This unit has been introduced to provide graduates with a clear understanding of various critical issues associated with governing and managing information technologies from the corporate senior management perspective. This unit provides foundation knowledge about how business strategies are related to IT strategies and influence the governance of the IT function in organisations.

Introduced for course architecture programs. Effective semester 1, 2016

31 August 2017: Updating Exam hours to meet new University Examination procedures. Effective S1 2018. Consulted with AD(L&T), and revised hours and percentage are inline with FIT3136 (prohibited unit)

12/12/2017: Admin - adding offering in South Africa from 2019.

24/9/19: Admin - updating the exam duration to include additional 10 minutes as per University requirement.

4/5/2020: As the MSA course 4307 Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences is in teach-out, the MSA offering of this unit has been re-coded to FZA3174 effective Semester 1, 2021. These units will be managed by South Africa and therefore no separate Monatar entries will be made

23/09/2020 Admin: Update to include new assessment and teaching approach fields as per Handbook requirements.

This unit has been introduced to provide students with an understanding of how to manage and govern the IT function in business organisations.

This unit focuses on the alignment issues between business and IT strategies and uses a range of theoretical frameworks to better understand these strategies.

As organisations are increasingly operating within a dynamic business environment, there is a strong need for graduates of the BBIS to understand the principles and practices of managing IT as an organisational resource in line with corporate strategy. This unit provides the theoretical knowledge and also demonstrates the practical applications of how IT governance mechanisms work within diverse industry contexts.

At the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. demonstrate the capability to develop an appropriate type of IT strategy which is consistent with the corporate strategy of business organisations;
2. demonstrate a capacity to describe how IT governance can be applied to improve IT function and its performance;
3. critically evaluate the benefits associated with various IT outsourcing options suitable for business organisations;
4. demonstrate the capability to avoid IT systems failure using IT governance;
5. critically discuss the major legal issues that may affect IT systems and operations;
6. demonstrate an ability to prepare IT budgets for business.

020300

This unit provides students with an understanding of how to manage and govern the IT function in business organisations. It builds on themes relating to managing IT as an organisational resource and discusses IT function from strategy and governance perspectives. The unit also emphasises the relationship between theoretical knowledge and its practical application using cases and real examples.

Core concepts discussed in this unit include the strategic context of IT management, alignment between business strategy and IT strategy, IT governance processes, various types of IT processes, organising and managing the IT function (including the role of the CIO), legal and ethical concerns of IT, evaluating IT portfolio management, IT provisioning issues, including outsourcing.

Recommended resources

There is no prescribed text for this unit. Each week, students will be given a reference list of useful background materials. However, parts of several chapters of the following textbooks are relevant and will be listed in Moodle:

Laudon, K. C., Laudon, J. P. (2018) Management information systems: managing the digital firm, Pearson, NY.

Moeller, R. (2013) Executive's guide to IT governance: improving systems processes with service management, COBIT, and ITIL, Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Westerman, G. Bonnet, D. McAfee, A. (2014) Leading digital: turning technology into business transformation, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, Massachusetts.

On-campus

*Lecture and/or tutorials or problem classes

Examination (2 hours and 10 minutes): 60%, In-semester assessment: 40%

1. A critical assessment of IT strategy: - 20% ULO: 1, 2
2. IT governance framework application: - 10% ULO: 4, 5
3. Tutorial Participation: - 10% ULO: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
4. Final Examination: - 60% ULO: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

(b.) Additional requirements (all students):

Completion of 24 points of second year level of IT or its equivalent study