IS 6846 ONLINE!

SUMMER SESSION I 2009 (May 18 to June 11)

Management of Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services

This is an experimental course that is mostly delivered online.  Students are required to come to three class sessions.  Please do not sign up for the course unless you can attend all three class sessions:

Monday May 18 10:00am to 12:40 pm  (training with mygateway, course introduction) 005 CCB (Computer Center Building)

Monday June 1 11:00 am to 12:00 pm (in class exam) 005 CCB

Thursday June 11 11:00am to 12:00 pm (in class exam) 005 CCB

Prerequisites: Graduate students:  IS 5800

Bulletin Course Description:

 

Largely fostered by the globalization of organizations and spread of the Internet, international standards, and common software packages, organizations now regularly source business and IT services globally. This course covers topics to help organizations manage global sourcing of business and IS services, including sourcing strategies, multicultural business ethics, sourcing models, supplier selection, engagement models, role of standards, and special practices required to manage globally dispersed teams.  Although the course focuses on global sourcing of IT work, the global sourcing of other back offices including, finance, HR, and procurement are also covered.  

Course Instructor:

Dr. Mary C. Lacity
233 Computer Center Building
(314) 516-6127 (work)
(314) 516-6827 (fax)

Email: Mary.Lacity@umsl.edu
Homepage: http://www.umsl.edu/~lacitym

 

Ideal Student Profile:

 

Students have different learning styles.  This course is most suited for:

§         students who enjoy self-directed learning

§         students who are mature (accountable and responsible for their own work)

§         students who welcome the challenge of reading advanced scholarship

§         students who follow written instructions well

§         students who enjoy written expression

§         students who do not mind listening to prerecorded lectures

§         students who are organized, and

§         students who have the self-discipline and time to spend three to five hours a day on this course for the four weeks of the course.  

 

Although certainly not a requirement, I would most welcome students who have had me for IS 5800 because we’ve already developed a relationship.  What an online course gains in student flexibility is lost in close daily contact with the professor and classmates.

 

I will be able to monitor your daily progress, as I can see exactly when you accessed module materials and how long you spent on certain tasks (such as listening to lectures).   Of course some students may choose to work heavily on the weekends and lightly during the work week.  Each student needs to make good progress each week; each student should be fully prepared for exams and complete the entire course assignment portfolios on time.

 

 

Course Instructor:

 

Dr. Mary Cecelia Lacity is a Professor of Information Systems and International Business Fellow at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her current research focuses on global outsourcing of business and IT services, IT’s contribution to business performance, innovation diffusion, and turnover among IT professionals.  She has conducted case studies and surveys of hundreds of organizations on their outsourcing and management practices. She has given executive seminars world-wide and has served as an expert witness for the US Congress. She was the recipient of the 2008 Gateway to Innovation Award sponsored by the IT Coalition, Society for Information Management, and St. Louis RCGA and the 2000 World Outsourcing Achievement Award sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Michael Corbett and Associates. She has published ten books, most recently Information Systems and Outsourcing: Studies in Theory and Practice (Palgrave, 2009; co-author Leslie Willcocks) and Offshore Outsourcing of IT Work, (Palgrave, 2008; coauthor Joe Rottman) and Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services (Palgrave, 2006; coauthor Leslie Willcocks). Her more than 50 publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, IEEE Computer, Communications of the ACM and many other academic and practitioner outlets. She is US Editor of the Journal of Information Technology, and Co-editor of the Palgrave Series: Work, Technology, and Globalization and on the Editorial Boards for MIS Quarterly Executive, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, and Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS).  She has previously served as Senior Editor for MIS Quarterly Executive. Before earning her Ph.D. at the University of Houston, she worked as a consultant for Technology Partners International and as a systems analyst for Exxon Company, USA.

