Information Systems Homework

References:

White, M.A, & Bruton, G.D. (2011). The management of technology & innovation: A strategic approach (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western/ Cengage Learning.

Articles

Margarit, A. (2016, July 3). Using web technology as a means to strengthen competitive advantage (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/web-technology-and-competitive-advantage-2295352

Prenhall.com. (n.d.). Managing global systems. Retrieved from www.prenhall.com/behindthebook/0132304619/pdf/Laudon Feature7.pdf

The Muse. (2011, November 8). Perfect pitch: How to nail your elevator speech (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2011/11/08/perfect-pitch-how-to-nail-your-elevator-speech/

Multimedia

Grant, A. (2016, April 26).  The surprising habits of original thinkers (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxbCHn6gE3U

Haanaes, K. (2016, April 22).  Two reasons companies fail -- and how to avoid them (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  [Video file]. Retrieved from https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVXmYD0UPRQ

Web Pages

Career Services (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ashford.edu/student_services/careerservices.htm?utm_campaign=Career+Services&sourcecode=AUA -2011071 &utm_content=OnlineAd&utm_medium=Online

NPR. (2009). Wal-Mart and the 'brave new world of business' (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111843210

Websites

Craigslist (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . (www.craigslist.org)

Indeed (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . (http://www.indeed.com/)

Monster (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . (www.monster.com)

Week 1

DQ 1: For this discussion, you will discuss the key similarities and differences in comparing the first three phases of the SMP and SISP processes. Describe any key similarities that you notice.  Explain the key differences that catch your attention. Understanding the Strategic Information Systems Planning process is critical to effectively developing the Information Technology Strategic Plan.

Post should be a minimum of 250 words.

DQ2

Identify a recent technology direction within an organization and determine its role within the company. This can be the chosen organization you will use as the focus of your written course assignments.  Identify aspects of Porter’s Five Forces that impacted your chosen organization.  Examine and describe how the organization integrated the M.T.I. strategy. Include technical, market, and competitive advantage capabilities in your post. What are examples of internal and external stakeholders who were important to these M.T.I. directions?  See the “Stakeholders” listing for examples of internal and external stakeholders.

Your initial post should be a minimum of 250 words.

Assignment 1

Goals, IT Strategy, and Sustainability

Each weekly written assignment provides content for required sections of your Final Assignment.  As noted in the Final Paper Guidelines, your business should remain consistent throughout the course. For this assignment, write a four to five-page paper that addresses the following points. 

· Introduction (Include this Introduction Paragraph in each Weekly Assignment)        

· Name of the organization

· Organization Mission Statement

· Industry

· Specialization

· Geographical regions of location

· Management of Technology & Innovation (M.T.I.)  current state and future growth directions

· Identify the key business goals of the organization (Identify at least 4 business goals) The organization business goals of existing companies can be found on its website or annual report.  

· Identify the IT Strategy to support goals of the organization  Specify how IT strategy should contribute to and support the organizations’ business goals.  In this section, you should describe what "should" be the strategy of a technologically driven company. You should focus specifically on the technology strategy. You should think about all the things we learned in the class that will determine a strategy that will help the company succeed.  Remember that you can use either an existing company or a fictitious company. If you choose to use an existing company, you can visit their web site to see if their strategy is listed. Or you can do a web search on their technology strategy to see if anyone has written any stories about their strategy. For a fictitious company, you should make up a technology strategy that fits that type of company. Include the IT directions and initiatives to address:

· Service - Enhance and expand existing technology and services

· Innovation - Advance the organization in the innovative use of technology to meet the organization’s needs.

· Security - strengthen the organization’s security systems, processes and approach to identity management

· IT Foundation – IT Systems and competitive infrastructure to ensure it meets organizational technology needs (provide specific IT systems, functions, and descriptions)

· Assessment of Management Technology Innovation (MTI) Capabilities Address each of the following:          

· Who are your organization’s competitors?

