MSc Information Technology Management

MSc Information Technology Management
(in affiliation with University of Sunderland, UK)

Introduction
Twin Entry for February and October - this is a 45 week programme taught over a 60 week period. Note that there is an 8 week summer vacation period

Programme Aims
The MSc in Information Technology Management has been designed to develop knowledge and the ability to manage information technology. The modules have been carefully selected to provide a balanced grounding in both business and computing. In particular the computing modules have been designed to provide students with knowledge of business administration disciplines, intelligent tools and practical experience to enable them to manage the development and implementation of IT systems.

MSc Information Technology Management programme from the University of Sunderland concentrates not only on the business aspects and information systems development/engineering but also on how decision support tools and intelligent systems technology can be applied to effective management of information technology. It gives this programme original and distinctive design that reflects the business needs of IT management professionals.

The aim of the programme is to provide a postgraduate course of study, which will:

• Produce hybrid managers that is, managers who combine information technology and computing skills with business and organisational skills.<

• Enable a critical evaluation of information technology in order to ensure its effective deployment in an organisation

• Provide the students with the ability to take the lead in the adoption of a systematic, professional, quality approach to IT systems development

• Enable the student to work with and manage technical specialists, especially on larger projects

• Identify the appropriate role for information technology in developing and implementing corporate strategy.

Career Opportunities
The market need for such a programme is demonstrated by the shortage of professional staff with knowledge and skills in information technology management. The learning/intelligent organisations/systems are becoming an increasingly widespread philosophy in modern companies from the largest multinationals to the smallest ventures. It defines demand for managers with knowledge of intelligent tools/systems and techniques that support the organisation’s strategic-management needs.

Since the ability of companies to recognise the value of new, external information; assimilate it; and apply it to business needs is critical to effective strategic decision making. This capacity is more important as information flow increases and the market for knowledge expands while the uncertainty of future opportunities remains… Effective intelligence systems track external developments likely to have an impact on the organisations, and they prompt timely discussion of the strategic implications of these forces of change. from: SRI Consulting Business Intelligence

Moreover, developments of new information technologies create new jobs. There might be new technology, but technological progress itself was nothing new – and over the years it had not destroyed jobs, but created them2 (Margaret Thatcher).

It requires managers with hybrid knowledge and skills drawn from different disciplines such as information technology, management, software engineering, intelligent systems, decision support, and electronic commerce. Furthermore, it requires managers with research skills to enable them to critically evaluate the trends, tools, techniques, current developments and their effective applications in information technology management.

Work Experience
During the project phase of the programme students have an opportunity to undertake a project which solves a real world problem. Many external clients sponsor such projects and students are actively encouraged and supported to find their own client and sponsor.

Teaching and Assessment
Various methods of teaching and learning are employed in the course, for example, lectures, group work, directed reading, research, discussions, seminars, tutorials, and practical laboratory sessions.

Assessment is based on individual written reports and research papers, practical assignments, and the project.

Content
Successful completion of the seven taught modules and an individual project will qualify the student for the MSc degree. Intermediate awards of Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma are available for students who do not wish to or are unable to complete the full MSc. The core modules within the programme are:

a) Research Ethical Professional and Legal Issues
• Nature of research, types of research, research process and its management, ethical issues in research, Outlining research problems and developing research questions.
• Research methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• Literature surveys and critical analysis and evaluation of sources.
• Data collection and data analysis.
• Critical evaluation and appraisal of published work and data sets.
• Recognition of appropriate and inappropriate use of approaches and statistics.
• Writing a technical paper, use of graphics, the publication process, reviews and the role of the reviewer. The use of peer review and appraisal. Presenting work orally and by other appropriate means. Structuring a research report and dissertation.
• Professional, ethical and legal issues that relate to the relevant programme of study. For example, critical examination of: the BCS code of conduct, the ACM code of Ethics, and the UK Data Protection Act).

b) Managing Projects, People and Finance
• Project management: What is Project Management;
• Project evaluation;
• Project planning;
• Network planning tools;
• Project hazards and contingency planning;
• Monitoring and Control;
• Project management methodologies, including PRINCE2;
• Use of project management software.
• Managing People: What is People Management; Organisational structure; Motivation. Theories; Leading the Team; Teams and Teamwork; Conflict; Power and Decision Making; Managing Change.
• Managing Finance: Key Financial Statements used in organisations (An introduction to business organisations and accounting; Financial statements – the Balance Sheet; Financial statements – the Profit and Loss Account; Financial statements – the Cash Flow Statement); Business Performance Analysis; Using accounting data in a range of decision-making situations (Costs and decision making; Planning and budgeting; Investment decisions; The importance of working capital).

c) Electronic Commerce
This module shall introduce the students to the development, trends and standards associated with networks, the Internet and web, and electronic commerce. In the course of the module students will be exposed to e-business models, e-commerce classification, the development of online trading mechanisms, typical B2C and B2B scenarios, and corresponding application architectures, online transaction systems, supply chains, value chain management, customer relationship management, business process integration, interoperability and legacy system issues. The security of e-commerce shall be briefly reviewed; security strategies, firewalls and network security, encryption, and authentication. Also, the impact of e-commerce on privacy, social and ethical issues shall be considered.

Note: the above topics indicate content, any change would be in line with current trends.

d) Quality and Information Systems Strategies
• To introduce students to the concepts of quality management especially as they relate to the software development environment. Students shall be exposed to: the components of quality management systems, international standards for IT quality (ISO9001, TickIT), quality assessment procedures, review and examination of current QMS standards, Software Process Improvement Standards, and QMS and SPI paradigms.

• Review of the case for strategic planning and information systems, Nolan’s stage model, Mc Farlan & McKeney strategic grid, strategic impact, competitive advantage, methodologies for strategy formulation, organisation of IT departments, selection methodologies, and the Applications Master Plan - determinants and influences.

Note: the above topics indicate content, any change would be in line with current trends.

e) Risk and Opportunities of Systems Change in Organisations
This module introduces:
• information systems pathology: analysis of reported cases of systems success and/or failure to determine key factors, techniques such as post-implementation reviews, risk checklists.
• assessing and managing the risks involved: risk identification and analysis techniques. Generic risk management framework. Example risk management methods (such as RAMESES, SEI-SRE, Riskit).
• identifying opportunities and managing creativity: creative problem solving approaches (e.g. Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, TRIZ), and techniques (such as the ‘9-Windows’ System Operator tool, the contradiction matrix). Evaluation of relationship between risks and opportunities.

f) Intelligent Systems for Management
• This module introduces the trends, tools, techniques and current developments in the area of Intelligent Systems and their applications in management. The systems approach. Intelligent systems/agents. Adaptive and learning systems. Active information systems. Machine learning techniques. Information management. Knowledge management. Intelligent knowledge-based systems. Expert systems. Data warehousing and Data mining. Data warehousing for decision support. Data mining methodologies and best practices. Data mining techniques. Use of data mining techniques for business applications.

g) Decision Support for Management
• The module begins with an introduction to the need and the use of decision support systems. It flows by analysing the general principles of modelling and simulation. The second part of the course selects one modelling technique (system Dynamics) and studies its usefulness as a decision support tool in detail. Relevant applications will then be explored.

h) Project - designed to bring a real world benefit to an organisation.