VD-MBA548-Topic & Case Questions-24Spring

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Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania *

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Apr 3, 2024

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MBA548 IT Management and Innovation Spring 2024 Topic AND Case questions The following types of questions are included in this document: For each Topic: 1) Topic’s discussion questions: For all students in the class: You will post your answers to the discussion questions on our class’ online discussion board on D2L. These questions are also posted on our D2L discussion board for the topic. For each Case: 1) Case questions: For group in charge of the case only: These are the questions that the group in charge of each case needs to address in their case presentation. 2) Case’s discussion questions: For all students in the class: You will post your answers to the discussion questions on our class’ online discussion board on D2L. These questions are also posted on our D2L discussion board for the case. Topic 1: Information Technology, the economy, and competition Discussion question (For all-class discussion): You will post your answers to the discussion question on our class’ online discussion board on D2L. As the topic readings show, IT evolution has resulted in an increased gap between top performing firms and bottom performing firms within industries. Meanwhile, research has also shown a decreasing contribution of labor (vs. capital) to the economic output, which researchers have claimed because of jobs being replaced by technology. Question: Given the increasingly popular topic of inequality, do you think IT evolution helps increase or decrease inequality (either within competitive business market among companies or income/wealth inequality among individuals)? Why? Give some concrete examples of specific technologies to illustrate your point. While inequality is natural to a market economy, research has shown that extreme inequality could result in very high concentration of power (political as well as market), which in turn could distort a healthy free competitive market and future economic growth in multiple ways, including: - Monopolistic/oligopolistic power might inhibit competition from smaller new market entrants, hurting future innovations. - As the US’s economic growth is mainly driven by consumer spending on products and services, the stagnant middle-class income and shrinking of the middle-class could have potential negative impacts on future economic growth. Question: How have changes in IT evolution-driven inequality (if any) affected business market competition, economic growth, and the labor market in the short and/or long run? Should it be a concern that needs to be address? If so, what are your suggested solutions? 1

Topic 2: Information Systems Defined Discussion question: 1) Answer one of the two following questions: - 1a) Would you consider IT applications/systems an asset or an expense? Why? Give real- world examples when applicable to support your argument. OR - 1b) As technology evolves, IT applications/systems that initially give companies that adopt them a competitive advantage but over time become a competitive necessity as companies across the industry widely adopt such applications/systems. Give a real-world example of such applications/systems. 2) First, based on your own experience or your research: - 2a) Give an example of an IT application/information system that is beneficial and one that was not to an organization(s) that adopted it. OR - 2b) Give an example of an IT application/information system that is adopted by two different organizations but is beneficial to one organization while not to the other. Why would the same IT application/systems being adopted by different organizations would result in different outcomes? Topic 3: IT and innovation: Discussion question: Do you consider online education a disruptive or sustaining (radical or incremental) technology- driven innovation, compared to face-to-face education? Please make sure you use concrete criteria of evaluating a technological innovation for its disruptiveness/radicalness to evaluate online education. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained quite a bit attention recently. Which phase of the innovation life cycle (or hype cycle) do you think MOOC is in currently. What do you think of MOOCs potential to replace face-to-face classes, as touted by their promoters? Case 1: Kodak and the digital revolution (A) (HBP) Case questions (for the group in charge of the case only): 1. What was Kodak’s business model during the age of traditional photography? How did it create and appropriate value with its business model? 2. Why did Kodak’s strategy enable its success with traditional photography industry? 3. Compare traditional photography to digital photography. To Kodak’s traditional photography business model, what type of innovation is digital photography? How did the advent of digital photography affect Kodak’s competitive market? 2