· How does your organization gather information to be on the forefront of information technology development?  What type of research facilities exist? 

· How does your organization accept product and other innovative ideas from employees?  

· What programs and processes are in place for employees to provide innovative suggestions?

· What strategy or objectives are in place in your organization to deal with internal innovations of entrepreneurs? 

· Assessing Sustainability, Stakeholder Responsibility and Technology Innovation    Address each of the following:          

· Environmental - What is your organization impact on resources, such as air, water, ground and waste emissions?

· Economic – Evaluate the company stakeholder responsibility and the bottom line. What is evidence of your organization’s sustained economic success?

· Social - What is your organization’s code of conduct and corporate governance statement? What does your organization have in place for a Corporate Social Responsibility (C.S.R.)?  This is the company’s sense of responsibility toward the community and environment.

The Goals, IT Strategy, and Sustainability Assignment

· Must be five to seven double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Week 2

DQ3

The discussion of how different countries’ governments are involved in the innovation process is a reflection of the culture of those countries. How do you believe the culture of the country in which your selected business is located and its view of innovation influence the organization’s climate for innovation? What should managers take into consideration when planning for innovation based on these factors?

DQ4

When planning IT strategy to identify and develop enterprise information technology solutions to support business operations, leadership must focus on methods to ignite innovative thinking of employees. This is the “art of innovation”. Our lecture this week introduced two TedTalk Conference speakers with a focus on innovation. Our first conference speaker for this week, organizational psychologist,  Adam Grant (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. , states, “You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones”. Our second conference speaker, strategist  Knut Haanaes (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. , emphasized the importance of balance between exploration and exploitation. Attend the two conference presentations, and summarize your key take away points.  How does your chosen organization manage the “art of innovation” as presented by Adam Grant and Knut Haanaes?  Provide examples when discussing your points. Share an audio byte on your recommendations for “embracing failure”. This should be no more than 2 minutes.  Introduce yourself, and include the sentence, my recommendation for embracing failure is. Your initial post should be a minimum of 250 words.

Assignment 2

Planning Process for Innovation 

Each weekly written assignment provides content for required sections of your Final Assignment.  As noted in the Final Paper Guidelines, your business should remain consistent throughout the course.

For this assignment, write a three to four-page paper that addresses the following points:

· Evaluation of the Firm - McGrath’s and MacMillion’s Twelve Factors of Evaluating Firm

Evaluate your organization, being sure to address six of the twelve McGrath’s and MacMillion’s Twelve Factors:

· Demand for the Product         

· Factors that could speed adoption       

· Factors that could block success of an Innovation      

· Likelihood of Strong Competitive Response   

· Likelihood that the Potential Competitive Advantage is Sustainable   

· Ability to Create Standards     

· Cost Factors in Commercialization     

· Resources Available for Commercialization   

· Level of novelty of the innovation     

· Cost considerations in development   

· Other opportunities that could be leveraged    

· Potential area where damage might occur       

Remember, in addition to technical factors, other factors that could block success of an innovation include legal, ethical, security, diversity, and social responsibility issues of the organization.

· Apply the McFarlan & McKenney Strategic Grid Planning Process

The McFarlan & McKenney Strategic Grid Planning Process analyzes the organization’s readiness to implement innovation strategy. McFarlan and McKenney, in 1983, devised a very useful grid for assessing a company’s strategic use of IT (Carboy, 2007).

The grid has four quadrants built around two straight forward questions:

· How important does management feel the current IT systems are to the company?

· How important does the company think future developments in IT will be required to sustain and enhance its way of doing business (Carboy, 2007)?

Definitions of each quadrant are:

· Quadrant 1: Low Current: Low Future Impact. IT has little relevance and simply supports existing processes.

· Quadrant 2: Low Current: High Future Impact. IT will feature more on the business agenda in the future. The company believes that IT will have a major impact on their business model in the future and IT is in a turnaround role i.e. IT will be a key feature of future strategic planning.

