rit seminars and tutorials

8/13/2019 RIT Seminars and Tutorials

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NCC EDUCATIONPOSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN

STRATEGIC BUSINESS INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

(PgD SBIT)

RESEARCH IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Seminars and Tutorials

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Title HereCONTENTS

Studying Effectively ..................................................................................................... 4Academic Research ..................................................................................................... 9Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 11Information Systems as an Emerging Discipline .................................................... 15Organisations as Systems ........................................................................................ 16Information Systems in an Organisational Context ................................................ 17Suppor ting Business Activ ities IT Developments ............................................... 18Future IT Developments ............................................................................................ 22

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Tutorial 1

Studying Effectively

Tutorial 1(a)

Task 1As an exercise, using the four quadrants described in the lecture, students should reflect ontheir current activities and respond to the following:

Is there a balance to your activities?

Does Q1 contain a long list of activities? Can you manage this?

How does Q2 support your life goals, creativity and regeneration?

Do quadrants Q3 and Q4 contain the majority of your activities? If so, how will youavoid being seen as irresponsible?

Consider each quadrant carefully. Do the activities add quality to your life?

Are you happy with things as they are or do you want to rebalance your activities?

Task 2Reflecting on the previous exercise, students should draw up a schedule of activitiescovering one week. The final product should contain the following:

A timetable of commitments

Occasional times that could be used for personal study time ; allowing time to reflect

on studies and gain a deeper understanding (Q2) A pattern of activities which can be realistically achieved and will not need altering

Time for social events and exercise

Tutorial 1(b)

For this two-hour tutorial the class will be divided into three groups with the students in eachgroup working individually on the group task for the first hour.

During the second hour, one student from each group should be selected to share his/herwork with the remainder of the class. Tutors should encourage feedback and discussionamong the class as to the appropriateness of the form of each essay presented.

Group 1:

Students in this group should prepare for this tutorial by considering the following scenario:

Their employer is willing to sponsor them to study for the NCC Education PostgraduateDiploma in Strategic Business IT. In order to be awarded the sponsorship, the interestedemployees are required to submit a report to the Board of Directors which justifies this

expenditure in terms of the tangible and intangible benefits that will accrue to the companyupon their successful completion of the course.

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During the tutorial, students are required to develop a plan for the report adhering to theframework shown in slides 21 and 22. The plan should be in note form only and wherenumerical figures are required, it is only necessary to include appropriate headings.

Group 2:

Students should prepare for this tutorial by choosing a subject they feel strongly about,preferably within the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This mayrelate to their careers, hobby or home life, but should avoid contentious issues such asreligion and politics. Taking a judgemental approach, they should construct an essay planwhich justifies their position by responding in brief note form to the following questions:

What is the issue?What is their position on the issue?What are their reasons for taking that position?

What are the arguments against their position?What is their response to these arguments?

The essay, in note form only, should then be structured as shown in slide 18 of the lecture.

Group 3:

Students will practise discursive essays by choosing a subject with which they are veryfamiliar, preferably in the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), andexplore the issues in the context of their local or professional community. They shouldconsider both positive and negative impacts and discuss how the opportunities andchallenges may be addressed. Again, the essay should be in note form and adhere to thestructure shown in slide 18 of the lecture.

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Tutorial 2

Studying Effectively (continued)

Tutorial 2(a): Effective Presentations

The objective of this tutorial is to provide students with practice in delivering an oralpresentation to an audience and obtain tutor feedback on their performance.

Students are required to prepare a ten-minute (maximum) individual oral presentation,supported by visual aids, on the topic: 'Why I am studying for the award of PgD StrategicBusiness IT, and how I expect the course to impact on my career.'

At the end of the session, using the relevant slides as a base, tutors should provideconstructive feedback on each student's performance. This feedback session should beundertaken in the context of reinforcing the lecture material.

Tutorial 2(b): Act ive and Effective Listening

For the first part of this tutorial, an internet connection and a means of relaying audio fromthe computer to a loudspeaker will be required. Please ensure that the audio reproduction isof the best possible quality. The exercise will be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/listening/

Use the exercises featured at the 'Listening for specific information' link. If time allows, alsouse the exercises at the 'Types of listening' and 'In the news' links, but do not exceed 25minutes for this part of the tutorial. Students should also practise these exercises at home.

For the second part of the tutorial, the class should be divided into groups of three. Thereare three roles in each group: speaker, listener and observer. Every group member willtake each role once, so it will be necessary to decide who is going to take which role first.

