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 large, private, public (but NOT education based), an SME or even from the third sector (charity).
It is from this organisation that senior management will consider your report which should have a structure similar to the demand and supply elements of Figure 3.7 (Unit 3).
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 along with the supporting IS/IT
- To do this you will need to apply some of the tools and techniques that have been discussed in Units 4,5,6,7 & possibly You should consider the application of at least TWO of these techniques and PESTEL cannot be one of them but it can be included if appropriate. You will have to select & apply the most appropriate tools & techniques because, just as in a game of golf, your choice of tools will depend on where you stand and what your objectives are.
Part B: Supply Side
- Using the framework and tools suggested by Ward & Peppard, discuss the appropriate elements for justification & assessment of IS/IT systems that you have
- 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 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 huge 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.
Undertaking the Assessment
You should undertake independent research of theory (e.g. books, journal articles, internet) and practice (e.g. examples and case studies) to write your report.
You may of course consult your notes and readings already provided, but you will find that they must be expanded on by your own research. Wholesale repetition of examples given in the materials will not attract any marks. This assessment is about the application of discussed tools and techniques to a specific organisation/industry context and you should research background materials on the chosen organisation (including company reports) and the industry in which it operates.
The Library can be used to find good quality journal articles and reports to provide further contextual information. Note that visiting company web sites can be helpful, as well as the business magazines already mentioned (Fortune/Bloomberg) as well as other company information sites.
All sources used must be formally acknowledged. The report must have referencing of an appropriate standard, and must use the Style and format notes below.
Use the marking schema below to plan the report – it shows the relative weighting of each section e.g., the “Industry selection, analysis, challenges and issues” section is weighted as 20 out of 100, so it might be reasonably expected to take about a fifth of your total effort and to contain about 20% of the total words within the main text.