· Quadrant 3: High Current: Low Future Impact. IT is important in terms of day-to-day operations but it is not felt that there are any major IT developments on the horizon that will fundamentally alter the nature of the business. Here, the key issue is the maintenance of existing systems (Factory Role).

· Quadrant 4: High Current: High Future Impact. In this quadrant, IT plays a crucial role both in terms of its current role and in terms of how future IT developments are viewed as impacting on the organization.  IT is mission critical.

Use your chosen organization for this exercise.  Based on your research of the organization’s use of technology and moving forward technology plans, identify which quadrant most appropriately applies to your organization’s readiness to implement innovation strategy (Carboy, 2007). 

· Identify the McFarlan & McKenney Strategic Grid quadrant that applies best to your organization: Low Current: Low

· Future Impact; Low Current: High Future Impact; High Current: Low Future Impact; and High Current: High Future Impact

· Gen-ED > Provide supporting research to justify your analysis conclusion.

· Identify 3 examples of your organization’s innovation directions to substantiate your points

Your business should remain consistent throughout the course.

The Planning Process for Innovation assignment

· Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.

Week 3

DQ5

How are evaluation and control different for each stage of the strategic process (planning, implementation, evaluation, and control)? How are they similar?

DQ6

Find a recent merger or acquisition of your chosen organization.  If this does not apply to your organization, then you can identify a recent merger or acquisition that has been announced in the media. What are the implications for the merger or acquisition and what are the plans for implementing a blending of the firms? Also, evaluate and describe two possible technological innovations that may have led to the merger or acquisition. Would you have obtained this new technology or innovation differently? Why? Include the reference information of the article from which you learned about the recent merger or acquisition.

Assignment 3

Balanced Scorecard Analysis

You will apply the balanced scorecard (BSC) is a strategic planning and management tool to align business activities to the vision and strategy of your organization.  The BSC is used extensively in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals.

There are four scorecard factors: financial results, customers, human resources, and sustainability. For every scorecard factor you will provide the following:

· What is the Critical Success Factor (This is the company’s goals in this area)

· What is the rationale? (This is why success is important)

· What are the Key Performance Indicators? (These are the metrics used to measure success)

· Who is responsible? (This is the responsible functional position title in the organization)

I suggest for you to answer the questions by first stating the question and then completing it with your analysis content.  For example:

Financial Results Section:

· The critical success factor for my organization in the Financial area is…

· The rationale for this critical success factor is …

· The key performance indicators to measure success of the key success factors are…

· The V.P. Finance is responsible for…

Apply the Balanced Scorecard analysis for your organization including descriptive text addressing each BSC factor analysis as outlined:

· Financial Results         

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Customers       

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Human Resources       

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Sustainability  

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity

You can also copy/paste, and complete the chart below:

For-Profit Organization	Financial Results	Customers	Human Resources	Sustainability
Critical Success Factor
Rationale
Key Performance Indicator
Who is Responsible

The Balanced Scorecard Analysis Assignment

· Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Assignment 4

Plans for Technology Merger or Acquisition

Identify one merger or acquisition of your organization. This can be an upcoming planned acquisition or merger.            

Discuss concerns that must be addressed in when planning the merger or acquisition. Choose two of the following areas: Business climate, cultural environment, marketing channels, financial processes, operations systems and structures, human resources policies, environmental conditions and management of technology & innovation. For each of your two chosen areas, list eight to ten concerns that would aid in the planning or the acquisition of technology.

The Plans for Technology Merger or Acquisition Assignment

· Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.

Week 4

DQ7

Why do so many firms still pursue mergers and acquisitions if the integration of these firms is so difficult and the results unsatisfying?

DQ8

In the article, “ Using Web Technology as a Means to Strengthen Competitive Advantage (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. ”, Alex Margarit (2016) highlights several methods of using websites to gain competitive advantage.  Discuss how your chosen organization integrates web technologies for competitive advantage.

