Strategic Management of IT – Fall 2014

MIS 3534-001 – Prof. Min-Seok Pang

Day 03 – online discussion questions

  • What would be the core competencies of Toyota?
  • What are most competitive advantages temporal and not sustainable?
  • How has the Internet changed the lodging industry’s profitability?
  • How does a strong “brand” affect the five forces in the lodging industry?
  • Why does Wyndham target on business travelers?
  • Why would it be difficult for other hotel chains to copy ByRequest?
  • Why would it be difficult for other hotel chains to standardize the IT systems across the chain?
  • Why is IT itself not a source of competitive advantages?

Day 3 Wyndham International Case Brief Guideline

Next week, in reading Wyndham case, focus on the two following topics.

  • At which area does Wyndham choose to excel and how?
  • How does the ByRequest program support this goal?
  • How is ByRequest different from other guest-royalty or frequent mileage programs?

It might be hard to understand “Wyndham’s Background” and “The Lodging Industry” section (page 2-5). It’s okay not to include these part in your brief, but be sure to read them before the class.

Executive Report #1 – due by Friday, Sep 26

MIS 3534 Fall 2014 – Exec Report #1.pdf

Attached is the announcement for Executive Report #1, which is due by Friday, September 26. A draft for feedback (optional) is due by Sep. 19. Submissions for a draft and a final report should be through Blackboard.

For Topic #3, you will need to download the following article.

Pepsi Americas – MIT CISR.pdf

Here are a sample executive report and best reports from a previous semester.

For some CIO magazine articles, you will need to register at http://www.cio.com/learn-about-insider.

Sign up for presentation on Sep 15

Next class on Sep 15, we need two volunteers to present one of these articles

  • HBS Case – “Wyndham International: Fostering High-Touch with High-Tech”
  • Harvard Business Review – “The Core Competence of the Corporation” by C.K. Prahalad and G. Hamel

As always, a waiver for one reading brief and participation points will be awarded. Leave a comment to sign up.

Day 02 – online discussion questions

Let’s keep the discussion on-going!

  • What are the examples of “switching costs” that reduce the bargaining power of buyers?
  • In the presence of fierce rivalry among competitors, what should you do in order to better compete with them and achieve high profitability?
  • Why is an elevator service business more profitable than a manufacturing, based on the five forces?
  • Why do companies sell bundle?
  • The case states on Page 8 that “The next step in our evolution will be the management of information flows between all the participants.” What does it mean by information management? Why is it important?
  • The case states on Page 8 that “To achieve continuous transformation, the e*Logistics program makes sure the business process change sticks. … With the e*Logistics program, best practices from SIP are baked into the organization and institutionalized to achieve that continuous transformation.” What does it mean by “stick” and “baked”?
  • Would the change from manufacturing to a service company at Otis be easy? Who would be unhappy with this change?

Harvard Business Case Coursepack – Price Corrected!

It has come to my attention that some of you had to pay a lot more than I expected for the Harvard Business coursepack. It was supposed to be $45.89, but it appeared as $97.4. (I thank Sung Sik for letting me know this.)

I have contacted the publishers, and they corrected the price to $45.89. Please see the message from them below. If you have already purchased the package, you will receive a refund through your credit card.

Keep in mind that Otis case, which is a required reading for next Monday’s class, is included in the coursepack.

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/27952567

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Hertzenberg, David <david.hertzenberg@harvardbusiness.org>
Date: 2014-09-03 9:19 GMT-04:00
Subject: RE: Case Coursepack question
To: Min-Seok Pang <minspang@temple.edu>
Cc: “Phaneuf, Autumn” <autumn.phaneuf@harvardbusiness.org>
Hi Dr. Pang,

Our service team has responded to me and said that there was an issue with our website and the wrong pricing was occurring in some coursepacks, yours included. The problem has been resolved and your students should now see the correct pricing in your coursepack. Please let me know if your students do not see the correct pricing at $3.95 per case.

So far, 5 students have registered for the coursepack and overpaid by credit card. We will credit these 5 students the difference amount ASAP, and they should see that credit come through on their credit card accounts soon.

So the issue has been resolved and once your students receive their credit on their accounts, we should be all set. Apologies on behalf of HBP for the technical issue here. Please let me know if any further issues occur here.

Best,
Dave