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Monash University

FIT3136 IT governance and strategy for business - Semester 2, 2015

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

Clayton (Day)

Workload Requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 12 hours per week comprising:

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

  • Two hours of lectures
  • One 2-hour tutorial

(b.) Additional requirements (all students):

  • A minimum of 8 hours independent study per week for completing tutorial and project work, private study and revision.

See also Unit timetable information

Unit Relationships

Prohibitions

FIT3066, FIT3019

Prerequisites

Completion of 24 points of second year IT units

Chief Examiner

Campus Lecturer

Caulfield

Dr Mahbubur Rahim

Consultation hours: Tuesday 11am to 1pm

Tutors

Caulfield

To be advised

Your feedback to Us

Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The University’s student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

For more information on Monash’s educational strategy, see:

www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see: www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

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

Academic Overview

Learning Outcomes

At the completion 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 Strategy and business strategy  
3 IT strategy  
4 IT strategy alignment  
5 IT governance and ITIL  
6 IT governance and COBIT  
7 IT processes Assignment 1 due Friday 11 September 2015
8 IT systems success and failure  
9 IT budgeting  
10 IT outsourcing  
11 Legal issues with IT  
12 Unit review and exam discussion Assignment 2 due Friday 23 October 2015
  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.

Teaching Approach

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

Assessment Summary

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

Assessment Task Value Due Date
Assignment 1 (Individual): Evaluation of IT governance 20% Friday 11 September 2015
Assignment 2 (Individual): Evaluating IT systems failure - A case study 20% Friday 23 October 2015
Examination 1 60% To be advised

Assessment Requirements

Assessment Policy

Assessment Tasks

Participation

  • Assessment task 1
    Title:
    Assignment 1 (Individual): Evaluation of IT governance
    Description:
    Assignment 1 aims at determining students' understanding about COBIT/ITIL (well-known IT governance frameworks) commonly used by many organisations. Students will be asked to read case reports that describe the experiences of organisations in implementing COBIT/ITIL. Based on reading and theoretical literature on IT governance, students are then required to prepare a report presenting their insightful views on strategic motivations, barriers, impact, and lessons of learned and then relate them with the views of scholars discussed in the IT governance literature.
    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 11 September 2015
    Remarks:
    This assignment relates to the following two learning outcomes:

    a) knowledge and understanding of various forms of IT governance

    b) developed attititudes that enable students to critically assess the legal and ethical issues associated with managing and governing IT resources
  • Assessment task 2
    Title:
    Assignment 2 (Individual): Evaluating IT systems failure - A case study
    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. A case study report describing the failure of a complex IT system would be provided to the students. Students are required to apply a number of theoretical frameworks (which are discussed in this unit) to the context of the case report, and then make an insightful analysis. Students are further expected to consult a number of scholarly sources, as directed by the lecturer, to comparse their analysis with the broader views on IT systems failure discussed in the IT literature.
    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 23 October 2015
    Remarks:
    This assignment relates to the following two learning outcomes:

    a) knowledge and understanding of  alignment between business and strategy

    b) knowledge and understanding of strategic contexts of IT management
    X

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 prescribed 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 (if applicable to the unit)
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/student-academic-integrity-managing-plagiarism-collusion-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 electronic submission). Please note that it is your responsibility to retain copies of your assessments.

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

Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monash’s Education Policies at: www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html

Faculty resources and policies

Important student resources including Faculty policies are located at http://intranet.monash.edu.au/infotech/resources/students/

Graduate Attributes Policy

Student Charter

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.

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