MSc Advanced Computer Science and IT Management Manchester Business - PDF document

MSc Advanced Computer Science and IT Management Manchester Business School courses SEMESTER 1 Title BMAN 70391 Managing Projects Credit Rating 15 Level 7 Semester 1 Course Coordinator(s) Dr Eunice Maytorena-sanchez Methods of Delivery Lectures and case studies Lecture Hours 30 (3 hours per week over 10 weeks including case analysis sessions) Seminar Hours - Private Study Hours 120 hours Total Study Hours 150 hours Pre-requisites - Co-requisites - Dependent Courses - Assessment Methods Individual assessment, quiz/test (15%) and Relative Weightings Individual assessment, 3000 word essay (85%) Aims To introduce students to the fundamental concepts, processes, tools and techniques employed in project management practice and critically apply and assess these in real-world situations. Learning Outcomes: students should be able to Academic Knowledge and Understanding  Understand the fundamental principles and processes available for supporting the management of projects;  Understand the issues associated with project management practices;  Understand what skills are required to effectively manage projects. Intellectual Skills  Identify and apply appropriate concepts and frameworks in the analysis of a project situation;  Critically analyse and assess a project situation and make recommendations for improvement;  Undertake critical research of project management issues in a rigorous manner. Subject Practical Skills  Define, design, plan, execute, terminate and develop a project and its management in a wide range of work contexts. Transferable Skills  Development of communication, organisational, managerial, team building, leadership and coping skills.

Syllabus Overview The Management of Projects in Context Why Projects, why are they important – value creation perspective • Projects characteristics – uniqueness, complex, uncertain etc. • Project lifecycles • Project and Project Management success/failure • Project Management Maturity • Conception and Definition Organisational strategy and Projects • Selecting the project (s) • Defining the project mission and scope • Managing Stakeholders • Assembling the Project Team The Project Manager (skills, attributes, traits) - leadership • Building and managing the team/coalition (selection, characteristics, • effectiveness) Conflict and negotiation • Design and Planning Planning the Project – project plan, action plan, WBS, LRC • Estimating project times – networks, duration, CP, Gantt Charts • Estimating project costs – creating a budget, learning curves, problem • with estimates Implementation Managing the Schedule • Managing the Budget • Managing Resources • Managing Quality: Conformance and Performance • Managing Risk and Uncertainty • Managing Information Flows (PMIS) • Planning-Monitoring-Controlling cycle – reporting, control systems, • managing scope creep and baseline change Dealing with problems • Delivery and Termination Evaluation • Termination and Closure • Reading List Maylor, H. 2010. Project Management. 4th ed. Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Additional reading material for each session: case studies, journal articles, book chapters.

Title BMAN60111 IS Strategy and Enterprise Systems Credit Rating 15 Level 7 Semester 1 Course Coordinator(s) Chris Holland Methods of Delivery Lectures, case studies, electronic case studies, video, guest lecturers and industry presenters Lecture Hours 30 Seminar Hours 0 Private Study Hours 120 Total Study Hours 150 Assessment Method Individual Essay (50%) plus Exam (50%) Aims It is now widely recognised that information is the lifeblood of companies. IT and Information Systems (IS) were long considered as a separate part in organisations that merely provided some infrastructure and maybe some supporting mechanisms for certain business activities. Recently, it has been recognised that IT and IS form an integral part of organisations. The introduction of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) is evidence of this trend. In addition, organisations start to recognise that IT and IS should be closely linked to business strategy and objectives in order to achieve a competitive advantage. The focus to date has been on automating transactional-based systems in all the business areas of the company, such as production and logistics. The challenge for managers over the next decade is to build intelligence into their organisations that combine the best elements of integrated transaction-based systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and banking systems, with knowledge-based systems that support individual and group decision making, and enable the communication, storage and leverage of ideas and concepts across global enterprises. The management of ‘big data’ is also a new strategic challenge for companies. The aim of the course unit is to develop an understanding of key information systems strategy concepts and contemporary developments in IS strategy for competitive advantage, Internet marketing and global systems. Emphasis will be placed on the combination of theory and practice through the strategic analysis of case studies and examples of big data sets in a range of markets. In lectures and discussion, theory frameworks will be illustrated with international examples and data from banking, telecommunications, grocery, retailing, sports marketing and manufacturing.

Learning Outcomes Academic Knowledge and Intellectual Skills  Comprehend key strategic concepts including competitive positioning, the role of IT in a resource based view of the firm, the debate on IT and competitive advantage, the distinction between planned and emergent strategies.  Understand the theory of electronic markets and how strategy concepts can be applied to develop an Internet marketing strategy  Have knowledge of business computing architectures such as ERP and supply chain systems, including implementation and cost structure models Subject practical skills  Apply the concepts of IT strategy to evaluate a company’s use of IT in the context of its overall business strategy. This includes the use of ERP as a vital component of a firm’s internal IT infrastructure  Analyse the relationships between business and IT strategies and apply these concepts to a range of companies including Amazon, CISCO, TESCO, schwab.com and Vodafone  Be able to synthesise external market data with internal performance data and the managerial implications of the resource profile for large-scale IT project implementation  Have an appreciation of the use of ‘big data’ in a commercial context, e.g. to be able to relate sales data to online search data in the US automotive industry  Have an appreciation and understanding of state of the art technology use in leading companies such as CISCO, Alibaba, Vodafone, TESCO and Capital One. Transferable skills  Develop a coherent analysis of multiple sources of data, derived from case study and evaluation of online market data and online panel data  Contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of an Internet marketing strategy in a competitive context Syllabus 1. IT as a supporting mechanism for organisations and as part of business strategy, including the distinction between IT infrastructure, transaction systems and business intelligence 2. Legacy systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, including vendor positioning. 3. What is strategy, business strategy and IS strategy? This will include strategy frameworks that cover competitive positioning, resource

based view of the firm and the role of IT, strategic alignment and IT for competitive advantage 4. The use of information systems to support Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as part of an information-driven strategy 5. International strategies: the balance between global and local country strategies 6. The theory of electronic markets, application of concepts to B2B markets and online sales models in consumer marketing 7. Development of Internet marketing strategy in consumer markets and the combined use of internal performance data with external market information on competitors 8. Web 2.0 developments in business and consumer markets 9. A number of case studies will be discussed in class, see below for details. Reading List and Information Resources IS Strategy Reading List Organised by Subject Themes / Lectures. C.P. HOLLAND 2015. Technology and Business Trends Articles and Book Chapters Chapter 1. Introduction to digital business and e-commerce, Chaffey, Dave “ Digital Business and E-commerce management, Strategy, Implementation and Practice (2015). Information technology and disruption, Economist article on Marc • Andreessen McKinsey. Clouds, big data, and smart assets: Ten tech-enabled • business trends to watch: http://www.itglobal- services.de/files/100810_McK_Clouds_big_data_and%20smart%20as sets.pdf Internet of Things A provocative article in The Economist • SAS Internet of Things Blog Post • Smartphone on Wheels. Another article from The Economist that • shows the potential of connecting together devices to form a new ecosystem, in this case centred on the car The customer journey, • http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/bra nd_success_in_an_era_of_digital_darwinism?cid=other-eml-alt-mkq- mck-oth-1502 VIDEOS Deloitte US. Tech Trends 2014: Inspiring Disruption • Deloitte Tech Trends 2013 Summary • IBM Business Tech Trends 2014 • Interview with Erik Brynjolfsson: Productivity Paradox •