4. How did Kodak adapt to the evolution of digital photography? How would you assess Fisher’s attempt to transform Kodak? Why did it fail? Discussion question (for all-class discussion): While Kodak recognized the opportunities with digital photography, and was the first to market with picture sensor and digital film processing software, it failed to follow suit and transition itself successfully to the age of digital photography, which eventually lead to its bankruptcy in January 2012. This case illustrates how cognitive and action inertias within a big incumbent would make it difficult for the company to develop appropriate strategy to react to the emergence of a new disruptive technology. Questions: - What could Kodak have done to transition itself successfully to the era of digital photography? - In the age of fast technology evolution, what should companies do to avoid such inertia “traps” to be able to constantly innovate and adapt to new technological developments? Topic 4: Digitization, Digital Innovation, and Digital Transformation Discussion question: With transaction costs discussed in “Laws of Disruption” different from digital/information goods vs. physical goods. Coase’s argument was that firms were created because the cost of organizing and maintaining them is less than the cost of individuals doing businesses with each other using the market. In the reading, it is estimated that 45% of total business activity consists of transaction costs, and companies became big because the transaction costs were high for smaller companies. With the increasing popularity of information goods which would potentially reduce transaction costs dramatically, do you think firm size in general will reduce, and we are moving towards the end of the era of big corporations? If so why do we observe an increasing concentration within more IT-intensive industries and within Tech industry? an issue we discussed in topic 1. Case 2: Options for Formulating a Digital Transformation Strategy. Case questions (for the group in charge of the case only): 1) What is digital transformation? 2) Define digital business strategy, describe how it is adopted by companies in the case reading. 3) Explain exploitation vs. exploration of firms’ resources to achieve organizational agility. How do companies in the case reading adopt exploitation vs. exploration in their digital business strategy? 4) Describe the four dimensions of the Digital Transformation Framework, give examples of how company(es) in the case apply the dimensions to their strategic actions. Discussion question (for all-class discussion): 3

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Which factors/measures would you use to evaluate the success of a company’s digital transformation? Among the three companies in the case, which one do you think was most successful with its digital transformation strategy? In the foreseeable future, which company among the three case companies do you think will have its long-term viability most impacted by digital transformation trend in its own industry. What would you suggest the company to improve its digital strategy moving forward? Topic 5: Network/platform competition & digital transformation Discussion question: Network competition (either physical or virtual) in many cases lead to a winner-take- scenario, with one network/format/platform emerges as the sole winner (e.g. Blu-ray winning HD-DVD; Windows winning Apple’s Macintosh and other competitors as operating systems for desktop and laptop; Google for search), OR winners-take-most scenario with a small number of networks/formats/platforms emerge as a small group of dominating player in the market (e.g. eBay & Amazon, Uber & Lyft, etc.), leading to oligopolistic market situation. Meanwhile, the long-tail and other effects indicate that it is feasible for certain network competition scenarios result in a more healthy competitive market such as the competition in streaming service market these days among Netflix, Amazon prime, Disney+, Hulu, etc. Question: Which factors do you think would influence a network competition scenario to lead to winner-take-all and winner-take-most scenarios vs. a more healthy competitive market? Relate your answer to real-world examples. Studies have shown that monopolies or oligopolies tend to stifle innovation and competition from smaller start-ups or emerging companies, hampering market progress and future technological evolution. Question: In your opinion, is the winner-take-all or winner-take-most competition good or a bad for consumers and for future technology evolution? Does it depend on certain market condition? Relate it to a company/organization that you work at/familiar with. Question: Given the recent scrutiny of tech companies’ anti-competitive behaviors by market regulators in both the US ( e.g. Google antitrust case , Amazon antitrust case ) and Europe ( e.g. EU antitrust regulation ), do you think big tech companies’ market behaviors so far merit such scrutiny? What are your suggestions for addressing such anti-competitive behaviors to protect consumers and enable a leveled playing field for business competition? Case 3: The Quest for Legitimacy in Digital Disruption: The Case of Uber Case questions (for the group in charge of the case only): 1) Describe the business model of Uber. How does network effects affect Uber business model? 2) Which values does Uber provide for its customers and drivers, how do they differ from traditional taxi companies? 4

