Session

Topics

Readings, Assignments

1 M 1/7
Lecture

Administrativa

Introduction

Course positioning: Relationship b/w IT innovation, IS capabilities, and business performance/economics.

"Software code becoming the factory"

Frameworks for this course:
(1) IS-Enabled Business Framework
(-> functional relationships):
(1.1) Business concept,
(1.2) business processes,
(1.3) IS/platform architecture.

(2) IS Strategy Map
(-> IS layers and strategic positions):
(2.1) IS layers,
(2.2) IS vendors,
(2.3) IS service providers.

(3) IS Economics Tree
(-> types of economic incentives):
(3.1) Cost,
(3.2) revenue,
(3.3) industry structure.

2 M 1/14
Lecture

IS and Business Strategy

Repetitorium of key strategy concepts:
(1) 4 environments,
(2) 5 forces (Porter 1979),
(3) value chain/systems (Porter 1984; Pralahad and Hamel 1990),
(4) IO's S-C-P paradigm (Mason 1939, 1949; Bain 1956, 1968).

U.S. Census Bureau's 3 E classification concept (Mesenbourg 2000):
(1) E-commerce,
(2) e-business,
(3) supporting infrastructure, computer networks.

IS business impact: Venkatraman's 4 levels (1994) and generic Web-IS impact categories (i.e., McKinsey, Accenture):
(1) Product,
(2) process,
(3) industry transformation.

Mesenbourg, T. L. 2000. Measuring Electronic Business -- Definitions, Underlying Concepts, and  Measurement Plans. Bureau of the Census (accessed 9/4/00); available at http://www.ecommerce.gov/
ecomnews/e-def.html; Internet.

3 M 1/28
Lecture

Internet Infrastructure

Internet timeline, components/protocols/ software applications versus Internet as a system, e.g., TCP/IP, the Web protocols--HTTP, HTML, URL, FTP, TELNET, etc.

Overview of communication markets:
(1) Wireline (regional segmentation: long distance, local loop; functional segmentation: voice, data, video signals),
(2) wireless.

IS Architectures I

IS architecture view: computer hardware and software as layered components.

IS architecture and systems interfaces: compatibility and complementarities.

IS competition: "Application barrier to entry," and software as a "new entrant" (i.e., United States v. Microsoft, http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_index.htm).

Introduction to Hypertext Markup Language 4 (HTML 4), Appendix C, in: Deitel et al. 2001. E-Business and E-Commerce for Managers. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Intermediate HTML, Appendix D, in: Deitel et al. 2001. E-Business and E-Commerce for Managers. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: 646-649 (D4 Basic HTML Forms) and 649-652 (D5 More Complex HTML Forms).

(I have added the above book chapters so that you can familiarize yourself with Web publishing because assignments have to be submitted as Web pages.)

4 M 2/4
Lecture

IS Architectures II

IS architecture and the structure of the computer industry.

Computing styles: Client/server (C/S) computing.

From two-tier client/server systems to three and n-tier Web-based IS architectures.

Computing styles: Event-based systems (EVBS) and peer-to-peer computing.

Economics of C/S and EVBS.

5 M 2/11

IS Survey Instruments I

Theory and research constructs.

Instrument development.

Validity (internal/design, external/generalizations, construct--convergent, discriminate).

Research construct allocation (Ph.D. student initials):
1. CW: IS and business strategy alignment.
2. LC: Interactivity, customizability.
3. RV: IS investments, IS performance.
4. RS: Modularity, IS flexibility.
5. JZ: Information and knowledge sharing.
6. SO: Asset specificity, e-integration.
7. PP: IS coordination.
8. NS: Reach, range, IS integration.
9. AB: Standardization, reuse

LC: Straub, D. W.  1989. Validating Instruments in MIS Research. MIS Quarterly 13: 147-169.

CW: Moore, G. C., and I. Benbasat.  1991. Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. Information Systems Research 2: 192-222.

JZ: Chin, W. W., A. Gopal, and W. D. Salisbury.  1997. Advancing the Theory of Adaptive Structuration: The Development of a Scale to Measure Faithfulness of Appropriation. Information Systems Research 8: 342-367.

6 M 2/25

IS Survey Instruments II

Model and instrument development example: IS Capabilities and Relational Value.

