B222A – Managing Technologies and Innovation TMA – FALL 2017-2018

B222A  – Managing Technologies and Innovation
TMA – FALL 2017-2018

I- INSCTRUCTIONS
II- CONCEPTS TO EXPLORE
III- QUESTIONS
IV- GRADES DEDUCTION
V- AOU POLICY ON LATE SUBMISSIONS
VI- AOU POLICY ON PLAGIARISM
VII- PT3 FORM

I- INSCTRUCTIONS:

• Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than the due date mentioned on your LMS/Moodle or in the university course calendar. ALL late submissions require approval from the branch course coordinator and will be subject to grade deductions.
• Learning outcomes: The purpose of this assignment is to support students’ understanding and application of different concepts learned in B222A, mainly: IT as competitive advantage, core competencies, internal acquisition through R&D.
• Word count: you should discuss the questions in no more or less than the number of words mentioned for each question (plus or minus 10%).
• Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of information using full Harvard Style Referencing (in-text referencing plus list of references at the end).  Use E-library: to get journal articles on the topic (Emerald, EBSCO, Proquest…).  Use at least 2 articles.
• Plagiarism: Remember that you should work the information from references into your own original thoughts and INTO YOUR OWN WORDS. Plagiarism will lead to a significant loss of marks. Extensive plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA. (Refer to AOU definitions of cheating and plagiarism at the end of this document)
• Essay guidance: Your response to each question should take the form of a full essay format. Avoid using subheadings and bullet points.  Use B222A textbook and slides, the case, and E-Library. Plan what you will write, and have a well-organized outline.
• Using PT3 form: When you have completed your TMA, you must fill in the assignment form (PT3) posted on your LMS account, taking care to fill all information correctly.
• Moodle upload: A soft copy of your TMA and PT3 form should be uploaded to your LMS account via the link posted there, within the cut-off date.
• This TMA is 20% of B222A Grade.

II- CONCEPTS TO EXPLORE:
21 Most admired companies making IT a Competitive Advantage
All enterprises, regardless of what they produce or the services they deliver, are really information businesses.
The accuracy, speed and precision of IT systems means the difference between winning or losing customers, keeping supply chains profitable, and solidly translating new concepts into revenue-producing products and services.  The world’s best-run services businesses have customer-driven IT as part of their DNA; it is very much who these companies are internally.
In the recently published Gartner report CEO and Senior Executive Survey 2013: 21 Top Companies Admired for Competitive IT  completed between October and December, 2012, C-level respondents were asked to name the companies they most admired in terms of their ability to apply IT-related business capabilities for competitive advantage.
The following is the list of the world’s most admired companies using IT for competitive advantage.
Most Admired Companies Making IT A Competitive Advantage:

Accenture
Amazon
Apple
Cleveland Clinic
General Electric
Goldman Sachs
Google
Hospital Corporation of America
IBM
Intermountain Healthcare
JP Morgan Chase
Kaiser Permanente
Mayo Clinic
Microsoft
Nestle
Procter & Gamble
Progressive Insurance
Schlumberger
Target
Toyota
Wells Fargo


Key Take-Aways:

• Customer-driven IT is the single most admired trait of all 21 companies in the list.  Associated with this attribute is the proven ability of these enterprises to manage complex e-commerce systems & platforms, support multichannel management, in addition to continually show the ability to innovate quickly.
• Enterprises need to consider how the business successes their investments in  IT are enabling can be used for branding and recruitment.   Providing benchmark performance data and stories of how IT helped create entirely new markets and solve customer problems needs to be used for recruiting.  Many of the 21 companies mentioned are doing this, using success stories as a catalyst for driving recruitment efforts for analytics, cloud computing and systems integration experts.
• Four of the top five factors that most impressed respondents about the admired companies are customer-related.  Customer-facing IT (15%); followed by an integrated/standardized/unified IT organization and process framework (13%); exceptional use of CRM (11%); customer-centered innovation (9%);  and product design & offerings (9%) are the most mentioned attributes of the highest-performing companies. Multiple responses were allowed to this area of the survey.  The following graphic provides an analysis of which factors most impressed the C-level executives who were respondents to the survey.

Louis Columbus, (April 1, 2013), 21 Most Admired Companies Making IT A Competitive Advantage
Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/04/01/21-most-admired-companies-making-it-a-competitive-advantage/#80e8eb7333cb

III- QUESTIONS:
Answers to these questions should be based on: the passage above, material learned from the textbook related to different TM concepts (importance of technologies, technologies as competitive advantage, core competencies….) and online sources (i.e. companies’ webpages, AOU e-library databases…)
1- The role of IT in all companies of all sectors is crucial, especially in technological industries. Elaborate on this importance, for all sectors in general and for technological companies in particular and explain how it is linked to innovation. Give examples to support your answer. (300 words – 30 marks)


2- Choose one of the companies listed above, visit its website and other web pages you find interesting for your search in order to elaborate on its innovative aspect through the use of IT and through their R&D department and activities (number of employees in the department, budget allocated, spending on R&D, areas of research, latest innovations…) – (350 words – 35 marks)

3- CRM is one of the latest and most appreciated technologies used by companies. Explain this technology and describe its characteristics reflecting on its importance now to different companies. (350 words – 35 marks)


IV- GRADES DEDUCTION:
TMA Presentation:
Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor presentation or poor organization of the TMA outline and discussion or TMA presented without PT3.
Proper referencing:
Referencing should be both in-text referencing, plus a list of references at the end using Harvard style. Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor referencing.

Use of E-Library:
A minimum use of 2 articles from AOU e-library is required to support the discussions. Up to 5 marks should be deducted for no use or poor use of e-library.

Word count:
The answers should be within the specified word count. A deviation of 10% is acceptable; if more, a deduction up to 5 marks will be applied.


V- AOU POLICY ON PLAGIARISM:
Arab Open University Definitions of cheating and plagiarism:
Plagiarism means copying from internet, from unreferenced sources, from other students’ TMAs or any other source.  Penalties for plagiarism range from failure in the TMA or the course, to expulsion from the university.
According to the Arab Open University By-laws, the following acts represent cases of cheating and plagiarism:
• Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.
• Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.
• Copying other students’ notes or reports.
• Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.
• Utilization of, or proceeding to utilize, contraband materials or devices in examinations.

Penalty on plagiarism: The following is the standard plagiarism penalty applied across branches as per Article 11 of the university by-laws was revisited and modified to be more explicit with regard to plagiarism on TMAs. Penalties include the following:
1) Awarding of zero for a TMA wherein more than 20% of the content is plagiarized.
2) Documentation of warning in student record.
3) Failure in the course to dismissal from the University.

VI- AOU POLICY ON LATE SUBMISSIONS:
As per the terms stated in the “Late Submission Policy for Tutor Marked Assignments-TMAs”, sent by the deanship on 10/11/2016, TMA late submission is subject to grades deduction according to the following:
1- Late submission – Within the 6 days after the due date: reduction of 10% (of the total TMA grade) for each day late.
2- Late submission – After day 6: the necessity to submit a late submission justification form and decision will be taken by the respective BCC and PC.
3- No submission: a zero grade will be attributed to the TMA in case of non submission