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2014/2015 KAN-CIEBV2006U The IT Manager as a Business Leader
| English Title | |
| The IT Manager as a Business Leader |
Course information |
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| Language | English |
| Course ECTS | 7.5 ECTS |
| Type | Elective |
| Level | Full Degree Master |
| Duration | One Semester |
| Course period | Autumn |
| Timetable | Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk |
| Max. participants | 70 |
| Study board |
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and
Information Systems, MSc
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| Last updated on 09-04-2014 | |
| Learning objectives | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After the course, students should be able to:
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| Course prerequisites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A fundamental understanding about IT and IT use in organizations is necessary and Strategic and Tactital tools course. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites for registering for the exam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Number of mandatory
activities: 2
Compulsory assignments
(assessed approved/not approved)
In order to be able to take the exam, the students have to pass the mandatory assignment of writing (task 1) and presenting (task 2) a report of IT management challenges in a real world company. This report, which is made in groups of two to four individuals, should describe and analyze IT management challenges (within the same company) based on the course literature. The report is handed in and presented at the last scheduled teaching activity. |
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| Examination | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course content and structure | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course aims is to train the students in
coping with the challenges and opportunities confronting a Chief
Information Officer (CIO) in a modern business organization.
Students will get the case background for a large number of
realistic problem issues, and will be provided with different
tools/methods potentially relevant for addressing the issues.
This course uses the IVK Case Series (see literature list) to examine important issues in IT management through the eyes of Jim Barton, a talented business (i.e., non-technical) manager who is thrust into the Chief Information Officer (CIO) role at a troubled financial services firm. The course follows Barton through challenges, mistakes, travails, and triumphs. We take this journey with him, commenting on and debating his choices and decisions. During his first year as CIO, Barton confronts issues related to skill and talent management; IT costs, budgets, value, and chargeback systems; priority setting and financial justification of IT investments; project management; runaway projects and underperforming vendors; security risks and crises; Web 2.0 policies; communications with other senior executives; vendor management; infrastructure standardization; support for innovation; and risk management. As Barton encounters these issues, we address them too, through associated readings. As we examine and critique both research and conventional management wisdom on these topics, we’ll derive a framework for managing IT as a business leader. The course is based on case based-pedagogy, according to the Harvard method in combination with (rare) lectures, guest presentations, workshops and project work in groups. Students will have to prepare for case discussion/lectures by reading the IVK chapter as well as other cases to be discussed on that day. Self study and class discussion should help the students to advance identification and characterization of IT management challenges and opportunities, description of tools and methods, and argumentation for relevance and solutions. In the exercises, students will have to work in groups with analyzing IT management problems and applying the tools and methods in the course literature. This will also help the students reflect on the limitations of the tools and methods. |
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| Teaching methods | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most of the course is organized as cased-based
discussions where students and instructor in common analyze a given
case to abstract strategies to deal with the encountered problems.
Group work will focus on investigate IT management challenges in real world, preferably Danish, companies of the students' choice. Guest lectures will be arranged to contextualize and concretize issues discussed in class. Powerpoint-based lectures will be extremely rare. |
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| Student workload | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Further Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Changes in course schedule may occur
Tuesday 11.40-15.10, week 36-41, 43-48 |
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| Expected literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Main course book:
“The Adventures of an IT Leader”. By Robert D Austin, Richard L Nolan, and Shannon O’Donnell. (2009) Published by Harvard Business School Press. ISBN: 142214660X. Additional cases and articles (tentative): - “A Note on Case Learning,” HBS 899-105 - “Understanding Financial Statements” HBS 5238BC - “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” HBS 604-081 - “IT Doesn’t Matter” HBS 0306B - “Dog Eat Dog” Wall Street Journal - “The IT Productivity Gap” MIT working papers - Cisco Systems, Inc.: Implementing ERP” HBS 699-022 - “Volkswagen of America: Managing IT Priorities” HBS 605-003 - "Stuxnet" New York Times - Symantec Internet Security Threat Report - “Three strategies for Green IT” IT Professional - “Organizational self-renewal: The role of IS in developing organizational eco-effectiveness” - “Bridging the Gap Between Stewards and Creators” HBSP - Online Streaming Video: “Panel Discussion: The Organizational Dilemma of Stewards and Creators” - “The Evolution of Security” - “CareGroup” HBS 303-097 - “The Myth of Secure Computing” HBS 0306J |
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Last updated on
09-04-2014