Monthly Archives: March 2015
Online discussion questions – Mar 16
- If you outsource your car maintenance to outside mechanics, how do you find and choose a mechanic?
- If you are running a manufacturing company, when/why would you let outside vendors (e.g. UPS, Fedex) handle logistics and delivery to customers?
- When would you keep delivery/logistics in-house and let your own employees do it?
In-class discussion questions for Mar 18
We will discuss these questions in-class on Wed, Mar 18. Do not post comments on this.
- What is the Infrastructure Replacement (IR) project for at IVK?
- Why is this project not going well?
- Why did IVK select NetiFects for the IR project vendor?
- When selecting NetiFects, what homework did IVK do?
- How do you choose your mechanic? Based on what?
- If you did not do “due diligence” in finding an outsourcing vendor, what would happen to you?
Unofficial Mid-Term LETTER GRADES posted on Blackboard
I have posted unofficial mid-term LETTER GRADES on Blackboard as of Mar 13. Attendance, participation grades, and reading brief scores (top six briefs) were also updated.
This is strictly unofficial, only to inform your progress and standing in this class so far. The final grades will depend on your performance for the rest of the semester.
UPDATED : There was an error in participation grades. I have updated participation and total grades on Sunday, Mar 15 at 8pm.
In-class discussion questions for Mar 16
We will discuss these questions in-class on Mon, Mar 16. Do not post comments on this.
- Do you fix your car by yourself or have a mechanic do maintenance? Why?
- How do you choose your mechanic? Based on what?
- Why does Apple outsource the entire manufacturing operations to offshore vendors?
- Why would a company outsource IT operation and development to an external vendor?
- What would be the reasons that Otis DID NOT outsource the development of e*Logistics?
- What’s a doctor-patient confidentiality?
Executive Report #2 – due by Wednesday, March 25
Online discussion questions – Mar 11
- 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 for Mar 13
We will discuss these questions in-class on Fri, Mar 13. Do not post comments on this.
- How to choose bewteen Voluntary Compliance vs. Strict Enforcement? What should be consideration?
- If IT is Compete, which should the choice? What if Qualifier?
- Between Voluntary Compliance and Strict Enforcement, which one does Mr. Barton prefer?
- Why doesn’t he go for Strict Enforcement?
- What is the “Gradual Migration” approach that Mr. Barton proposes?
Week 9 – IT Adventures Ch. 7 and 14 – Brief Guidelines
Chapter 7
- Why is the Infrastructure Replacement (IR) project failing?
Chapter 14
- What are the differences between three prospective vendors for the IR project?
- What are the differences between two contracting models that IVK is considering?
Your report does not need to include
- “Wednesday, April 28, 10:12 a.m.” (p. 107-109),
- the consultant’s report (p. 120-122),
- “the third major disagreement” (p. 226-228),
- “Monday, October 1, 11:00 a.m.” (p. 228-231), and
- vendor assessment matrices (p. 233).
But please DO NOT SKIP to read them.
Week 8 – Enterprise Architecture – class slides and videos (UPDATED)
Week 08 – Enterprise Architecture (color).pdf
Week 08 – Enterprise Architecture (bw).pdf
Enterprise Architecture – MIT CISR (http://cisr.mit.edu/publications-and-tools/publication-search/enterprise-architecture/)
Operating Model – MIT CISR (http://cisr.mit.edu/publications-and-tools/publication-search/operating-model/)
US Switch to Metric System – Washington Post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXK-QJ_9SLs)
Greece Could Say Goodbye to the Euro – Euronews (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1JHv1OkXMY)
Are J.C. Penney’s Problems Behind Them? – Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/d376d360-5f30-4467-89c5-cd1d71777355)
E-ZPass – VDOT (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZcdRXYls9I)
Update syllabus with a NEW SCHEDULE
Please find the attached syllabus that is updated with a new schedule for the rest of the semester.
MIS 3534 Spring 2015 – Syllabus (03.10.2015).pdf
Important Dates
- Wed, Mar 11 – Due date for ROI Homework #1
- Wed, Mar 18 – Due date for Executive Report #2 draft
- Wed, Mar 25 – Due date for Executive Report #2 final
- Mon, Apr 13 – Due date for ROI Homework #2
- Fri, Apr 24 – Due date for Executive Report #3 draft
- Fri, May 1 – Due date for Executive Report #3 final
One required reading for a brief is added for Week 14, but I will drop one more grade for the final grade. In other words, I will drop the three lowest scores in reading briefs.