

• Different sourcing/outsourcing strategies like shared service centers, on-shoring, off-shoring
• Use of IT and information management for creating new and more effective business processes acros b oundaries and using partners
• Governance mechanisms for managing such relationships
• Importance of Strategic Business Units and how to service them
• IT and information management in mergers and acquisitions, especially as these relate to MNEs

Robert M. Grant: Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Seventh edition, Wiley 2010, part 4.

And selected articles.