Assignment: IT Strategy Case Analysis
To complete this analysis, you will:
• Fully perform the five formal steps of the case analysis methodology we discussed in class and read about in our textbook while leveraging the knowledge you have gained from your strategy sessions. This includes:
o Identifying the Key Question and a defensible SCQ.
o Identifying which candidate solutions in the Issue Tree have been chosen for the Hyp. Tree.
o Identifying and prioritizing key pieces of reasoning to research in the Hyp. Tree. (and later, which pieces are supported or not)
o Creating a research plan that reflects the identified pieces of the Hyp. Tree, relative priorities, and their planned sources to check. You do not need to specify who to assign research to or whether it is primary or secondary (but you are welcome to do so if you choose).
o Creating a recommendation that reflects a well-stated Big Answer, supporting reasoning, and supporting evidence for that reasoning.
• Document the final state of the work in each step in a clear manner so that someone may reasonably understand and interpret what you've written (i.e. you don't need to submit early iterations/drafts, only the final state of the work).
• Submit the completed set of documented steps in one easy to scroll through document.
Remember: A good analysis is updated iteratively so that each part aligns well with the next (and the last).
Scenario
After a full day of meetings with the MDCM executive team, MDCM's new CIO Shawn Atkins feels no closer to a solution. Frustrated, he turns to his "SWAT Team" - the nickname he's given to an advisory group formed from an elite subset of the twenty-three managers he identified as high potential IT leaders - a group he's asked you to lead.
Shawn has given you a short-list of questions to consider as a starting point:
• What should MDCM's strategy be going forward?
• What broad implications does the business strategy have on our functional IT strategy?
• What are some of the strategic objectives we should prioritize for IT?
• What critical success factors can we identify for our IT strategy?
Disclaimer
This is a deliberately chosen "classic" case. This means that the story is old, as are the technology references, but the issues and themes are valuable and timeliness. In analyzing the case you should interpret any technology references as their modern day equivalent, and you should plan and propose in terms of our contemporary time and era (i.e. if they say Windows assume we're talking Windows 7, 8 or 10, if you are thinking they should adopt a new online service you would look at contemporary options).
Submission requirements
Since most steps contain a tree diagram and the others benefit from general visuals, you have some discretion on how you create these, including:
• PowerPoint
• Visio
• Hand-drawn sketches
• .. or a comparable approach.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.