The objective is to give each student the opportunity to learn how to use verbal and non-

verbal encouragers and become a better listener.

The speaker's task is to talk for four minutes on something that is important to them: theirjob, their family, a decision, current affairs, etc., but controversial issues should be avoided.The exercise will be more useful if the speaker is encouraged to talk about somethingshe/he really cares about, although role-playing is possible.

The listener will practise active listening skills: eye contact, body language, silences andverbal encouragers.

The observer should monitor the listener's verbal and non-verbal skills, recording as many

'behaviours' (eye contact, body posture, verbal minimal encouragers, topic jumps) as theycan manage, whilst maintaining accuracy of recording.

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The first speaker will talk with the listener for three or four minutes. The listener will thendiscuss the listening experience with the other two members of the subgroup.

What was comfortable?What was difficult?Did you stay with the speaker?

Then the speaker will share his or her feelings about the listener's listening.

Did you feel listened to?Was it helpful?Did the listener have any habits you found distracting?

The observer will then share his/her observations.

The exercise is repeated twice more with each group member taking each role in turn andrepeating the feedback at the end of each session.

At the conclusion of the exercises, group members may wish to share with the others atleast one thing this exercise has taught them about themselves, and tutors should discussthe experience and remind students of the relevance of these skills to study and work. Iftime allows it may be helpful for the group to reflect on other situations where these skillsmay be useful.

Tutorial 2(c): Teams, Presentations and Peer Assessment

The objective of this tutorial is to provide students with practice in working together as ateam and preparing and performing group presentations. During the final part of the tutorial,students will gain experience of providing constructive feedback on their peers'performance.

Prior to the tutorial, teams will produce the following:1. Their team's Policies Statement.2. Their team's Expectations Agreement.

Both documents will then form the basis of a short presentation to be constructed on eitheroverhead acetates or flipcharts, as resources permit.

During the first part of the tutorial session, teams will make a presentation on their policystatement and expectation agreement, in which, using the documents as a base, each teammember is required to convince the remainder of the class that he/she has adopted anappropriate team role. During the presentation, each non-presenting class member willrecord his/her feedback on the form provided. It is recommended that the feedback formsbe given to students at the end of the relevant lecture in order that they may familiarisethemselves with the feedback criteria.

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The second part of the tutorial will comprise a feedback session in which class members willoffer constructive feedback on each team's performance during the presentation. Comment

only on the presentation delivery and the performance of students as team members.Comments on the subject matter will not be allowed.

At the end of the session the tutor will collect the feedback forms from each student andpass them on to the respective teams for their information and necessary action.

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Seminar / Tutorial 3

Academic Research

Tutorial 3(a): Research Process

Students should prepare the following material. At least two students will be asked topresent their work to the class. After each presentation the tutor will lead a class discussionon the appropriateness of the approach taken. Feedback should be of a positive nature andshould underpin learning.

Task: Within an organisation of your choice select an event/phenomenon, preferablyrelated to the management of ICT, which will provide a suitable topic for further research.Prepare a paper that addresses the following in relation to the identified problem:

1. Briefly describe the problem area identifying cause and effect.2. Formulate a research question3. Formulate at least two hypotheses in relation to your research question4. Classify the research in terms of its contribution to knowledge (nature). Explain why you

have chosen this classification.5. Using Orna and Stevens' research process model describe how your research will be

defined and progressed.

Tutorial 3(b): Research philosophy and approach

Repeat the format for Tutorial 1 for the following exercise. It would be useful for all studentsto have copies of the Tutorial 1 material of each student chosen to present on this occasion.

Task: Using relevant material from Tutorial 1, prepare a paper which addresses thefollowing:

1. Decide on whether you intend to follow an inductive or deductive approach. Explain whyyou have decided on the approach chosen.

2. Discuss the risks associated with your choice of approach.3. Select at least two alternative strategies you would adopt, explaining your choice.4. From your choice of strategies, suggest which may be used in a multi-method approach.

5. Describe how you would ensure the reliability and validity of your results.

Seminar 3(a): Hypothesis exercise

This tutorial is designed to last for around 1 hour.Students should complete Exercise 5.4 on page 215 of Walliman, Nicholas (2005) YourResearch Project, 2

ndedition. (Sage, ISBN 1-4129-0132).

The group will then discuss the sample answers given, under the direction of the tutor.

Seminar 3(b)This tutorial is designed to last for around 1 hour.

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Students should complete Exercise 7.4, questions 1 and 4, from Walliman, Nicholas(2005) Your Research Project, 2

ndedition. (Sage, ISBN 1-4129-0132).

