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Today Questions from PERT lecture 2 Chapter 2 – Aligning IT goals Ethics Discussion questions Jarvis Communication Case PERT exam

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2. Portfolio management Traditionally, in the fusion of learning

and managing the technology: Short-term vs long-term strategy Operational vs strategic decisions Functional goals vs organizational

objectives Rapid implementation vs strategic

alignment Application vs portfolio approach

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2. Project initiation Traditionally, new application ideas

came from individuals with technical skills

proposed to solve problems at hand were more task specific helped

experimentation with technology fit user training and acceptance functional know how

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2. Success measures System features System reliability, integrity User satisfaction

accuracy content format ease of use timeliness

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2. Impact or perceived usefulness Measures of success have moved

toward outcome system use task productivity task innovation customer (internal and external)

satisfaction management control

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System to Value Chain

Beliefs Attitude Behavior Impact

SystemUse

ProductivityImpact

UserSatisfaction

PerceivedUsefulness

DownstreamUpstream

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Innovation Process Model

Changing Standards for

Evaluating Info. Systems

Perceived usefulness

User satisfaction

Usage time

Usage pattern/impact

Process Model

Initiation

Adoption

Adaptation

Acceptance

Routine Use

Infusion

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2. Portfolio questions Who is initiating the project? Who is sponsoring the project? How does the project support the mission of

the organization? What is the relative position of a project on

the priority list of the organization? How does the project contribute value to the

strategic goals of the organization? How does the project help meet current and

future needs of the customer?

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2. Portfolio priorities A project manager who is not familiar

with core business goals and objectives can not formulate effective IT portfolio.

The project manager must be able to evaluate the extent to which a project serves organizational goals.

There must be a process that defines how a project serves organizational objectives.

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2. Organizational priorities Senior executives and top management

are responsible for setting the overall strategic role of IT for the organization.

Project management involvement with strategic planning and decisions regarding selection, development, and implementation of technology provides several advantages:

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2. Organizational priorities PM brings expertise to planning

process PM develops insights to organizational

needs PM develops networking and

communication channels PM develops interorganizational

perspective for project integration.

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2. Strategic plan An organizational road map that

provides directions. Three important questions when developing a strategic plan: Where are we (strengths and

weaknesses) Where do we want to go (aspiration and

competitiveness – next five years) How to get there (resources and

constraints)

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2. Strategic plan and IT PM Creates consistency across projects in

support of organizational goals. Reduces redundancy (sharing

interorganizational resources). Prioritizes projects (ranking process). Provides a long term perspective. Provides criteria to measure project

success.

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2. Mission Describes the purpose for which the

organization exists. Expressed in broad terms Positions the organization relative to

competition and within the industry. Example: “To be the primary provider of

information system security in the western region of the United States within five years.”

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2. Goals and objectives Must be clearly defined and must be

measurable and doable. More specifically describe how the

mission is to be implemented. Used to evaluate performance. Customer satisfaction is often

considered an important goal. A hierarchy of goals and objectives

exists.

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2. MIS goals The MIS department must develop

strategies that support organizational goals.

Projects are implementation tools for organizational goals and objectives.

Goals help us define what we want to pursue and strategies help us accomplish them.

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2. Management support Top management support is critical to

the success of any project. This support is needed initially and

throughout – especially when the project is overdue or over budget.

The project proposal must clearly describe how the outcome is expected to support goals and objectives.

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2. Proactive and open communication Minimize the element of surprise Provide timely, accurate, and relevant

progress reports to all stakeholders at all times.

Report lack of expected progress or unanticipated difficulties to reduce ‘expectation gap’.

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2. Public relation Project management job involves constant

communication, negotiation, and public relation.

Your stakeholders include staff, suppliers, and even opponents of the project.

Work on your organizational skills, leadership skills, and coping skills.

Be persuasive, consistent, and flexible. Be realistic; the faith of a project is not

decided by facts alone.

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2. Ethics …? “As everyone struggles to sift spam from their

inboxes, valid messages are sometimes overlooked or deleted, which makes email less useful and reliable as a channel for communication and legitimate e-commerce. Spam threatens to undo much of the good that e-mail has achieved.”

Bill Gates

Is spam a question of ethics? What are your suggestions to curb this problem?

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2. Ethics …? How do you know your boss is trustworthy?

Ethical?

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2. Ethics …? Ask people what they like about their boss

and you may hear: “I like my boss because she treats

everyone the same.” “I like my boss because she is

reasonable.” “I like my boss because you always know

what she expects of you.” These are simple but effective points.

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2. PM and ethics Business and ethics. Conflict? Individual trait that is formed early in life

are influenced by family environment and values; they are less likely to change later in life. True?

Thought process evolves through learning, experience, and interaction that reaffirm values.

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2. PM and trust Frequently ask yourself how your decisions

affect stakeholders and how they are judged by others?

It is critical for the IT project manager to be trusted.

Trust is hard to define – it depends on character, competency, and ethical standing.

To build trust, create a work environment that is free of ‘game play’ and ‘manipulation’.

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2. PM and trust Trust is built over time. Trusted individuals are given the benefit

of the doubt in unusual and difficult situations.

Be open about your mistakes and show respect for opinions and suggestions of others.

Developing a project is more than knowing the technical dimensions of technology alone.

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2. Discussion question You are on the information technology steering

committee of your organization that approves funding support for systems development. You have been asked to analyze and recommend two of the three systems that have been proposed for development by user departments in your organization. One system is intended to improve inter-organizational communication, another to improve information system security and privacy within the organization, and the third one is intended to improve customer satisfaction. Your preliminary analysis of these proposals suggests:

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2. Discussion question All three systems support organizational strategy, be it

in different ways. There is sufficient internal technical expertise (human,

tools, etc.) to develop any of these systems. All three proposals suggest strong economic, political,

and environmental reasons for their development. User departments feel strongly about their proposals

and there are no apparent reasons to suggest any one system is more desirable than others.

What steps would you take to make and support your recommendation?

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2. Discussion question Who is responsible when bugs in medical

software result in patient deaths? Are computer scientists morally responsible

for anticipating and publicizing the problems that could result from the systems they design?

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2. Discussion question Many students think ethical choices are

irrelevant to computer science, engineering, or MIS disciplines and that their job is simply to do their employers’ will. However, computer professionals enter the realm of ethical choice in design whenever they make decisions affecting people. Ethical reflection begins with the assumption that all designs and all implementations involve value choices. Comment.

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2. Discussion question It has been suggested that more ethical

mistakes result from failure of imagination than from failure of moral principle. If you cannot think of alternative courses of action, you have few choices. A practical aspect of ethical reasoning involves determining whether all available options are exhausted. Do you agree?

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2. Discussion question This chapter suggests that ‘expectation gap’

can be addressed and improved through timely, relevant, and accurate information. Discuss how information overload or redundant information might affect the expectation gap.

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2. Discussion question Read and comment on the interview with a

project manager at the end of Chapter 2.

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2. Discussion question Read and prepare (in pair) a response for

Jarvis Communication Corporation case. Differentiation between mission, goals, and

objectives. Linkage among mission, goals, and

objectives. Characteristics of “good mission” statement Linkage to the real world. What happens if there is no mission, goals,

and objectives?

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2. Discussion question Read Hendrich Electronics Incorporated

at the end of this chapter and respond to following questions: (work in team)

1. Do you feel that Anthony is doing the right thing by making Mike prove his products worth?

2. Do you think that the Hendrich 5000 has what it takes to compete with other laptops?

3. If you were Mike, what would be your strategy at the presentation to convince others that they should invest in your idea?