Interorganizational IS and transaction cost, specialization strategies.

Malone, T. W., J. Yates, and R. I. Benjamin.  1987.  Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies.  Communications of the ACM 30(6) (June): 484–497.

Gurbaxani, V., and W. Seungjin.  1991.  The Impact of Information Systems on Organizations and Markets.  Communications of the ACM 43(1) (January): 59-73.

7 M 3/4
Lecture

IS Engineering

IS engineering concepts, examples from Broadvision, Accenture, and ATG Dynamo.

Simultaneous/concurrent, IS engineering concepts, example from Schlueter Research.

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) concepts: Waterfall vs. Rapid Application Development (RAD).

SDLCs and Scheer’s House of Integrated IS: Translating business needs into IS capabilities (-> f(x,y,z) = 2z + 3y –4z) (Davenport 1990).

Logical Design: Process modeling and data modeling (using the ARIS Computer Aided Software Engineering--CASE--tool).

IS engineering organization: Closed/ proprietary development vs. off-the-shelf vs. open source

Open Source Dev., Jean-Louis Gassee,  Mac/BeOS (adapting to market).

FAQ IS Scales

RV: Morris, C. R., and C. H. Ferguson. 1993. How architecture wins technology wars. Harvard Business Review (March - April): 86-96.

(To be announced)

8 M 3/18

Topic:

IS architecture and market structure: open versus proprietary systems, inter-platform vs. intra-platform competition, systems competition, and network externalities.

IS Scales Part I.

AB: Arthur, B. W.  1996. Increasing returns and the new world of business. Harvard Business Review (July–August): 100–109.

SO: Katz, M. L., and C. Shapiro.  1994.  Systems competition and network effects.  Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(2) (Spring): 93–115.

9 M 3/25

Topic:

Dominant design, standardization, and disruptive technology (use of game theory).

Review of IS Scales (1 and 2)

NS: Anderson, P., and M. L. Tushman.  1990.  Technological discontinuities and dominant designs: A cyclical model of technological change.  Administrative Science Quarterly  35(4) (December): 604-633.

RS: Christensen, C. M., F. F. Suarez, and J. M. Utterbach.  1998.  Strategies for Survival in Fast-Changing Industries.  Management Science 44(12) (December): S207-S220.

(To be announced.)

10 M 4/1

IS Research Topics

E-markets, IS/electronic integration, and the structure of supply chains and distribution channels.

Digital transformation, strategic reconfiguration: Example of "Valuenets."

Review of IS Scales (3 and 4)

Dewan, S., S. C. Michael, and C. Min.  1998.  Firm Characteristics and Investments in Information Technology: Scale and Scope Effects.  Information Systems Research 9(3) (September) 219-232.

Dewan, S., M. Freimer, and A. Seidmann.  2000.  Organizing Distribution Channels for Information Goods on the Internet.  Management Science 46(4) (April): 483-495.

Hitt, L. M.  1999.  Information technology and firm boundaries: Evidence from panel data. Information Systems Research 10(2) 134-149.

Schlueter, C., and M. J. Shaw.  1997.  A strategic framework for developing electronic commerce.  IEEE Internet Computing 1(6): 20-28.

11 M 4/8

IS Research Topic

Guest speaker 1: Dan O'Leary, topic to be announced.

(To be announced.)

12 M 4/15

IS Research Topic

Guest speaker 2 (to be announced).

Review of IS Scales (5 and 6)

(To be announced.)

13 M 4/22

Topic:

IS competition as a complex adaptive system.

Laboratory experiments and simulation: Multi-agent systems (MAS) and complex adaptive systems (CAS).

Object-orientation: Languages (C++, Java), concepts (UML), design.

IS Architectures III LAB

Web services

Review of IS Scales (7 and 8)

Hagel III, J., and J. S. Brown.  2001.  Your Next IT Strategy. Harvard Business Review (October): 105-113.

Malone, T. W.  1987.  Modeling Coordination in Organizations and Markets.  Management Science Vol. 33, No. 10 (October ): 1317-1332.

Sikora, R., and M. J. Shaw.  1998.  A Multi-Agent Framework for the Coordination and Integration of Information Systems. Management Science 44(11) (November): 65-78.

(To be announced.)

14 M XX

Final Exam

IS Scales Part II.

Group Project.