Week 10 - Intro to Enterprise Systems

We continued working on database theory (reading database schemas and basic normalization principles). We used these knowledge to generate queries that related to operational needs of a company. We emphasized the need to be able to translate an English question to SQL and vice versa and its importance in the auditing process.

In week 10, we will focus on the database schema of one of the cases (GRT) and use it to understand the role and functionality of ERP systems with a company.

Topics and Readings for Week 10

Theory: Read chapter 6 (enterprise systems).

Seminar: In our seminar we will continue working with sql queries. We will some applications of SQL in the context of auditing (fraud detection).

Assignments for Week 10

The online quiz will be a based on chapters  6,  and material from the seminar. The quiz will be available on Friday at 12:30 pm.

Week 9 - Database, the heart of an Enterprise System

This week we are going to look at several examples (mini-cases) of business processes and their corresponding  database schemas. Our first objective is to familiarize ourselves with relevant database theory and more specifically database normalization theory. The second objective is to learn how to visualize the basic database structure and information flow behind a business process.

Looking at these examples will provide us the foundation for transition to enterprise systems (Chapter 6). The heart of an enterprise system is an integrated database. We will focus on the role that these systems play within the company, expected benefits, risks as well as critical success factors associated with their implementation and adoption.

Topics and Readings for Week 9

Theory: Read chapter 5 (database theory) and chapter 6 (enterprise systems).

Seminar: In our seminar we will continue working with SQL queries.  While last week we learned how to work with one table, this week we will combine multiple tables. One of the exercises that we will work on is motivated by the experience of Harrah’s. We will develop and use a query to identify a firm’s most valuable customers (observe the Pareto 80:20 principle in terms of sales and customers).

Assignments for Week 9

The online quiz will be a based on chapters  5,  and material from the seminar. The quiz will be available on Friday at 12:30 pm and stay open till Monday 8 am.

Week 8 - Data the fuel of analytics

In the second half of the course our focus will shift to information technology related to tactical and operational issues (we will use analytics to support decision making at the tactical and operational level). The topic for this week will be on database theory. We will learn about database theory, because data is the fuel of analytics.

More specifically our focus for this week will be on the following topics: Reading entity-relationship diagrams. An entity-relationship (E-R) diagram is the blueprint of a database. It provides us with a concise way of seeing the  entities (tables) and how these entities are related. This is critical if we want to design queries for data extraction.

Understanding the process for designing a normalized database. We will look at several examples based on mini cases and see how we can design a normalized database.

In our seminar, we will use the sqldf package in R in order to write sql queries for data extraction. We will start with queries based on data from a single table and make our way to more advanced queries based on multiple tables.

Topics and Readings for Week 8

Reading: Read chapter 5

Assignments for Week 8

The online quiz will be a based on chapters  5,  and material from the seminar. The quiz will be available on Friday at 12:30 pm.

Week 7 - Review and Midterm

We have completed the first half of the course. The focus has been on IT and technology adoption from a strategic data analytics standpoint. During the lecture this week and in preparation for the midterm, we will use the case of Harrah’s as a foundation for reviewing material we have covered since the beginning of the term.

There is no seminar in Week 7. In lieu of the seminar, I will hold extra office hours.

Topics and Readings for Midterm

Theory: chapter 1-4, the Whirlpool case study, material posted on Learn, and topics presented in lectures

Seminar: Appendices to chapters 1-4, material posted on Learn, and topics discussed in seminars.

Assignments for Week 7

The midterm has been scheduled for Friday 2016-06-17 at 18:00 to 19:30 (6 to 7:30PM). Please visit https://odyssey.uwaterloo.ca/teaching/schedule for details.

Week 6 - IT Strategy & Competing with Analytics

During week 5, we reviewed theory related to IT strategy and payoffs from IT investments. This week we will finish the discussion on IT strategy (chapter 3) and move to the discussion on competing with analytics (Chapter 4,  which is an extension of the discussion on IT strategy). We will leverage the text mining capability of R (word cloud) to get an idea about the alignment between IT and business strategy of Whirlpool and learn how to synthesize material from the first three chapters to generate risk profiles and competitive payoffs for IT investments.

In the seminar, we previewed the Whirlpool case study payoffs from their technology investment. This week we are going to look more carefully at  financial performance metrics that could best capture the expected payoffs from the firm’s IT investment. The results, especially those related to the firm’s days of inventory, are quite interesting. We will revisit the data from the wireless industry and relate this to hypercompetition.

Topics and Readings for Week 6

Theory: Re-read chapter 3 and this time focus on payoffs. While we have been using analytics from the beginning of the term, Chapter 4 provides a formal introduction to the topic, as well as historical presentation of what is perceived one of the most celebrated success stories of competing with data analytics, i.e., Harrah’s entertainment (the firm is now known as Caesars Entertainment Corporation).

Readings: Chapters 3 and 4 (no need to memorize details about Harrah’s from chapter, just make sure you get the big picture).

Seminar: We will review the script and discuss the results of the analysis of the payoffs from tech adoption in the case of Whirlpool. See script:  WHR_TechAdoptionPayoffs

Hypercompetition is a term that has been introduced since the late nineties to reflect an increasing level of competition and to account for the growing percentage of firms reporting losses. Compare the US versus Canadian side of the market (percentage of firms reporting losses in the wireless market). See script: WirelessMarket_5010_Losses

Analyzing the Whirlpool case, we explored considered one performance metric that could capture the expected payoffs from their ERP investment. If you were to repeat this exercise with Harrah’s which variable would you select and why? Feel free to consider/suggest a new variable, i.e., a variable not listed in the Appendix.

Assignments for Week 6

The online quiz will be a based on chapters 3 and 4,  and material from the seminar. The quiz will be available on Friday at 12:30 pm.