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Monash University

FIT3136 IT governance and strategy for business - Semester 1, 2013

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.

Mode of Delivery

Sunway (Day)

Contact Hours

2 hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs tutorials/wk

Workload requirements

You are expected to spend 12 hours per week on various activities including reading, communication with other students and unit lecturers, and preparation for learning tasks and formal assessments.

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

FIT3066, FIT3019

Prerequisites

Completion of 24 points of second year IT units

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Sunway

Mr Tam Leong Hing

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of of this unit student will have -A knowledge and understanding of:
  • strategic contexts of IT management;
  • alignment between business strategy and IT strategy;
  • forms of IT governance;
  • various types of IT processes;
  • organising and managing IT function (including role of CIO);
  • legal and ethical concerns of IT;
  • evaluating IT portfolio management;
  • IT provisioning issues including IT outsourcing.
Developed attitudes that enable them to:
  • develop an ability to identify and manage changes in IT strategy due to changes in business strategy;
  • recognise the need to assess the socio-political motivations for evaluating IT business value and IT outsourcing decisions;
  • critically assess the legal and ethical issues associated with managing and governing IT resources.
Developed the skills to:
  • prepare IT strategy in alignment with business strategy;
  • prepare IT outsourcing policies;
  • develop a mindset of ethical practice in managing IT resources.

Unit Schedule

Week Activities Assessment
0   No formal assessment or activities are undertaken in week 0
1 Strategic contexts of organisations Tutorials begin in Week 1
2 IT strategy and business strategy  
3 IT strategy alignment  
4 IT governance  
5 IT governance (continued from Week 4)  
6 IT processes  
7 IT systems success and failure Assignment 1 due Friday 26 April 2013
8 Funding IT function  
9 IT outsourcing  
10 IT provisioning  
11 IT and organisational culture and power  
12 Unit review and exam discussion Assignment 2 due Friday 31 May 2013
  SWOT VAC No formal assessment is undertaken in SWOT VAC
  Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

*Unit Schedule details will be maintained and communicated to you via your learning system.

Assessment Summary

Examination (3 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Assignment 1 - Analysing IT Implementation at a Company 20% Friday 26 April 2013
Assignment 2 - Evaluating IT systems failure 20% Friday 31 May 2013
Examination 1 60% To be advised

Teaching Approach

Lecture and tutorials or problem classes
This teaching and learning approach provides facilitated learning, practical exploration and peer learning.

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Faculty Policy - Unit Assessment Hurdles (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/staff/edgov/policies/assessment-examinations/unit-assessment-hurdles.html)

Academic Integrity - Please see the Demystifying Citing and Referencing tutorial at http://lib.monash.edu/tutorials/citing/

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Assignment 1 - Analysing IT Implementation at a Company
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the significance of implementing IT governance framework at a company.
    Weighting:
    20%
    Criteria for assessment:

    This assignment will be evaluated in terms of:

    • completeness of arguments
    • correctness of arguments
    • richness of arguments
    • clarity of expression
    • and use of appropriate references to support arguments.
    Due date:
    Friday 26 April 2013
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Assignment 2 - Evaluating IT systems failure
    Description:
    This assignment is designed to test students' understanding about the factors that contribute to the failure of large scale complex IT systems in organisations.
    Weighting:
    20%
    Criteria for assessment:

    This assignment will be evaluated in terms of:

    • completeness of arguments
    • correctness of arguments
    • richness of arguments
    • clarity of expression
    • and use of appropriate references to support arguments.
    Due date:
    Friday 31 May 2013

Examinations

  • Examination 1
    Weighting:
    60%
    Length:
    3 hours
    Type (open/closed book):
    Closed book
    Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
    None
    Remarks:
    Examination paper will have three parts: multiple choice questions, mini-cases, and discussion questions.

Learning resources

Reading list

There is no presecribed text for this unit. Each week, students will be given a reference list of useful backround materials.  However, parts of several chapters of the following textbooks are relevant:

1. Jerry Luftman et al. (2004) Managing the IT resource, Pearson Prentice Hall, 1st Edition, Chapters 1, 4, 5, 8 and 11

2. Carrol Frenzel and John Frenzel (2004) Management of IT, Thomson Course Technology, 4th Edition, Chapters 10 and 18

3. Rainer, Turban and Potter (2007) Introduction to information systems: supporting and transforming business, John Wiley & Sons, Chapter 10

4. Keri Pearlson and Carol Saunders (2004) Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach, John Wiley & Sons, 2nd Edition, Chapter 9

Monash Library Unit Reading List
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Feedback to you

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:
  • Graded assignments with comments
  • Solutions to tutes, labs and assignments

Extensions and penalties

Returning assignments

Referencing requirements

Harvard style referencing is preferred for assignments.

Assignment submission

It is a University requirement (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-procedures.html) for students to submit an assignment coversheet for each assessment item. Faculty Assignment coversheets can be found at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/. Please check with your Lecturer on the submission method for your assignment coversheet (e.g. attach a file to the online assignment submission, hand-in a hard copy, or use an online quiz).

Online submission

If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Other Information

Policies

Graduate Attributes Policy

Student services

Monash University Library

Disability Liaison Unit

Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis.

Your feedback to Us

Previous Student Evaluations of this Unit

Student feedback has indicated that this unit is well structured. Drawing on the feedback, improvements and extensions have been made in such areas as IT governance, strategic contexts of organisations and IT, and IT strategy alignment.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp

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