IS425 is a SMU-X course on Business-IT strategy to help students understand and leverage on the latest IT capability to transform businesses to achieve Business Success and Competitive Advantage.
This course addresses the business aspect of Information Technology (IT), and students will learn how to apply IT to gain business value. Real world examples and case studies of how organizations innovate and drive digital transformation will be covered. We shall also discuss aspects of IS management & best practices, key IT issues faced by Business & IT leaders, and how to become effective change agents –managing changes in the organization, processes, and people. You will learn the IT strategy framework & process and apply it to develop a Digital Business strategy for a sponsoring organization in the Term Project.
Focus of the Topics will vary from year to year, depending on specific business challenges given for the Term Project, enabling the instructor to include a combination of the latest IT trends and emerging issues at the intersection of IT and Business, along with some of the important fundamentals.
Students will have the opportunity to learn from leaders (CxO) in the industry on their views on specific IT management issues & best practices, and how to be successful in their career (not limited to IT career). It will benefit all students who aspire to be in an executive or management position, be it in IT or business functions such as finance, sales & marketing, operations, etc.
This course is conducted using a Blended Learning approach. It is designed to increase learning by students playing a more active role in integrating new knowledge with what they already learn from foundation courses, and construct their own learning and benefit from a more engaging educational experience. The Asyn components allow students to assimilate the topics at own pace and time. Material for the topics each week is provided pre-class so students can post questions online beforehand for discussion in class. There will be a few classes conducted via Zoom online mode.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Gain a better understanding of IT management principles and best practices, which include IT Strategy that deliver business value, IT Governance, IT enabled Innovations, IT Capability management. etc.
- Apply the knowledge gained to propose an IT Strategy that enables organizations to better exploit relevant new technologies and Information management to deliver business value.
- Understand the challenges relating to leading Change in a business setting and how to be an effective business change agent.
The students presented valuable insights and existing issues that MFA should tackle to enhance its existing consular services, and suggested a speedier and more streamlined process for Singapore travellers, especially on how to reach the elderly who are not so knowledgeable with technology.
A team of five students proposed and presented a Virtual Personal Assistant prototype to show how easy it is for Singaporean travellers to access and e-register with MFA before departing Singapore. Another team of five students proposed and presented a chatbot prototype to showcase how it can address simple enquiries from family members in times of crisis, so that MFA can effectively channel their resources into helping Singaporeans overseas.
Students proposed digital solutions and platforms that consolidates the fitness ecosystem, with the aim to improve resource allocation and wastage, lowering costs for fitness businesses, encourage sales (for gyms, studios and other offline retail businesses etc) and exercise (public), and building a fitness community.
With the aim to develop a specialty chemicals marketplace, which will form an ecosystem from raw material suppliers to end users, students proposed strategies on how the company is able to create and launch this one-stop platform where users can sell, buy, or search for a variety of chemicals and related finished goods at their own convenience.
Students analysed the motivations of millennials on financial planning, and proposed solution that are compelling and relevant to them, including proposing digital transformation strategies for the company in developing a lifelong engagement model that seeks to better understand the needs and gaps of their current customers.
Students developed IT strategies and prototyped a lifelong engagement model, whereby it allowed the organisation's past and current learners to stay engaged, and enable learners to discover opportunities to upskill and reskill at critical points in their lives.