Assignment 5

Managing Global Information Systems

As noted in the Final Paper Guidelines, your selected should remain consistent throughout the course. If your organization does not currently have global locations, you can discuss the challenges that could occur if the organization moved in the strategic direction of expanding business globally and requiring global information systems. For this assignment, write a two to three-page paper that addresses the challenges faced by your chosen organization in managing global information systems. Speak only to the challenges that apply to your chosen organization.  Identify why these challenges are important and how the challenges impact business operations. Identify the solutions your organization has integrated to manage the challenges. Refer to our required reading, “ Managing Global Systems (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. ” as a source in addressing this assignment.   

Global information systems face challenges in several areas including:

· Technological barriers

· Regulations and tariffs

· Electronic payment mechanisms

· Different language and culture

· Economic and political considerations

· Different measurement standards

· Legal barriers

· Different time zones

· Challenges involve both the firm’s Web site and other information systems

The Managing Global Information Systems Assignment

· Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.

Week 5

Assignment 7

Final Paper

Strategic Information Technology Plan

The weekly written exercises collectively comprise the Strategic Information Technology Plan. Students will each select a business organization which they will refer to for every written exercise. Students will respond to each audit exercise as it applies to their chosen organization, integrating citations from the text and other scholarly sources. Each audit exercise should be accompanied by a title page and reference page formatted according to APA style. Include side headings (also called sub-titles), according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center Subtitles improve readability and are important for the reader to see where your paper content aligns with the required content.  For instance, in section IV of the Final Paper, you would include the side headings (sub-titles)

· Identify the IT Strategy to support goals of the organization

· Service

· Innovation

· Security

· IT Foundation

The first written assignment requires an introductory paragraph about the student’s selected business, its mission, and its immediate management of technology and innovation (M.T.I.) goals. This introductory paragraph should be included in each audit exercise paper submitted in the course.  Focus of the Final Paper

The executive summary is an abbreviated overview of the entire plan, and as such, it should touch upon all major points while engaging the reader. It should make the reader want to read the plan. Students should assume that the target audience is familiar with the computer terminology learned throughout this course.

During Week Five, the student cohesively brings together the weekly written assignments and an executive summary to form an Information Technology Strategic Plan. The student’s business focus for weekly assignments should remain consistent throughout the course. This final paper should be eighteen to twenty pages in length and should incorporate any comments or suggestions made by the instructor on the weekly assignment papers. 

Students must use the  Information Technology Strategic Plan template (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. . The Information Technology Strategic Plan sections are:

· Executive Summary The executive summary is an abbreviated overview of the entire plan, and as such, it should touch upon all major points of the plan while engaging the reader. Students should discuss the various evaluations performed on their chosen organization throughout the course.  Students should assume that the target audience is familiar with the computer terminology learned throughout this course. 

· Introduction (Use the Introduction paragraph created for the Week1 Exercise)         

· Name of the organization

· Organization Mission Statement

· Industry

· Specialization

· Geographical regions of location

· Management of Technology & Innovation (M.T.I.)  current state and future growth directions

· Identify the key business goals of the organization (Identify at least 4 business goals) The organization business goals of existing companies can be found on its website or annual report

· Identify the IT Strategy to support goals of the organization  Specify how IT strategy should contribute to and support the organizations’ business goals. In this section, you should describe what "should" be the strategy of a technologically driven company. You should focus specifically on the technology strategy. You should think about all the things we learned in the class that will determine a strategy that will help the company succeed.  Remember that you can use either an existing company or a fictitious company. If you choose to use an existing company, you can visit their web site to see if their strategy is listed. Or you can do a web search on their technology strategy to see if anyone has written any stories about their strategy. For a fictitious company, you should make up a technology strategy that fits that type of company. Include the IT directions and initiatives to address:

· Service - Enhance and expand existing technology and services

· Innovation - Advance the organization in the innovative use of technology to meet the organization’s needs.

