Welcome to AFM241
Every week, I will provide you with a class update, which will summarize what we have done in the previous week, what we are planning to do in the following week, as well as a reminder of assignments/quizzes which are due in the following week.
Data analytics, big data, cloud computing, internet of things, and blockchain are just a few of the recent technological innovations. Over 200 emerging technologies were identified by Gartner Inc., in the last ten years (Stratopoulos 2016). Course focus will be on the following questions: 1) Why firms invest in information technology (IT), i.e., what are the expected benefits, costs, and risks. 2) What are some of the most common information technology investments that firms undertake. 3) How do companies justify, monitor, and control IT spending, and how they evaluate the expected payoffs from these investments.
By the end the course, students should be able to achieve the following objectives: 1) Understand appropriate accounting, business and IT strategy concepts in order to explain why firms invest in IT, what investments they make, and how firms justify, monitor, and evaluate IT investments. 2) Leverage and apply appropriate structured/unstructured data and business analytics tools in order to answer questions related to why, what, and how of IT investments. 3) Integrate appropriate accounting, business and IT strategy concepts with facts based evidence from business analytics in order to make recommendations on how to justify, monitor, and evaluate IT investments.
Please start by reviewing the syllabus, which you access from the following link: Syllabus 2016. Course delivery will be based on a combination of lectures (theory) and hands on seminars (leverage business analytics to understand the theory).
Topics and Readings for Week 1
During the first week’s lecture, we will use the Whirlpool case study as a way of exploring the main questions examined in this course (i.e., why firms invest in information technology, what investments they make, and how they justify/evaluate these investments). In chapter one, we will explore emerging technologies and technology adoption (sections 1.3 and 1.4, pp. 12-27).
During the first week’s seminar, we will start working with R (a very powerful and versatile open source software) on business analytics problems. We will explore the RStudio interface and work with stock market data (Appendix 1.A, pp. 39-50), as well as the use of R and Google Trends to understand and predict emerging technology adoption (Appendix 1.B, pp. 51-56).
Please read the Whirlpool case and assigned pages from text before you come to class.
- Stratopoulos, T. C. 2016. Business Value of Information Technology: A Business Analytics Approach. University of Waterloo, ON. The text is available from the University of Waterloo bookstore. Please note that that the price charged by the bookstore is just the printing cost.
- Ruback, R. S., Balachandran, S., and Aldo Sesia 2001. Whirlpool Europe. Case Study, Boston: Harvard Business School. You can purchase/download the case from the following URL: http://hbr.org/product/whirlpool-europe/an/202017-PDF-ENG?Ntt=%2520whirlpool%2520europe
Assignments/Quizzes for week 1
There is going to be a quiz on Friday based on the Whirlpool case, assigned pages from the text, and material covered in the lecture/seminar. The quiz is open books, you will take it online (via Learn), and you will have to take it during a specific time (12:30 pm).
Again welcome to AFM241 and best wishes for a healthy and productive term.
Prof. Theo Stratopoulos
