Strategic Information Systems Management

Assessment Requirements
You are required to develop a properly referenced management report of 3000 words in length for senior management that will address both parts A and B below.

Consider an organisation or an industry with which you are familiar. This may be somewhere you have either worked full-time, been on a placement or worked part-time in. It may even be an industry you are particularly interested in or have read a lot about recently. The organisation can be small, large, private, public (but NOT education based), an SME or even from the third sector (charity).

It is within this organisation that senior management will consider your report which should consider the inputs & strategy formulation process and be informed by Figures 2.3 (Unit 2; p.56) and Figure 3.7 (Unit 3; p.108) in the core text. Please note that these Figures are overarching frameworks for guidance only. Do NOT spend any time repeating these Figures or describing their elements. We are already familiar with them and such "padding" will be penalised.

Part A: Demand Side
You should evaluate the challenges, issues and potential disruptors facing the organisation/industry as well as contemplating the development of an appropriate business strategy. Importantly this strategy will need supporting IS/IT elements. Similar exercises are outlined in the weekly self-taught tutorials. Ensure that the organisation/industry/area selected is a single SBU.

To do this you will need to apply some of the tools and techniques that have been discussed in Units 2, 4, 5, 6 & 7. You should consider the application of at least TWO of these techniques. Please note that PESTEL or SWOT cannot count as one of the two but may be included as an additional tool if appropriate. You will have to select & apply the most appropriate tools & techniques to your selected industry/organisation. You will need to explain and justify your choice of tools, how they vary and what their strengths and limitations are.

Part B: Supply Side

Using the framework and tools suggested by Ward & Peppard (2016), discuss the appropriate elements for justification & assessment of IS/IT systems that you have identified.

A key aspect of the supply side of IS/IT investments is ensuring that appropriate attention has been given to structural, organisational & governance aspects of strategic IS/IT systems. Where appropriate discuss how these elements might impact your selected organisation/industry.

It is acknowledged that you will have limited access to information sources regards your chosen organisation/industry. However even a cursory internet and library search will reveal some basic information from which you can extrapolate. Remember the "art" of business and IS/IT strategy formulation will always take place in the presence of large amounts of uncertainty and unknowns.

The important element for this assessment is the willingness to undertake this kind of "what- if" type analysis and extrapolate from known elements and the use and application of the discussed tools and techniques to illuminate the situation.

You must avoid simply listing lots of items either as bullet points or in short paragraphs. You should also avoid jumping from one topic to another without any explanation of why you are moving on or what the relevance of the next item is. It is essential to focus on two or three elements and address them in depth rather than to string together a large number of discrete points. Failure to follow this guidance may result in a substantial deduction of marks overall.

Suggested Assessment Report Structure

Title: Organisation/industry.
Abstract: Organisation, results, derived strategy and IS/IT support elements.

Introduction: Contextual outline of the selected organisation/industry. Short outline of scope/structure, aims and objectives and selected tools to be used etc

Main Text: This section can be sub-divided as you see fit and should contain your in depth discussion of the topic. The following is a possible structure.

Industry Selection and tools application: selection and application of the selected tools. Explain and justify tools choice in terms of why they are appropriate for your organisation/industry. Apply the tools and summarise your findings from their use.
Derived Business strategy and supporting Is/IT elements: Identify a possible modified business strategy based on the results derived from your tools application. Explain how the development/modification of IS/IT applications will support the suggested new business strategy.

Justification & Governance of Supply: Discuss appropriate evaluation and governance aspects of the delivery of the above identified IS/IT elements.

Conclusions: Bring together the main points and summarise as well as making recommendations. Pointing out difficulties and deficiencies, caveats and cautions in the analysis and obstacles to a better analysis/outcome.

References: List here all the sources that you have cited within your text. List should be ordered alphabetically using the appropriate referencing system.

Appendices: You may include appendices where it is necessary to provide further evidence or explanation. You may use appendices to justify the arguments in the main text but they cannot earn you marks in their own right.