Session 1-2 – IT and Competitive Strategies
Class Slides – Jan 7
Recommended Readings presentation slides
Links to Jan 7 Video Clips
- Jeff Bezos Interview – The Daily Show (http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/baettl/jeff-bezos)
- Historic Blockbuster – Onion News (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5o4oo_historic-blockbuster_news)
- Unfriended – Facebook IPO – WSJ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehc-eatmQ2I)
- Delta Airlines Glitch – The National (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WA5JpH6aic)
- IS in Action – Wal-Mart Supply Chain – CNBC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUe-tSabKag)
- The Explainer – The Balanced Scorecard – HBR (https://hbr.org/video/3633937148001/the-explainer-the-balanced-scorecard)
- Chalk Talk – Tragedy of the Commons (Part 1) – NSF (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZDjPnzoge0)
- Chalk Talk – Tragedy of the Commons (Part 2) – NSF (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVwk6VIxBXg)
- What Is the Prisoner’s Dilemma – Scientific American (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUTWcYXVR5w)
Class Recording – Jan 7
This is a link to today’s class recording – http://tucapture.fox.temple.edu/Mediasite/Play/697e1fe7619a4c57a7aca119827b73651d
Looking for Volunteers for Presentations or Mock Interviews for Jan 7 (will be given a waiver for one reading brief)
For Jan 7, we need five volunteers for presentations and mock job interviews. The volunteers will be given participation credits and can skip one of the reading briefs (will receive a full credit for one brief).
Two volunteers will participate mock job interviews for a new CIO position at IVK. (I will provide guidelines and interview questions.)
- One interviewee has to have majored IT, engineering, MIS, or related fields or have experiences in technology industries or IT development/management.
- Another interviewee has to have any other business experiences.
Three volunteers will present one of the following recommended readings (for 5 minutes each). (I will provide guidelines.)
- HBR – Investing in IT That Makes a Competitive Difference (https://hbr.org/2008/07/investing-in-the-it-that-makes-a-competitive-difference)
- HBR – The Five Competitive Forces That Shape a Strategy (https://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy)
- MIT SMR – Generate Premium Returns on Your IT Investments (http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/generating-premium-returns-on-your-it-investments/)
Session #1-2 – IT and Competitive Strategies – In-Class Discussion Questions
- What is a competitive strategy?
- What is a sustainable competitive advantage?
- What does it mean by a bargaining power of buyers?
- If there are so many competitors in your industry or your market, what would you do to better compete with them?
- According to the case, which business is more profitable? Elevator manufacturing or service? Why?
- How often do you change your doctor? Why?
- Can you think of an example of bundle around us? Why do firms sell a bundle?
- What are the improvements in customer service from OTISLINE?
- What is BHAG (p. 5)? Why is this “quantum leap improvement” (p. 5) necessary?
- How were things going before e*Logistics? How now are things going after e*Logistics? What are the improvements from e*Logistics?
- What do they mean by “the management of information flows” (p. 8)? Why is it important?
Reading Brief Qs for Session 1-2 – Otis Elevator
Read Otis Elevator case from the Harvard Business School coursepack and explain the following three points in no more than 200 words.
- What is the direction of Otis’ strategic move?
- Why is Otis trying to shift its strategic focus?
- How does e*Logistics support such a move?
This is due by 8:00 AM on Jan 7 (before the first day).