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Business Computing BSc (Hons)


Module CM0603 - Strategic Systems Management

(20.00 Credits)

SYNOPSIS OF MODULE The aim of the module is to develop students' understanding of the concepts associated with the strategic management of organisations and the importance that information systems can make to the implementation of that strategy. On completion of the module the student will be able to critically analyse the strategic position of an organisation and set out proposals for the use of information systems to gain competitive advantage. The module includes a study of areas where information systems have made a significant impact on providing organisations with competitive advantage. Students will be taught through a mixture of lectures and seminar based activities; and directed study.


INDICATIVE READING LIST OR OTHER LEARNING RESOURCES 1. Thompson and Strickland. (2007) Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases. (16th Edition) McGraw Hill 2. Laudon and Laudon. (2007) Management Information Systems. (10th Edition) Prentice Hall 3. Robson, W. (1997) Strategic Management and Information Systems. (2nd Edition) Financial Times/Pitman Publishing 4. Oz, E. (2004) Management Information Systems, (4th ed.) International Thomson Publishing, ISBN: 0-7600-4946-7 5. Gupta, U. (2000) Success In Information Systems, Prentice-Hall, ISBN: 0-13-010857-X 6. Earl, Michael J, Management Strategies for Information Technology,. Prentice-Hall, ISBN: 0-13-551656-0 7. Barry, M. and Linoff, G. (2000). Mastering Data Mining: The Art and Science of Customer Relationship Management, Wiley 8. Peppers D.and Rogers M., (2000). The One to One Manager: Real-World Lessons in Customer Relationship Management, Capstone 9. Dyche J, (2000). e-Data: Turning Data into Informatioin with Data Warehousing, Addison-Wesley 10. Newell F., (2000). Loyalty.com: Customer Relationship Management in the New Era of Internet Marketing, McGraw-Hill 11. Kimball R.and Merz R (2000) The Data Warehouse Toolkit: Building the Web-Enabled Data Warehouse, Wiley Additional authors whose writings may be valuable include:-Michael E. Porter, Charles Wiseman, Johnson and Scholes Current periodicals, e.g. Computing, Computer Weekly and electrionic information sources such as Computerwire


OUTLINE SYLLABUS 1. Overview of the strategic management process (10%) 2. Establishing company direction through the development of a strategic vision, mission and objectives; issues of ethical management (10%) 3. Analysing the competitive position of an organisation by using techniques and models such as Porter's five forces of industry competition, SWOT, analysis of the value chain and value system, etc. (10%) 4. Strategies for gaining competitive advantage through the implementation of strategic information systems by using techniques such as the Strategic Option Generator and the Strategic Audit Grid. (10%) 5. Issues involved in developing strategies for companies to operate in the global market and the internet era (10%) 6. Organisational issues affecting staffing and structures with the implementation of information systems; change management (10%) 7. Evaluating alternative approaches to developing and implementing strategic information systems (10%) 8. Current issues in Computing that may change the strategic relationships in the market place and create opportunities for competitive advantage (10%) 9. Significance of technology as driver and enabler in supporting multi-channel customer relationships;the influence of the Internet, Data Mining and Data Warehousing; evaluation of case studies of effective CRM implementations; organisational change issues resulting from the implementation of CRM (20%)


AIMS OF MODULE 1. To develop students' understanding of the concepts associated with the strategic management of organisations and the significance that information systems can make to the creation of competitive advantage. 2. To provide the students with opportunities to gain experience of analysing organisations from a strategic viewpoint and consider options for strategic development through the exploitation of information systems. 3.To develop the students' understanding of a range of issues involved in implementing strategies within an organisation 4. To provide students with an opportunity to critically evaluate exemplars of strategic management information systems.


LEARNING OUTCOMES 1. Critically analyse the strategic position of an organisation through the application of a set of established techniques 2. Critically evaluate the importance of information systems to the creation of competitive advantage in an industry sector. 3. Critically evaluate developments in information technology that affect the strategic position of organisations. 4. Critically discuss issues associated with the implementation of strategic information systems


PREREQUISITES No specific modules but students will need to possess some skill in developing internet applications


COREQUISITE(S) None


DISTANCE LEARNING DELIVERY Yes


LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT STRATEGY Material will be delivered through weekly lectures supported by seminars and directed learning. The seminar exercises will closely follow the programme of lectures with a separate topic being explored each week. A theme will be chosen of a particular industry sector and a few major organisations in this sector will be considered from a strategic viewpoint - assessing their competitive positions; the factors influencing them; the strategic options they have taken. The focus will be on the importance of information technology and information systems in affecting strategic decisions. Formative assessment will be provided each week through the exercises in each seminar. Summative assessment will be in the form of a portfolio of work to be produced by each student from their independent study. This will contain a report on an industry sector and selected organisations within that sector. It will contain an analysis of the strategic position of the organisations and suggested proposals for the future. Students will be encouraged to obtain formative feedback as they progress the development of their portfolio. This will be an individual piece of work that assesses the students' ability to apply the techniques of strategic management and illustrate their understanding of the concepts.


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