The group will then discuss the answers, under the direction of the tutor.

Seminar 3(c)

This tutorial is designed to last for around 1 hour.Students should complete Questions 4.3 and 4.4 from Saunders, M., Lewis, P. andThornhill, A. Research Methods for Business Students, 4

thedition(Financial Times /

Prentice-Hall, ISBN13: 9780273701484).The group will then discuss the answers, under the direction of the tutor.

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Literature Review

Seminar 4:

Provide and demonstrate examples of the main categories of literature from the threesources; primary, secondary and tertiary. Students should be guided through a discussionin identifying the characteristics of each source and how they may be used to obtain detailsof relevant literature.

As a guide, use Saunders, section 3.3, Table 3.2, and accompanying text (pp49 - 55) forprimary and secondary sources, and section 3.4, Table 3.3, for tertiary sources.

Tutorial 4:

The main focus of this session is to provide students with the experience of searching forinformation using both library and internet resources. It is recognised that insufficient timewill be available to perform both tasks during one tutorial session. It is therefore suggestedthat, depending on available facilities, one task may be performed in the tutorial session andthe other assigned as homework. Nevertheless, the outcomes of both tasks should bereviewed as part of the following week's seminar session.

Guide: Saunders Section 3.5 pp60 - 72.

See: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html for an excellent

tutorial on searching the web.

Alternative guides may be found at:

http://www.december.com/web/text/index.htmlhttp://www.netskills.ac.uk/TONIC

Internet: students should have use of a computer suite with sufficient PCs for individual use.

Library: students may use the facilities of either the college or public library.

Prior to commencing the exercise, students will be given a topic that will allow them todefine the parameters of their literature search and generate a relevant list of keywords.For internet and electronic database searches, the use of Boolean logic should bepractised.

Suggested Topic

Search for core texts on the argument'Information systems are social systems'.

Brainstorming: the session should start with a brainstorming session so that students canjointly determine the most appropriate keywords. Clearly, this needs to be a relatively

controlled session without constraining creativity. Conclude by producing a Relevance Tree.

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Within the limits of available resources, as many types of search facility as possible shouldbe used.

On completion of both exercises students should produce a review (comparison and briefevaluation) of each facility (library and internet). Also, students should aim to have obtainedabstracts and citations of at least four relevant articles. Students should also be advisedthat they may be expected to present their work at the following week's seminar session.

In addition, students should locate the following article, which should be thoroughly readbefore the following week's tutorial session.

Mowshowitz, A (1981) 'On approaches to the study of social issues in computing',Communications of the ACM, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 146-155.

This paper identifies and analyses technical and non-technical biases inresearch on social issues in computing. Five positions which reflect majorstreams of contemporary social thought are examined; technicism,progressive individualism, elitism, pluralism and radical criticism. Theanalysis of positions documents the close relationship between researchand policy formation and reveals the misleading and dangerous character ofthe presumption of scholarly objectivity in research on social issues.

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Literature Review, cont inuedSeminar 5:

This seminar should be split into two one-hour sessions.

First hour:Having read Mowshowitz's article the previous week, students working in groupsof a maximum of four, should undertake the following exercise:

1. Identify any new words.2. Identify the key ideas in the text.3. Identify how the author has organised and developed his ideas.

One group should be asked to present their findings to the remainder of the class.

Second hour:Using the abstract and citations obtained the previous week, students shouldbe guided in developing a manual card file and Citation Relevance Tree for recording thisinformation.

See http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/gfloren/indexcards.htm for a guide to preparingcard indexes.

Time should be allowed for at least one student to present his/her work to the remainder of

the class, with a discussion to follow.

Tutorial 5:

Initially working individually, students should prepare a short review of the Mowshowitzarticle which should take into account points discussed during the lecture and include theirown thoughts and referencing.

Students should then exchange their work with a colleague, each reading and commenting

on the other's work. Finally, working in pairs, a joint final review should be prepared and atleast one chosen to be presented to the rest of the class. Again, the objective is to developan acceptable writing format rather than debate the issues presented in the articles.

As far as is practically possible reviews should:

be written in a formal, academic style;

be clear and concise;

be able to be understood by a layperson;

include an introduction, outlining the focus of the study;

contain a structured argument rather than just the facts;

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contain a comparison of each source;

discuss the literature in the context of the given topic, 'information systems are social

systems'. include correct citation and a bibliography.

Time should be allowed for feedback before the end of the session.

