Week 12 Blog Post

What would help you think "from an insider's perspective" (i.e. with a manager's hat on) when looking at issues related to IS strategy in different organisations.  This is an ongoing challenge for teachers, so I'd like to hear your views. Can you think of any simple, or creative/original ways of helping you and your colleagues to take an "inside view" of organisational strategy?  You might like to focus on outlining the challenges, from your perspective, and how these might be addressed. 

Thanks for all your contributions on the blogs and in the tutorials. I really enjoyed having all of you in my tutorials and I wish you all the best in your future studies and future careers!

Week 11: Knowledge Sharing

This week's case (p.179 of course notes) is the last one for the weekly blog and mini-analysis assignment. The case outlines how HP Analytics, an internal consulting division of HP, built a knowledge sharing culture over a four year period.  Think of another organisation in which knowledge sharing would be beneficial. If you were the CEO of this organisation, what would your first steps be in developing knowledge sharing? What would be your key challenge(s) and what would you do the same/differently from the HP case? 

Week 10: Option 1 - Big Data

In this week's readings, Bryant et al. (2008) see the world as being "data driven" while Bollier (2010) discusses "the promise and perils" of using big data for "nowcasting." 

• How do you think the use of data should be managed so the promise outweighs the perils?
• Whose job is it to do this?

Note: Both of these readings are in the red course notes book.

Week 10: Option 2 - Big Data

The McKinsey report on big data outlines 5 ways in which companies can capture value from big data (see pg. 5 of the reading). Select ONE of these ways and discuss how it could help an organisation become more competitive (make sure to give an example).

Note: This reading is on Blackboard under the Week 10 resources

Week 9: Social Media

All of the readings for this week are in the red book. The blog question focuses on the "Fix My Street" case. Please answer the following question:

Fix My Street is an example of the integration of government data with a citizen based service or a citizen focused service by third party developers. What do you see as the future for this kind of online service?

Week 8: Strategic IS Management in Context: Government, SMEs

Please read the article about the Police Act Review wiki project (course notes, week 8). Based on this case, or another example, discuss two challenges of using a wiki for public consultation. In your discussion, consider who these benefits / challenges relate to (the government, the public, a subset of the public, other stakeholders, etc?).

Notes:

1. There is a good article on the NZ government's emerging model of online engagement here.
2. You can read an article about the Police Wiki project here.
3. It is not possible to access the Police Act Review Wiki as it was only available for a few weeks.

Further Notes:

1. If you are experiencing problems with posting, please send me an email with the contents of your post as soon as you experience the problem. It is much better to let me know immediately rather than waiting until you're able to get the post to go through, which may be after the deadline. As a side note, it is a good idea to compose your response in a text editing program to paste in to the blogger site in case you experience login issues that result in you loosing your post. Other suggestions include using Google's Chrome browser for your posting.
2. If you find that you have successfully posted but your response is not showing up, don't worry. It may have simply gotten stuck in the spam queue. I try to check the spam queue once a day over the weekend and several times on Monday, but if you find that it's been a while and you still don't see your post, feel free to drop me an email and I will check into it, but make sure to refer back to the note above.

Week 7: Disruptive Information Systems & Technologies

I hope everyone had a great break! To start back into things, this week we have just one blog question that you need to answer based on the chapter by Barlow & Li (2010) "Disruptive Technologies and Applications" which you can find on Blackboard. Answer the following question:

Think about an example of a technology or system that has impacted on you, or on a situation/setting that you know about. Please describe what it was and what happened. In what ways (if at all) was this disruptive?  (Please link your answer with 1-2 themes from the reading.)  

Reminder: Groups should remember to update their topics / research questions in the post on the blog for your group.

Note: As always, if your comment does not show up at first, it may be stuck in the spam queue. I try to check it 1-2 times a day over the weekend and several times on Monday morning. If your post has not showed up, you do not need to post multiple times, but if you are concerned, please feel free to drop me an email and ask if it is in the spam queue.