 

 

Required Course Materials:

Assigned readings, videos, and pre-recorded lectures as posted on my gateway

Course Grades:

PERCENT

REQUIREMENT

DUE DATE

HARDCOPY

TURN-IN

SOFT COPY TURN-IN:

PLEASE USE ASSIGNMENT FEATURE IN MYGATEWAY

15%

Exam I June 1

 

Course Assignment Portfolio I

June 1

 

Please hand in the hardcopy of the 3 assignments to professor at start of class as instructed below

 

5%

Module B Assignment

Module B Assignment

15%

Module C Assignment

Module C Assignment

15%

Module D Assignment

Module D Assignment

15%

Exam II (non comprehensive) June 11

 

Course Assignment Portfolio II

June 11

Please hand in the hardcopy of the 4 assignments to professor at start of class as instructed below

 

10%

Module E Assignment

Module E Assignment

10%

Module F Assignment

Module F Assignment

10%

Module G Assignment

Module G Assignment

5%

Module H Assignment

Module H Assignment

Exams:

Two exams will be given in class.  The exams are non-cumulative.  The exams are open notes.   Students may bring printed copies of whatever they want to the exam.   The format will be 50 multiple choice questions to ensure that students have read all the materials, listened to all the lectures, and watched the videos. Students have one hour to complete the exam.  No make up exams will be given without prior instructor permission or under extreme documentable circumstances.

Course Assignment Portfolios:

 

Course Assignment Portfolio I:  

 

HARDCOPY.  Please print and bound together the assignments for Modules B, C, and D.  Please do not use heavy binders because I will mail back graded portfolios.   Please use font size 11 or font size 12 for normal text.  Please use one inch margins.  Please include footers with your name and page number.  Please clearly mark each page with module number and part number.  Please have four sections to the portfolio:

 

            1. Cover page: Course name, number, Semester, “Course Assignment Portfolio I”, student name, preferred mailing address, phone, student ID

            2. Module B

            3. Module C

            4. Module D

           

            Click here for a format example.

 

SOFTCOPY.  In addition to the hardcopy, please submit each module’s assignment in mygateway using the ASSIGNMENTS feature on the main menu.  I need a softcopy for my records.  I will also pick the best assignments to share with the class as exemplars.

 

            Course Assignment Portfolio II: Assignments from Modules E, F, G, and H. (HARDCOPY and SOFTCOPY).

 

Grading Assignment Portfolios. Course Assignment Portfolios are due at the start of class as indicated above. 10 points are deducted for each day late. There is no “double grading” (i.e. no asking to redo a portfolio if a student is not satisfied with the grade earned).  There are no extra credit assignments.  Each module has a 10 item assessment sheet that I will use for grading.  By having access to this grading sheet for each module, students will be better able to check that each assignment meets requirements.

 

My grading philosophy is that professors do not “give” grades.  Students “earn” grades.  I take grading very seriously.  I thoughtfully grade each assessment item on the assessment sheets.  A sub-culture has emerged among some (certainly not all) graduate students that graduate students are “customers” and that every thing they do should be given an A.  Such a view dilutes the value of your education, and as a professor I cannot possibly hold this view.  I am morally obligated to clearly define expectations (which I do on a very detailed syllabus), to help you as much as I can before your exams and portfolios are due, and to grade the actual performance using the assessment sheets.  

 

Some students attempt to protest their grades on many grounds: ignorance about when something is due (that never works), ignorance of an assessment item (that never works), different perception of performance (as an outside and experienced observer, I am certainly more objective than the student who self-assesses!), personal problems (must be documented and discussed before an exam or portfolio is due), or all the hard work they did (that’s an input, not an output), etc. 

 

I must treat and assess each student the same—fairly and consistently.  I cannot make exceptions for some students.  All that said, I have great empathy for college students, having been one myself for nine years!   I care about your learning. No one would be happier than I to see all students earn high grades!

 

Please note that all assignment require students to correctly reference sources. Make sure that every module appropriately credits sources, be it an interview, printed material, or web site. Printed material should be referenced with Author, Year, Title, Journal (if appropriate), Volume, Number, and page numbers. For example:

Book:
Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L. (2001), Global Information Technology Outsourcing: Search For Business Advantage, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Journal Article:

Rottman, J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from Outsourcing IT Work Offshore,” Information Systems Frontiers, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 259-275.