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Seminar 6

Information Systems as an Emerging DisciplineSeminars accompanying Lecture 6

Seminar sessions may comprise either a class debate or student presentation. Where astudent presentation is indicated this should be divided into two activities:

Either:

an individual or group presentation as defined below (approx. 10 -15 minutes)

Or:

Tutor-led class discussion beginning with feedback on the presentation and continuewith the objective of 'fleshing' out and underpinning the lecture material.

Allocation of topics for presentation will have been carried out during the first week of themodule. Regardless of the nature of the seminar, it is expected that all students willundertake preparation work in order that they may contribute to the seminar topic. Thisshould be tested frequently by asking students for their opinions/feedback during thediscussion period.

Seminar Topic6(a) Class debate:

The objective of this seminar is to debate the emergence of informationsystems as a discipline. Students should be encouraged to offer theirown definition of information systems and argue their case in thecontext of both the social and technical aspects of the discipline.

6(b) Class debate:The objective of this seminar is to debate how the study of organisations

and organisational behaviour has influenced the emergence ofinformation systems as a discipline. Students should consider both theformal and informal system that exist within organisations and the extent

to which both are reflected in IS studies.6(c) Class debate:

The objective of this seminar to consider further the nature of the socio-technical approach by discussing the following question:

What is meant by the socio-technical approach, and why does it not featurein most methodologies other than ETHICS?

6(d) Class debate:The objective of this seminar is to consider the pressures on management

to introduce IS for economic gain, which may be at the expense of thesocial aspects of the organisation.

What forces in the wider environment may encourage managers to use ISas a means of control?

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Seminar 7

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Organisations as Systems

Seminars accompanying Lecture 7


Either:


Or:



Seminar Topic7(a) Individual student presentation:

For an organisation with which you are familiar, prepare a 15 minutepresentation that describes the organisation in the terms of systemstheory showing clearly how the organisation interacts with itsenvironment. Choose one function (e.g. marketing, production, finance,etc.) and decompose the function into its major processes. Show inputsand outputs between internal and immediate external processes.Describe the 'feedback' mechanism that maintains control over thefunction.

7(b) Individual student presentation:For an organisation with which you are familiar, prepare a 15 minutepresentation that describes the organisations in terms of the value chain.

Identify each primary process and explain the linkages between eachinternal process, and between each internal process and the externalenvironment. What are the mechanisms that support these linkages?

7(c) Individual student presentation:For an organisation with which you are familiar, prepare a 15 minute

presentation that provides a description of a selected work system (salesorder processing, raising a supplier requisition, etc) in terms of the sixelements of work-centred analysis and a perspective of your own choice.

7(d) Class debate:Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology has been very influential in terms of

systems development ideas. Why do you think this is?

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Seminar 8

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Information Systems in an Organisational Context



Either:


Or:



Seminar Topic8(a) Individual student presentation:

For an organisation with which you are familiar, prepare a 15 minutepresentation which provides a critical appraisal of the organisation'soffice automation system. You should address productivity, coordinationand linkages of work across all relevant levels and functions, and howthe system connects the organisation to the external environment.

8(b) Class discussion:Workflow management systems are designed to ensure organisational tasks

are performed 'as soon as possible by the right people and in the rightorder', which should result in a consistent, uniform approach for improved

office efficiency and better customer service.Discuss how this may be achieved within an organisation of your choice

8(c) Class debate:Discuss the following statement: 'Enterprise resource planning software is

likely to replace packages used in a single area of the organisation, suchas accounting, logistics, production and marketing.'

8(d) Individual presentation:For an organisation with which you are familiar prepare a 15 minute

presentation that critically evaluates the organisation's supply chainmanagement systems. You should assess the level of organisational

cooperation the system provides, the degree of integration, and itsimpact on the organisation's value chain.

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Seminars 9, 10 and 11

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Supporting Business Act ivit ies IT DevelopmentsSeminars accompanying Lectures 9, 10 and 11

Seminar sessions may comprise either a group discussion or student presentation. Where astudent presentation is indicated this should be divided into two activities

Either:


Or:




Seminar Topic

9(a)Class Discussion

The objective is for students to critically assess the impact the digital economyon business organisations, particularly in the context of an organisation withwhich they are familiar.

'Digital economy has been used to describe the convergence of computing andcommunications technology on the Internet, and the resulting flow of informationis stimulating electronic transactions and vast organisational change.'

9(b)Class Discussion

The objective is for students to appreciate the distinction between thetechnologies and critical appraise their role in marketing within a B2B e-commerce organisation.

In the future the distinction between intranets, extranets and the Internet formarketing purposes is likely to disappear.

