In-class discussion questions – Week 7 (Oct 17)
- Which government spending do you want to cut – military, education, highway?
- Is there a reason not to cut military spending? Is there a reason not to cut education?
- Who controls the IT budget at IVK?
- On what basis do the business units at IVK pay for IT?
- Why had Mr. Davies, the former CIO, had to set up “slush funds”? How did he secure the slash funds?
- The slush fund is technically what? from accounting standpoint?
- Why is Mr. John Cho requesting an immediate funding on IT security?
- Why has the request for IT security funding kept being denied?
- What’s the consideration and decision of Mr. Barton in terms of IT budget funding and controls? What’s his rationale?
- If he controls the entire budget, will all the problems go away?
- What does Maggie, Mr. Barton’s girlfriend/consultant, mean by “one neck in the noose”?
- Suppose that you pay income tax and can live in any house you want for free! (Your government provides housing for you.) What would happen?
Online discussion questions – Oct 10
- On Page 58, it reads “we’ve run closer to 5 to 6 percent of sales on IT spending. Which, by the way, Davies thought wasn’t enough to keep IT assets from degrading over time..” Why does Mr. Davies mean by degrading?
- What are the examples of IT systems that have high strategic impacts but not operational dependency?
- What are the examples of IT systems that have high operational dependence but not strategic impacts (other than flight scheduling systems)?
Week 6 – Cost of IT (I) – class slides and videos
Week 06 – Cost of IT (I) (color).pdf
Week 06 – Cost of IT (I) (bw).pdf
Sandy’s Impact on DC Travel – NBC Washington (http://www.nbcwashington.com/video/#!/weather/Sandys-Impact-on-D-C–Area-Travel/176499231)
Computer Failures Bring Southwest Airlines to a Halt – NBC News (http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/computer-failures-bring-southwest-airlines-to-a-halt-543189571733)
BRING A LAPTOP on Oct 10 class
Please bring a laptop for Oct 10 class next week. I will explain Excel Assignment #1 and let you begin working on it.
Participation Grades posted on Gradebook
The participation grades as of Oct 6, which include online participation, were posted on MIS Community Gradebook at http://community.mis.temple.edu/gradebook/.
Week 6 – IT Adventures Ch. 4 and 5 – Brief Guideline
Read IT Adventures Chapter 4 and 5 and write ONE reading brief (NOT two) up to 200 words that includes both chapters.
- What is the funding mechanism for IT at IVK? What is a chargeback? (Ch. 4)
- How have IT portfolio and spending at IVK evolved for the last several years? (Ch. 4)
- Describe the concepts of “Competes vs. Qualifiers” and IT Strategic Grid (Ch. 5)
In-class discussion questions – Week 7 (Oct 10)
- Why does an IT system need maintenance? It does not become rusty!
- On Page 58 of the textbook, it reads “we’ve run closer to 5 to 6 percent of sales on IT spending. Which, by the way, Davies thought wasn’t enough to keep IT assets from degrading over time..” Why does Mr. Davies mean by degrading?
- If it needs to spend money in maintaining IT systems, how much does a company need to spend on it?
- What happens with too little spending in maintenance? What happens with too much?
- Spending in IT maintenance should depend on what?
Online discussion questions – Oct 3
- How would you quantify the benefits in reduced security risks and improved security compliance from SFO SAFE? How would you put a dollar figure on it?
- How would you quantify the benefits in improved service from OTISLINE? How would you put a dollar figure on it?
Week 5 – Business Value of IT – class slides and videos (UPDATE)
Week 05 – Business Value of IT (color).pdf
Week 05 – Business Value of IT (bw).pdf
Man Arrested After Major Security Breach – ABC San Diego (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBtTa0WN0J8)
Hundreds of ID Badges Missing from Airport – NBC News (http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/hundreds-of-id-badges-have-gone-missing-from-atlanta-airport-411284547700)
Week 05 – SFO Analysis (solution with sensitive analyses)
BRING A LAPTOP on Oct 3 class
Next week, we will learn how to calculate returns on IT investments with Excel. Please bring a laptop on Oct 3.
Need to a volunteer to explain the ROI concepts (a waiver for one brief)
I am looking for a volunteer who can explain the concepts of return-on-investments (ROI) for Oct 3rd. She/he will explain how to calculate net present value (NPV), internal rate of returns (IRR), and a backpack period.
The volunteer will be given participation points and a waiver for one reading brief. Please email me (minspang@temple.edu) to come forward!
Week 4 – Enterprise Architecture – class slides
In-class discussion questions – Week 5 (Oct 3)
- How can we justify a large amount of investments in e*Logistics or Common Digital Platform?
- Why is security a concern at an airport?
- Which individuals should an airport manage for security?
- Which information does a security system have to maintain? Which process does the security system have to handle?
- What are the risks from the current manual, inefficient processes in managing airport employee credentials?
- What could be the WORST-CASE scenarios from a security failure at SFO?
- What is your recommendation for SAFE Project at SFO? Go or no go? How certain are you? Are you certain that everything will pan out as predicted?
- Which assumption or prediction is most sensitive (critical)?
- What are the problems with the ROI analysis we just did? What does this fail to account for?
Week 5 – San Francisco Airport – Brief Guideline
- Why is San Francisco Airport considering to upgrade its security system?
- What are the problems and risks in SFO’s current security infrastructure and processes?
- How does Ms. Dickie try to justify the investments into the new security system?
Online discussion questions – Sep 26
- What are other examples of M&A between hospitals or between insurance companies. What are the reasons for these M&As?
- What are the other examples of standard we’re enjoying in our everyday life (other than language, currency, railroad, power outlet)?
- What should be changed if the U.S. adopts the Metric System as in other countries?
- Why does a standard stifle innovation and creativity?
- Other examples of a standard payment system such as E-Zpass or SmarTrip?
- What would be a valid business/technical reason for a business unit to use Oracle database while everyone else uses My SQL?
- By adopting one standard technology for all employees/units (e.g. Microsoft Windows, Oracle database, SAP ERP), what would be the risks?
In-class discussion questions – Week 4 (Sep 26)
- What is a Unified Service Organizations (USO) (Trinity case p. 3)?
- Why does Trinity implement a “Common Digital Platform”?
- Why is IT important in hospitals?
- What kind of standards do we enjoy in our daily life?
- Why do many European nations use Euro as a common currency?
- Why do the U.K. and some others refuse to adopt Euro?
- What are the benefits from a standard?
- What would be the costs in having a standard? By having a standard, we are losing what?
- Why does the U.S. refuse to adopt the Metric System?
- Why do states adopt E-Zpass for a common standard payment system?
- Why have IT systems at IVK gotten so complex?
- When there is freedom, employees and business units are using different kinds of ITs, whatever they want. What are the problems in this case?
- What does it mean by coupling in IT systems?
- Can the collections system at IVK be up-and-running without communicating with the loan operation system or the financial/accounting system?
Week 4 – IT Adventures Ch. 16 – Brief Guideline
- What has made IVK IT systems so complex?
- Why is Mr. Barton considering to standardize IVK’s IT systems?
- What are his alternatives? What are the pros and cons of each option?
Week 3 – IT and Competitive Strategies (II) – class slides and video (UPDATED)
Week 03 – IT and Strategy (II) (color).pdf
Week 03 – IT and Strategy (II) (bw).pdf
From Fee-for Service to Value-Based Care – Xerox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YYT-jb6FPQ)
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