AMBA/640 AMBA640 AMBA 640 WEEK 7 DISCUSSION

AMBA 640 WEEK 7 DISCUSSION

Discussion Activity #3 Instructions 
 

Basic Instructions:

This week each student is to critically assess the mission, goals, and importance of information systems management (ISM) in the firm, using his or her own work organization as an example.  

Each student is also to define the following terms associated with ISM:  “business intelligence”, “enterprise resource planning (ERP)”, “customer relationship management (CRM)”, “data mining”, and ”intelligent systems”, and answer the following questions: 

• Which of these are used in your organization?  Why?
• Which are not used?  Why not?

Additional Instructions:

Here is a start on contributing to this week's discussions, based on my years involved with ISM at UMUC:

• The mission of information systems management at University of Maryland University College is to support the teaching and administrative processes of the university in an efficient and effective way
• The goals of UMUC ISM include:
• Being at the start of the art in course delivery at a distance. That's why we have used WebEx, LEO, and pdf format this semester
• Providing 24x7 reliability in LEO, PeopleSoft, and other essential UMUC information systems.  This is not always achieved
• Conserving State and student (that is, tuition and fees) resources in accomplishing the foregoing - So in AMBA 640 / AMBA 640 Hybrid we are now using "free" (to students) textbook extracts and computer software licensed at UMUC's cost to save students money, which has been directed by the Maryland state legislature and by UMUC President Miyares
• The importance of ISM at UMUC is extremely high, given:
• First, that the University has strategically decided to be the open university of Maryland, providing learning services to a .student body mostly* learning at a distance. 
• Second, there are numerous federal and state regulations, plus some community standards, that govern the management of information at UMUC and thus provide continuing, importance-raising challenges.**

*Currently, about 86% of UMUC students study exclusively online worldwide, and another 10% learn through a mixed online/F2F program.

**One example is the accommodation requirements of the federal ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act. These require that information be delivered by UMUC in ways that accommodate, for instance, visually- and hearing-impaired students and faculty. The costs involved - e.g., preparation of video transcripts - are borne by all students through their tuition payments.

Required Format:

None.  However, use good English in all your postings.

If replying to another posting, include enough of it to give the context for your reply.

Required Readings: See Content topic this week digesting the contents of these two readings

• Benson, R.J., Ribbers, P.M., and Blitstein, R.B.  (2014) Trust and Partnership: Strategic IT: Management for Turbulent Times.  Preface and Chapter 1
• High, P.A. (2014) Implementing World Class IT Strategy: How IT Can Drive Organizational Innovation. Foreword and Chapter 1.

                                                              See digest of these two readings now posted in Content/Week 7.

 Multimedia:

• McFarlan, F. W. (n.d.) The new strategic weapon: Information technology. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing. To be found as a topic in Content/Week 7.
• Stewart, J.J. (2015). Introduction to information systems management. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baLN8E-Xg_c. Closed captions available in the video
• Tata Interactive Systems. (n.d.). Strategic information systems planning. http://info.umuc.edu/mba/public/TIS/information/information_simulation.html .Note: this simulation may not run well under the Internet Explorer web browser even in compatibility mode. If a problem occurs, kindly use another browser, such as Safari, Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Ignore any reference to Flash Player 5 if you have a newer Flash Player installed; ditto for “file not found”

There are optional readings on tablet computers, information systems as conveying strategic competitive advantage, and Six Sigma (helpful for the Enrichment Opportunity).

Grading Rubric:

Posted below

Assignment Weighting:

12.5% of the course grade

Basic Instructions (repeated):

This week each student is to critically assess the mission, goals, and importance of information systems management (ISM) in the firm, using his or her own work organization as an example.  

Each student is also to define the following terms associated with ISM:  “business intelligence”, “enterprise resource planning (ERP)”, “customer relationship management (CRM)”, “data mining”, and ”intelligent systems”, and answer the following questions: 

• Which of these are used in your organization?  Why?
• Which are not used?  Why not?

Your section professor will participate too.

Feel free to push back on what they may say, particularly if you do not fully understand it.