3) Describe the challenges and opportunities facing Uber and the cities discussed in the case with regards to offering Uber services in the cities. 4) Describe challenges facing Uber as it expands to international and adjacent markets Discussion question: 1) As a platform, what are key advantages of Uber that has led to its success? What does this take for another competitor to successfully compete against Uber? For the second question, pick either 2a or 2b to answer 2a) Uber is one of the most recognizable examples of the sharing/gig economy platform business model. Given Uber’s recent struggle with issues regarding its labor practices with regards to how it treats its drivers, how “fair” do you think Uber’s business model to its drivers with regards to payment? What changes (if any) do you suggest to Uber’s business model to make it fair to both the platform provider (Uber) and its participants (drivers and riders)? 2b) There has been strong pushback from taxi companies in many cities against Uber’s business model. One argument is that rideshare services do not have to comply with as many regulations as traditional taxi companies, resulting in a tilted playing field in favor of rideshare services. Do you agree with this conclusion? If so, what suggestions do you have moving forward to maintain a healthy competitive market? E.g. Should we regulate rideshare services further, or should we deregulate traditional taxi services? Topic 6: Emerging trends of IT-enabled innovation Discussion question: Pick an emerging technology and an industry that has adopted/or has potential to adopt the technology (e.g. self-driving car technology, digital manufacturing, AI application in business, etc.). Briefly discuss whether the technology is disruptive, sustaining, radical, or incremental to the current technology used within the industry and/or to the industry’s prevalence practice. What would you do if you manage a company in the chosen industry to adapt to the emergence of such technology? Note : This could be an opportunity for you to summarize key points from your IT and Innovation report and share with the class via your discussion post. Case 4: How Siemens Democratized Artificial Intelligence Case questions (for the group in charge of the case only): 1) What is AI? How is machine learning different from traditional statistics methods and human learning? 2) Describe key stages that Siemens has gone through in its own evolution of democratizing AI. 3) As Siemens adopts and scales AI broadly, use one use case in the case and discuss how collaboration among domain experts, data scientists, and IT professional has helped Siemens address case-specific AI challenges. 4) What were the biggest challenges for Siemens in democratizing AI? What are key factors to its success? 5

Discussion question (for all-class discussion): What do you think about the applicability of the lessons learned from Siemens case for other businesses in adopting and scaling AI? Relate it to a business/firm you are familiar with. How could AI be adopted in a business you are familiar with? Give concrete real-world examples. Topic 7: Strategic IS Planning: CEO and CIO challenges Discussion question: Why do you think general and functional managers need to be involved in information systems planning decisions despite their lack of technical expertise? Give a real-world example to support your argument. Define IT/IS-enabled (or IT/IS-dependent) business initiatives. Give an example of an IT/IS- enabled initiative in an organization you are familiar with and describe the nature of collaboration between business and IT/IS departments in the organization to develop/implement such initiatives? Topic 8: Business value of IT/IS Discussion question: You could pick EITHER option 1 OR 2 to answer: 1) Why is the difference between information systems and information technology so important to the analysis of business value of IT/IS? If applicable, illustrate your answer with examples of businesses that you are familiar with. What are some challenges businesses face in identifying/measuring business impacts of their IT investments? 2) Pick a business you are familiar with. Discuss anything you know about how the business value of IS/IT investments is measured/captured at the business. If possible, you could share with us examples of how business values of specific IT/IS-enabled business initiatives are measured. Case 5: How Buckman's Value Stream Initiative Re-visioned IT/IS for Value Case questions 1) Describe the key steps of Buckman’s VSI project 2) What are current issues at Buckman with regards to inefficient IT services? 3) Describe the key changes with regards to IT-related activities that Buckman engaged in as part of its VSI project. 4) Describe Buckman’s key benefits realized from the VSI project Discussion questions: 1) Besides VSI project’s benefits described in the case, do you see other effects (positive or negative) the project might have on Buckman? 2) Is Buckman’s VSI project applicable to another business/organization that you are familiar with? 6

