Technology Studies @

Presented at the U. Minnesota IT Teaching Workshop

May 2009

John Gallaugher

Information Systems Dept.

Carroll School of Management

Boston College

Materials at:

http://www.gallaugher.com/chapters

Innovation @ • Curriculum Initiatives

• Speaker Series

• Alumni Engagement

• Field Studies

• Business Plan Competition

From the Sept. 15, 2008 Issue:

The Best Places to Launch a Career

What’s Hot:“Technology:Oneofthefewindustriestosurvivethedownturnrelativelyunscathed,techofferssomeofthebestpayaroundfornewgrads”

Highest Paying Industries:#2Technology#3Consulting

“therearemorejobopeningsinITthaninanyotherindustryexcepthealthcare”

!

IS means Business

Core Course: Computers in Management

• First course in management, taught through the lens of information systems

• Framing question:“How can I possibly compete when everyone can copy my technology & the competition is a click away?”

• Online Content– not written for a grade level, written to read like a

BusinessWeek article

• Hands-on projects• Speaker Series

Zara Case: Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems

• Global, non-geeky• Comparison of value chains

– Gap vs. Zara

• Tech influence on:– design, write-offs, mark-downs,

inventory turns, product differentiation, marketing costs,social responsibility

Strategy & Technology Chapter: • Tech-centric introduction to:

– Porter concepts: operational effectiveness vs. strategic positioning, five forces

– Resource-based view

• How tech can help create or enhance

• Tech & the early mover• Industry analysis & response

– imitation-resistant value chain– brand– scale– data & switching cost assets

– differentiation– distribution channels– network effects

Netflix Case: David Becomes Goliath

• Context:– the ‘dot-com’ that repelled Blockbuster & Fortune One

• Resources for competitive advantage– Brand, Scale, Data Assets/Switching Costs...

• Key Concepts– The Long Tail– Collaborative Filtering– Crowdsourcing

• Supplier relationships• Sustainability? Atoms to Bits

– Legal issues & Rights Mgmt.

Moore’s Law & More: Fast, Cheap Technology & What it Means for the Manager

• Pace of tech change & what it implies– special kind of price elasticity– you’ve got to predict the future

• Tech & Empowering the Poor

• Super-computing, Grid-computing,Cloud-computing

• Challenges to advancement– size, heat, power

• eWaste

Understanding Network Effects: • Where does the value come from?

– exchange, staying power, complements

• Market differences– timing, bandwagons, monopolistic tendencies

• Network Effects and Innovation– competing with a dominant standard & competing

in a standard

• Competing when network effects are present

Social Media, Peer Production & Web 2.0:

• Key Tools & Services– Blogs, Wikis, Social Networks– RSS, Folksonomies, Mashups, Virtual Worlds, Rich

Media

• Examples– corporate use– trust– industry-focus, healthcare– Twitter assignment

• Crowdsourcing & Prediction Markets

Facebook Case:

• Lessons from Founding & Funding– Growth, venture capital & control– Microsoft, ad networks, distribution channels,

‘the dark web’

• Lessons from Initiatives– newsfeeds, viral promotion, & user privacy– F8 - Facebook as platform– Beacon - opt-in vs. opt-out efforts

• Revenue models - How Much is this Worth?– Google vs. Facebook - the Hunt vs. the Hike– CPC, user-targeting, engagement ads, value of global

customers, content adjacency, ‘free rider’ problems

Additional Content: • Chapters Online Now

– Software: A Primer– Software in Flux: Open-source, SaaS, Cloud Computing,

Virtualization, Make vs. Buy

• Forthcoming & Partially Available– Google & the New World of Advertising– Leveraging the Data Asset

• database systems, business intelligence, data-mining, privacy

– Security– A Manager’s Guide to Telecommunications