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Monash University

FIT3136 IT governance and strategy for business - Semester 2, 2011

This unit provides students with an understanding of how to manage and govern the IT function in business organisations. It builds on themes relating to managing IT as an organisational resource and discusses IT function from strategy and governance perspectives. The unit also emphasises the relationship between theoretical knowledge and its practical application using cases and real examples.

Core concepts discussed in this unit include the strategic context of IT management, alignment between business strategy and IT strategy, IT governance processes, various types of IT processes, organising and managing the IT function (including the role of the CIO), legal and ethical concerns of IT, evaluating IT portfolio management, IT provisioning issues, including outsourcing.

Mode of Delivery

  • Clayton (Day)
  • Sunway (Day)

Contact Hours

2 hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs tutorials/wk

Workload

You are expected to spend 12 hours per week on various activities including reading, communication with other students and unit lecturers, and preparation for learning tasks and formal assessments.

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

FIT3066, FIT3019

Prerequisites

Completion of 24 points of second year IT units

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Clayton

Dr Mahbubur Rahim

Contact hours: Tuesday 1pm to 3pm, Clayton School of IT, Building 63, Clayton

Sunway

Penny Ong

Tutors

Clayton

Dr Mahbubur Rahim

Ms Nergiz Ilhan

Ms Pamela Spink

Dr Markus Belkin

Academic Overview

Learning Objectives

At the completion of of this unit student will have -

A knowledge and understanding of:

  • strategic contexts of IT management;
  • alignment between business strategy and IT strategy;
  • forms of IT governance;
  • various types of IT processes;
  • organising and managing IT function (including role of CIO);
  • legal and ethical concerns of IT;
  • evaluating IT portfolio management;
  • IT provisioning issues including IT outsourcing.

Developed attitudes that enable them to:
  • develop an ability to identify and manage changes in IT strategy due to changes in business strategy;
  • recognise the need to assess the socio-political motivations for evaluating IT business value and IT outsourcing decisions;
  • critically assess the legal and ethical issues associated with managing and governing IT resources.

Developed the skills to:
  • prepare IT strategy in alignment with business strategy;
  • prepare IT outsourcing policies;
  • develop a mindset of ethical practice in managing IT resources.

Graduate Attributes

Monash prepares its graduates to be:
  1. responsible and effective global citizens who:
    1. engage in an internationalised world
    2. exhibit cross-cultural competence
    3. demonstrate ethical values
  2. critical and creative scholars who:
    1. produce innovative solutions to problems
    2. apply research skills to a range of challenges
    3. communicate perceptively and effectively

Assessment Summary

Examination (3 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Assignment 1 - Analysing green IT initiatives at an Australian university: IT strategic perspective 20% Friday 2 September 2011
Assignment 2 - IT systems failure: A critical analysis of two ERP systems 20% Friday 14 October 2011
Examination 1 60% To be advised

Teaching Approach

Lecture and tutorials or problem classes
This teaching and learning approach provides facilitated learning, practical exploration and peer learning

Feedback

Our feedback to You

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:
  • Graded assignments with comments
  • Solutions to tutes, labs and assignments

Your feedback to Us

Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through SETU, Student Evaluation of Teacher and Unit. The University's student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

For more information on Monash's educational strategy, and on student evaluations, see:
http://www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/directions.html
http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Previous Student Evaluations of this unit

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp

Unit Schedule

Week Activities Assessment
0   No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1 Strategic contexts of IT in business; tutorials begin this week  
2 IT strategy and business strategy  
3 IT governance  
4 IT processes  
5 Organisational impacts of IT & politics in organisations  
6 IT project success and failure Assignment 1 due Friday 2 September 2011
7 Funding IT function in business  
8 Provisioning of IT systems  
9 IT outsourcing  
10 Ethics for IT professionals  
11 Legal issues for IT professionals Assignment 2 due Friday 14 October 2011
12 Managing IT function and the role of the CIO; sample exam discussion in tutorial  
  SWOT VAC No formal assessment is undertaken SWOT VAC
  Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your MUSO (Blackboard or Moodle) learning system.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

To pass a unit which includes an examination as part of the assessment a student must obtain:

  • 40% or more in the unit's examination, and
  • 40% or more in the unit's total non-examination assessment, and
  • an overall unit mark of 50% or more.

If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination total assessment, and the total mark for the unit is greater than 50% then a mark of no greater than 49-N will be recorded for the unit

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Assignment 1 - Analysing green IT initiatives at an Australian university: IT strategic perspective
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the significance of IT strategy in organisations in general and educational institutions in particular. The assignment requires students to understand the important role of emerging Green IT initiatives in organisations, and apply several IT strategy frameworks and models to better explain its role.
    Weighting:
    20%
    Criteria for assessment:

    This assignment will be evaluated in terms of:

    • completeness of arguments
    • correctness of arguments
    • richness of arguments
    • clarity of expression
    • and use of appropriate references to support arguments.
    Due date:
    Friday 2 September 2011
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Assignment 2 - IT systems failure: A critical analysis of two ERP systems
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the significance of those factors which contribute to complex IT systems failure. Students are to select two cases of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems failure and analyse them in terms of established failure frameworks.
    Weighting:
    20%
    Criteria for assessment:

    This assignment will be evaluated in terms of:

    • completeness of arguments
    • correctness of arguments
    • richness of arguments
    • clarity of expression
    • and use of appropriate references to support arguments.
    Due date:
    Friday 14 October 2011

Examinations

  • Examination 1
    Weighting:
    60%
    Length:
    3 hours
    Type (open/closed book):
    Closed book
    Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
    None
    Remarks:
    Exam paper will have three parts: multiple choice questions, mini-cases, and discussion questions.

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an online quiz).

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

Referencing requirements

Harvard style referencing is preferred for assignments.

Other Information

Policies

Student services

The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need advice and see the range of services available at www.monash.edu.au/students The Monash University Library provides a range of services and resources that enable you to save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au or the library tab in my.monash portal for more information. Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis

Reading list

There is no presecribed text for this unit. Each week, students will be given a reference list of useful backround materials.  However, parts of several chapters of the following textbooks are relevant:

1. Jerry Luftman et al. (2004) Managing the IT resource, Pearson Prentice Hall, First edition, Chapters 1, 4, 5, 8 and 11

2. Carrol Frenzel and John Frenzel (2004) Management of IT, Thomson Course Technology, 4th edition, Chapters 10 and 18

3. Rainer, Turban and Potter (2007) Introduction to information systems: supporting and transforming business, John Wiley & Sons, Chapter 10

4. Keri Pearlson and Carol Saunders (2004) Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach, John Wiley & Sons, 2nd edition, Chapter 9

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