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Monash University

FIT3136 IT governance and strategy for business - Semester 2, 2012

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)

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

Dr Sadaat Alhashmi (semester 1)
Dr Mahbubur Rahim (semester 2)

Campus Lecturer

Clayton

Dr Mahbubur Rahim

Consultation hours: Tuesday 3pm to 5pm

Tutors

Clayton

Ms Nergiz Ilhan

Consultation hours: TBA

Academic Overview

Outcomes

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 IT Strategy Alignment 20% Friday 31 August 2012
Assignment 2 - Analysing IT Systems Failure: An application of stakeholder approach 20% Friday 12 October 2012
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

Student feedback has indicated that this unit is well structured. Drawing on the feedback, improvements and extensions have been made in such areas as IT governance, strategic contexts of organisations and IT, and IT strategy alignment.

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 buiness and IT in business Tutorials begin in Week 1
2 IT strategy and business strategy  
3 IT strategy alignment  
4 IT governance 1  
5 IT governance 2  
6 IT processes Assignment 1 due Friday 31 August 2012
7 Cultural, structural, and political aspects of IT in business  
8 IT project sucess and failure  
9 Funding IT function in business  
10 Funding IT function in business (Advanced topics)  
11 IT outsourcing Assignment 2 due Friday 12 October 2012
12 Green IT and exam review  
  SWOT VAC No formal assessment is undertaken in 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

Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/unit-assessment-hurdles.html)

Academic Integrity - Please see the Demystifying Citing and Referencing tutorial at http://lib.monash.edu/tutorials/citing/

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Assignment 1 - Analysing IT Strategy Alignment
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the significance of IT strategy in organisations in general and the need for aligning IT strategy with business strategy in particular. The assignment requires students to review a case report, and apply several IT strategy frameworks to analyse the extent of IT alignment with business strategy.
    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 31 August 2012
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Assignment 2 - Analysing IT Systems Failure: An application of stakeholder approach
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the significance of applying stakeholder approach to analyse complex IT systems failure. Students are to review a case report and evaluate e-procurement systems failure drawing on the core concepts involved in stakeholder approach.
    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 12 October 2012

Examinations

  • Examination 1
    Weighting:
    60%
    Length:
    3 hours
    Type (open/closed book):
    Closed book
    Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
    None
    Remarks:
    Examination 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).

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the VLE site for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

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. For Sunway see http://www.monash.edu.my/Student-services, and for South Africa see http://www.monash.ac.za/current/

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. At Sunway, visit the Library and Learning Commons at http://www.lib.monash.edu.my/. At South Africa visit http://www.lib.monash.ac.za/.

Academic support services may be available for students who have a disability or medical condition. Registration with the Disability Liaison Unit is required. Further information is available as follows:

  • Website: http://monash.edu/equity-diversity/disability/index.html;
  • Email: dlu@monash.edu
  • Drop In: Equity and Diversity Centre, Level 1 Gallery Building (Building 55), Monash University, Clayton Campus, or Student Community Services Department, Level 2, Building 2, Monash University, Sunway Campus
  • Telephone: 03 9905 5704, or contact the Student Advisor, Student Commuity Services at 03 55146018 at Sunway

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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