· Security - strengthen the organization’s security systems, processes and approach to identity management

· IT Foundation – IT Systems and competitive infrastructure to ensure it meets organizational technology needs (provide specific IT systems, functions, and descriptions)

· Assessment of Management Technology Innovation (MTI) Capabilities  Address each of the following:           

· Who are your organization’s competitors?

· How does your organization gather information to be on the forefront of information technology development?  What type of research facilities exist? 

· How does your organization accept product and other innovative ideas from employees?  

· What programs and processes are in place for employees to provide innovative suggestions?

· What strategy or objectives are in place in your organization to deal with internal innovations of entrepreneurs?    

· Assessing Sustainability, Stakeholder Responsibility and Technology Innovation   Address each of the following:

· Environmental - What is your organization impact on resources, such as air, water, ground and waste emissions?

· Economic - Evaluate the company stakeholder responsibility and the bottom line. What is evidence of your organization’s sustained economic success?

· Social - What is your organization’s code of conduct and corporate governance statement? What does your organization have in place for a Corporate Social Responsibility (C.S.R.)?  This is the company’s sense of responsibility toward the community and environment.  

· Evaluation of the Firm- McGrath’s and MacMillion’s Twelve Factors Evaluate your organization speaking to six of the twelve McGrath’s and MacMillion’s factors.  The twelve factors are:

· Demand for the Product         

· Factors that could speed adoption       

· Factors that could block success of an Innovation      

· Likelihood of Strong Competitive Response   

· Likelihood that the Potential Competitive Advantage is Sustainable   

· Ability to Create Standards     

· Cost Factors in Commercialization     

· Resources Available for Commercialization   

· Level of novelty of the innovation     

· Cost considerations in development   

· Other opportunities that could be leveraged    

· Potential area where damage might occur

· Apply the McFarlan & McKenney Strategic Grid Planning Process The McFarlan & McKenney Strategic Grid Planning Process analyzes the organization’s readiness to implement innovation strategy.

· Apply the Balanced Scorecard analysis for your organization Apply the Balanced Scorecard analysis for your organization including descriptive text addressing each BSC factor analysis as outlined:

· Financial Results         

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Customers       

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Human Resources       

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity      

· Sustainability  

· Success factors           

· Rationale        

· Key Performance Indicators   

· Responsible Entity

· Plans for Technology Merger or Acquisition           

· Identify one merger or acquisition of your organization. This can be an upcoming planned acquisition or merger. 

· Discuss concerns that must be addressed in when planning the merger or acquisition. Choose two of the following areas: Business climate, cultural environment, marketing channels, financial processes, operations systems and structures, human resources policies, environmental conditions and management of technology & innovation.  For each of your two chosen areas, list eight to ten concerns that would aid in the planning or the acquisition of technology.

· Apply the Process Model Evaluation for Company   The Process Model allows you to evaluate the effect each technology strategy will have on organization’s structure and processes.

· Identify: Identify a technology innovation direction of your chosen organization. You can identify this from the organization’s website or Internet information search on your organization.

· Current Position: Discuss how well the current technology portfolio aligns to the business needs.

· Risk Assessment: Identify the consequences of continuing with the current technology and future threats when you consider cost/time, technological challenges/competitive reality.

· Decision Analysis: Identify the key decision points and risk factors that will drive strategic directions of acquisition/alliance/ interval development/ or stabilize current system and monitor.

· Options: Identify options to be considered to shift from the current position to the desired position.  Are there more choices?

· Your Final Recommendation  Based on the detailed analysis and review of your chosen organization, identify three   recommendations you would provide regarding the strategic information technology directions of the organization? One of your recommendations must be on strategic security requirements of the organization.     

· Conclusion     

The Strategic Information Technology Plan

· Must be 18 to 20 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style.

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.

· Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.

· Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis

· Must use at least five scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· Must document all sources in APA style.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.