Mgmt 274A Special Topics in Information Systems

Managerial Implications of
Emerging Information Technologies

Spring Quarter 1996
Thursdays, 1:30 - 4:30
Room C303


Instructor: Jason Frand

The Course Vision (or what this class is all about)

This discussion-oriented course is designed to take what you have learned in the MBA program and use it to evaluate emerging information technologies in terms of their applicability to solving the strategic issues facing industries as they prepare for the 21st century. This course is set in the context of what is happening in today's business environment, specifically with the information technologies which underlie our global economy and play a necessary role in the re-conceptualization of our industries. This is not a course for technologists, but for all managers who must thrive in the information age. The focus is on the impacts of technology, not the technology itself. However, the student will gain an understanding of several emerging information technologies. Reading and case material have been selected to focus on the interactions between organizational and technological forces. To facilitate discussions and interactions, the class size will be limited to 16 students.

Objectives (or what you should take away)

Class participants will be challenged to ask questions, seek answers, and acquire skills which lead to the accomplishment of four course goals, two conceptual and two pragmatic:

Grade and Evaluation Criteria

Class Sessions and Assignment Due Dates

Classes meet weekly, Thursday afternoons 1:30 - 4:30. However, some class assignments, specifically, the technology notes, will be due on the Monday before the class meets so that the material can be posted to the class Web site, and everyone will be able to read the material before attending.

Please see the class schedule for specific dates.

Text, Readings, Surfing, and Guest Lecturers

2020 Vision by Stan Davis and Bill Davidson (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1991) explores paths to the date just 24 years away. We'll use their definition of informationalization (analogous to industrialization) to identify critical or key success factors for industries to prosper into the next century.

Background on the various information technologies studied during the term will be provided by technology notes prepared by each member of the class. These notes, to be presented as a series of Web pages, will consist of descriptions and summaries of information, as well as pointers to other web sites. The notes will be posted to the class web server by midnight, Monday, before the class session when the technology is to be discussed. The notes will then be available for everyone to read beginning Tuesday.

The Hughes Space and Communications Scheduling (HSC) in an Integrated Factory case will be used to explored the role of information politics in any technological introduction. The entrepreneurial manager at HSC who struggled to bring about organizational change will join the class to share his experience, beginning where the case ended.

The course instructor will make every attempt to invite an information technology manager from each of the industries which students select for their class projects to participate during the quarter.

Suggested reading for understanding potential "ultimate" impact of information technologies, any of the books in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov.

Prerequisite

Managerial Computing (Mgmt 404) or consent of instructor.


Feel free to send questions or suggestions to jason.frand@anderson.ucla.edu

Last Updated March 20, 1996

jason.frand@anderson.ucla.edu