IS Strategy and Governance

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

10 hours per week, 120 hours in total

Students who are enrolled in the two year 200 point Master of Information Systems must have completed 50 points of study to enrol in this subject.

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It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study and reasonable steps will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the University’s programs. Students who feel their disability may impact upon their active and safe participation in a subject are encouraged to discuss this with the relevant subject coordinator and the Disability Liaison Unit.

Strategic IS management is an increasingly important management activity as organizations realize that appropriate use (or misuse) of information and information technology can have significant effects on their competitive position. Using case studies from practice, this subject discusses the major approaches to formulating and implementing IS strategic plans. Topics include: IS strategy and its connection to business strategy and business models; theoretical and practical approaches to formulating IS strategy; enterprise architecture as strategy; IS governance; implementation as related to the content and context of IS strategy; and evaluating the success of an IS strategy.

Upon completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Recognize the strategic potential and impact of information and knowledge management systems;
• Engage in the process of ICT strategic planning and the critical review of ICT strategic plans;
• Demonstrate understanding of the principles of ICT governance planning, design, assessment and continuous improvement from an enterprise viewpoint;
• Demonstrate awareness of ICT control and service governance frameworks in managing an enterprise ICT infrastructure;
• Describe the drivers, dependencies and interrelationships between strategic planning and ICT governance at an enterprise level;
• Demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to assume a leadership role in how organizations utilize ICT systems to achieve their strategic objectives;

Individual report of 3000 words due mid semester (40%); a group report of 3000 words per student due near the end of semester (60%).

There are no prescribed texts for this subject. However, a book of readings will be provided and frequent reference will be made to:

Weill, P. and Ross, J. IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results, Harvard Business School Press 2004.
Ross, J.W., Weill, P. and Robertson, D.C. Enterprise Architecture as Strategy, Creating a Foundation for Business Execution, Harvard Business School Press 2006.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students should develop skills in literature search and analysis, critical thinking and independent learning.