20209 - IT CONSULTING
Department of Management and Technology
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
CLMG (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - M (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - IM (6 credits - II sem. - OP | 12 credits SECS-P/10) - MM (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - AFC (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - CLELI (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - ACME (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - DES-ESS (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - EMIT (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - GIO (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - DSBA (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - PPA (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - FIN (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10) - AI (6 credits - II sem. - OP | SECS-P/10)
Course Director:
FERDINANDO PENNAROLA
FERDINANDO PENNAROLA
Suggested background knowledge
none
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The management consulting field is dominated by IT services. This course provides a framework for managing IT consulting projects assuming either the perspective of the service provider (the IT Consulting firm) or the client. Understanding what IT consulting ultimately is requires a focusing on what are the tools used by these organizations, their models and service approaches: business processes redesign, information system design, ERP implementation, change management, outsourcing.
The first part of the course explores a set of analytical tools that are critical for conducting an IT consulting project, which considers all project teams/actors’ requirements. Such approach has the objective to significantly improve the odds of success when figuring out how to create and manage an IT consulting project. In the second part, the IT projects are strictly related to the business analysis and requirements, which implies to map business processes with appropriate methodologies. The case of designing and running general enterprise management software (like ERPs) will be used to contextualize this activity.
CONTENT SUMMARY
Information technology services (consulting + outsourcing) account for a significant portion of the global GDP and some countries have made a precise bet on it: for example, India, with giants like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consulting has made IT Services their flagship industry in the international competition. This bunch of new aggressive competitors (the Indian "Tigers") are now earth quaking the competitive landscape of consulting firms like Accenture, IBM Global Services, Cap Gemini, Deloitte, KPMG. IT consulting is a reality managers cannot avoid: the competence in designing and running information systems is often provided by skilled service-based organizations that master information technologies and do both the strategic and operative work for you. Thus, lots of the innovation and capital investments pass through the complex relationship established by clients and their IT partners.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
Knowledge
You should be able to…
• Demonstrate understanding of the key principles of intervention practice in consulting relationships
• Demonstrate the ability to define a client problem or opportunity
• Be able to prepare a proposal to undertake a consulting project
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
Skills
You should be able to…
• Negotiate and communicate effectively in the course of the engagement
• Demonstrate personal skills associated with the management and operation of a piece of advisory work
• Demonstrate general project management skills
Values/attitudes
You should be able to…
• Appreciate the contribution of a specific intervention to the development of an organization
• Be able to integrate specific, technical skills from other modules within the generic consulting paradigm
Teaching methods
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Company visits
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
DETAILS
Team work consulting projects for Devo Labs’ Partners
Attending students are required to actively participate to 1 teamwork initiative within the course:
- Form groups of 5-7 people to participate to the consulting question. Attend the scheduled class to listen from the DEVO Lab research team the typical IT Consulting engagement questions. Deadline for report delivery (upload 1 document – PPT file, self-explanatory – on Bocconi blackboard platform) is (TBA). Date of report presentation is (TBA).
- The grade will be given on a group-basis and it will account for the 60% of the total individual grade.
Teamwork in-class assignments
Attending students will receive 1-2 in-class assignments (i.e. case analysis and presentation, case discussions) to be completed during class hours (attendance is required). The overall grade for the in-class assignments will account for the 10% of the total individual grade.
Team Composition
This course assumes that students will freely team-up, choosing their preferred teammates. Instructors WILL NOT assign students to teams, neither interfere with issues regarding team composition and team management. Instructors will limit their work to evaluating output (the “product” of a real-life consulting team) and students will do the job of finding partners. This is adopted as an “ethical rule” of the course, to avoid any conflict of interest on the Faculty side, being those that give grades to team output and also interfering in team composition (input of the process). Team composition is due on (TBA) (follow online instructions)
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
x |
ATTENDING STUDENTS
Summary of evaluation criteria for attending students
Attending students will receive an individual evaluation at the end of the course composed as follows:
- Consulting Project Devo Lab Partners (teamwork activity) = 60%
- In-class case analysis and discussion (teamwork activity) = 10%
- Final exam (individual activity) = 30%
A “pass course” is issued ONLY in case each one of the above grades is >= 18/30.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students:
- D. Avison, G. Fitzgerald, Information Systems Development, McGraw Hill, fourth edition, 2006
- N. Carr, The big Switch: rewiring the world from Edison to Google, Norton, 2013
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Readings and cases available online through Web-Learning.
- V. Sambamurty and R. Zmud, Guiding the digital transformation of organizations, Legerity Digital Press, 2018 SECOND EDITION (book is available online)
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students:
- D. Avison, G. Fitzgerald, Information Systems Development, McGraw Hill, fourth edition, 2006
- N. Carr, The big Switch: rewiring the world from Edison to Google, Norton, 2013
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