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Topic 9: IT/IS and Sustainability Discussion question: 1) When/how did profit maximization mantra for business start? Do you think businesses should focus on triple bottom line? Why or why not? Justify your answer. 2) Based on your view on Sustainability and the business value of IT/IS and IT/IS-enabled innovation, which roles should IT/IS play in enabling firms to address sustainability issues? Case 6: IT-enabled Sustainability Transformation—the Case of SAP. Case questions: 1) What are the factors that drive SAP’s engagement in sustainability transformation? 2) What were the key enablers that would make the sustainability transformation work at SAP? 3) Which investments and innovations in IT/IS services and solutions were required to enable the transformation? 4) How could SAP leverage their competencies as an IT/IS solutions provider in order to facilitate that internal transformation? Discussion questions : 1) What are the key affordances provided by information systems that supported the transformation and that need to be further developed at the company? How can information systems be designed that offer such affordances? 2) If applicable, share with us what you know about the role of IT/IS in addressing sustainability at your employer or a company or organization you are familiar with. Topic 10: Systems development, project management Discussion question: Under what circumstances would you, as an IT/IS manager, choose to build your own software vs. purchasing off-the-shelf software package? Provide arguments and real-world examples to support/illustrate your point. Case 7: Growing New IT-based Capabilities at a Traditional Company Case questions: 1) What is SUI’s business model? What are the factors that drive SUC’s analytics initiative? 2) What are the major steps of the implementation process? 7

3) Did the company develop the initiative in house or buy of-the-shelf application? What are the benefits of the approach? 4) What are the benefits of agile development practices that SUI adopted? Discussion questions: 1) Why is it important for SUI to develop and align Business, Organization, and Technology dimensions of analytics ecosystem for the success of its analytics initiative? 2) Second, how are the particular strategies adopted by SUI generally applicable to other types of IT-enabled projects? Please relate to your professional experience if possible. Topic 11: IS Governance Discussion question: As we discussed in Topic 7, it is important that general and functional managers be involved in decisions about IS/IT management. In your opinion, what aspects of IS/IT governance decision making should a general and functional business manager involve in? Give some specific examples to illustrate your point. Briefly describe IT/IS governance structure at a business/organization that you know/are familiar with. Case 8: Volkswagen of America: managing IT priorities Case question: 1) What is the business model of VWoA? 2) What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Is it an improvement over the old process? 3) Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? Who should control these budgets? Should the IT department have its own budget? 4) How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system? Discussion question: The case’s context was in the 2000s. While the technologies available to meet organizational IT needs have evolved considerably since then as we have examined over the course so far, the fundamental challenges facing companies with regards to managing large-scale IT- enabled transformation remain the same. Companies still face with key challenges regarding making choices about the right systems to build/acquire, how to manage IT budget properly. 1) Once Volkswagen of America has been allocated an IT budget from global corporate level, who should be in control of this budget? Defend your position. 2) What should Matulotic do about the unfunded Supply Flow project? Topic 12: Risk, security, and privacy Discussion question: 8

1) How do you see the recent IT evolution (e.g. platforms, big data, Internet of Things, etc.) affect Internet security and privacy of internet users? 2) Given the growing security and privacy concern about how companies handle internet users’ data, multiple approaches have been suggested on how to address the issue. Among the suggested solutions are calls for companies to actually pay Internet users to use their data (e.g. see here , here , and here ) and/or stricter regulations on companies’ using and sharing users’ data. Do you agree/disagree with such suggested solutions? Why or why not? List some examples of business ideas and/or regulatory ideas that you think would help address security and privacy concern going forward. Case 9: Security breach at Target Case questions: 1) What is Target’s business model? 2) What are the (i) people, (ii) work process, and (iii) technology failure points in Target’s security that require attention? 3) What were the impacts of the breach on Target’s business performance (e.g. stock price, financial performance, settlement costs, customer relation, etc.)? 4) Was Target a victim of ingenious cyber crooks or did it create risk by cutting corners? How do smart, profitable retail organizations get into this kind of situation? Discussion questions: 1) What are the (i) people, (ii) work process, and (iii) technology failure points in Target’s security that require attention? How should Target’s IT security be improved and strengthened on people, work process, and technology? 2) Since Target’s breach, there has been numerous large-scale security breaches at other businesses and organization. Name one example of another breach at another company, discuss if such breach could have been avoided/minimized if the company/organization has learned better from Target’s experience. 9

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