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9(c)Class Discussion

Future generation mobile access devices using such technologies as 3G willsupersede PCs as the main consumer access device for the Internet within 5years.

9(d)Group Presentation

With reference to a company with which you are familiar prepare a 15 minutepresentation that discusses the contribution to the organisation's competitiveadvantages of using a virtual private network (VPN). If the company were tomove to a next generation network (NGN) what would be the impact on its

competitive advantage?


10(a)Individual Presentations

With reference to an organisation with which you are familiar, prepare a 15minute presentation on how the organisation uses a data warehouse to gainconsumer satisfaction.

10(b)

Group Presentation

Using Internet search engines and/or other sources open to you, locate andresearch at least two organisations that have successfully used GIS applicationsfor marketing purposes. Prepare a 15 minute presentation comparing theapproach to the use of the technology and the benefits they received.

10(c)Class Discussion

The objective is for students to critically appraise the approaches to integrating

different applications in an e-business environment.

Selecting 'best of breed' applications from multiple systems vendors for differente-business applications such as enterprise resource planning, customerrelationship management, transactional e-commerce and supply chainmanagement, is a better approach for an effective e-business infrastructure thanusing a single vendor solution.

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10(d)Group Presentation

Compare and contrast the approaches to e-commerce web site developmentbetween a B2B organisation conducting e-commerce in a vertical marketplace toa B2B company conducting its business in a functional marketplace. What arethe reasons for any differences you have found? Present your findings in a 15minute presentation.


11(a)Group Presentation

With reference to an organisation you are familiar with, conduct any research

necessary to address the following tasks and present your findings in during a 15minute presentation:

(i) describe the potential impact of infection by computer viruses and othermalware on the organisation's computer-based information systems;(ii) consider the effectiveness of tools, methods and procedures designed toprotect computer-based information systems from computer viruses and othermalware;(iii) evaluate the level of risk posed to the organisation by computer viruses andother malware. Produce a set of recommendations that may assist theorganisation in reducing the risk.

11(b)Class Discussion

In the role of a senior manager at a company that currently limits employeeaccess to the Internet you are considering relaxing company restrictions on thepersonal use of company e-mail and Internet resources but are concerned aboutissues such as staff time-wasting and the need to monitor staff use of thesefacilities.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of enabling widespread employeeaccess and the actions you will need to take when proceeding with granting

wider access.

11(c)Individual Presentation

With reference to an organisation with which you are familiar prepare a 15minute presentation on the steps taken to prevent outsiders gaining unauthorisedaccess to the company's computer-based information system. What extrameasure can be taken?

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11(d)Class Discussion

The objective is for students to critically evaluate the need for tight security on e-commerce sites where the customer's financial details are required as part of thetransaction.

Discuss the differences in viewpoint between customer and a B2C company onthe features of a secure e-commerce site.

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Seminar 12

Future IT DevelopmentsSeminar accompanying Lecture 12

Seminar sessions may comprise either a class debate or student presentation. Where astudent presentation is indicated this should be divided into two activities.

Either:


Or:


Allocation of topics for presentation will have been carried out during the first week of themodule.

Regardless of the nature of the seminar, it is expected that all students will undertakepreparation work in order that they may contribute to the seminar topic. This should betested frequently by asking students for their opinions/feedback during the discussion

period.

Seminar Topic

12(a) Class discussion:List at least three activities you undertake daily at work. Take 15 minutes to

write down the process of attaining knowledge of how to perform theseactivities. Explain why it would or would not be possible for anIntelligent support systems or artificial neural network to learn how to doperform these activities.

Team up with another member of your class, exchange your papers andtake 10 minutes to read and digest each other's answers, which you

should then discuss with your team mate to try and maximise the totalnumber of activities that could be performed by either technology.Create a combined list which you should be prepared to discuss withthe remainder of the class if required to do so.

Tutor: allow a total of 60 minutes for the creation, reading and discussion ofthe lists. At the end of this period select one team to present their paper to theclass and encourage debate. Conclude with a feasible list and a non-feasiblelist of activities for automation with reasons why.

It would aid class discussion if the activity list and reasons prepared by the

chosen team could be either copied and distributed to the remainder of the

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class or be displayed on a board or overhead projector.

12(b) Class debate:

For an organisation with which you are familiar, debate the likely impact ofm-business. You should consider aspects of organisational structure,organisational culture, the 'virtual office' concept, and the likely impacton the organisations value chain.

12(c)This seminar session is reserved for the assignment presentations

12(d)This seminar session is reserved for the assignment presentations

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