If your text gets too busy, then simply use end notes, such as embedding (1) in the text and attaching a list with numbers:

(1) Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L. (2001), Global Information Technology Outsourcing: Search For Business Advantage, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

(2) Rottman, J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from Outsourcing IT Work Offshore,” Information Systems Frontiers, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 259-275.

(3) Ibid, p. 184.

Websites:

Please indicate full URL for web site references, and date viewed. For example:

http://outsourcingprofessional.org/content/23/196/1782/, viewed January 1, 2009.

I should be able to click on the URL and go directly to the source.

Interviews:

If any of you decide to conduct any interviews, please indicate name (if not anonymous), title of interviewee, type of interview (in person, phone, videoconference, email), name of student at the interview, and date of interview. For example:

John Smith, CIO of BigCompany, interviewed in person by Jane Doe, January 6, 2009.

Ian Jones, Director of Applications, BigCompany, interviewed by email by Jane Doe February 8, 2009.

DO NOT PLAGERIZE!!!!

You may not copy directly from sources unless you indent the text and put it in quotes.  This would normally be reserved for a few sentences of specific quotations. 

You must RE-WORD sources!  You are using external references as INPUT to your originally created OUTPUT.

I take this very seriously and any student who copies directly from the web or printed sources will be turned over to Academic Affairs.

Absentee Policy:

 

It is vital that students attend all three class sessions. Please make attendance your number one priority on these three days.

Discussion Board:

I’ve set up eight discussion forums, one for each module.  Students are welcome to post discussion treads for any module.  The main purposes of the discussion threads are to share information with fellow students or to ask questions of fellow students.  If you have a specific question for me during the course,  please don’t use the discussion board. Instead, please send me a private email at Mary.Lacity@umsl.edu.

COURSE SEQUENCE AND LEARNING MODULES

The course is divided into eight modules.   I recommend that students print and read the assignment first so that students know what is expected of them for each module. Then I recommend students do each module in the sequence of (1) print power point slides, (2) listen to wimba recorded lecture, (3) read required readings, (4) watch assigned video, and (5) do the assignment.  My Wimba recordings will explain the objectives of each module and cover the readings.  In general, each module requires about 10 to 15 hours of your time to complete.  Please plan accordingly.

Module

Date

Learning Module Title

Learning

Objectives

Module Materials

Mon        May 18

 

IN CLASS

 

Course Overview

10:00am to 12:40pm

005 CCB

Understand course requirements

 

Understand technology used in course delivery

 

MODULE A

Course Content Overview

 

 

Understand definition of global sourcing;

 

Understand challenges facing back office managers;

 

Understand the major transformation approaches;

 

Understand size of global outsourcing markets;

 

Understand outsourcing success rates;

 

Understand why outsourcing is so challenging to client organizations;

 

Learn what clients need to master to achieve global sourcing objectives

Print:

Module A Power Point Slides Part A

Module A Power Point Slides Part B

Listen:

Module A Wimba Recording: Course Content Overview Part A  (90 minutes)

Module A Wimba Recording: Course Content Overview Part B (30 minutes)

Read:

Students who have not had me for 5800 should read the two foundational readings:

 

Lacity, M., Willcocks, L., and Rottman, J. (2008), “Global Outsourcing of Back Office Services: Lessons, Trends and Enduring Challenges,” Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, Vol. 1, 1, pp. 13-34.

 

Rottman, J., and Lacity, M., "Proven Practices for Effectively Offshoring IT Work," Sloan Management Review, Vol. 47, 3, Spring, 2006, pp. 56-63.

Watch:

None

Do:

None

MODULE B

The Public View of Offshore Outsourcing

Ability to understand, articulate and defend both sides of the argument about the affects of offshore outsourcing on the US economy;

 

Deeper understanding of how public opinion discourse depicts offshore outsourcing and how this in turn affects public opinion on offshore outsourcing.

Print:

Module B: Power Point Slides Part A

Module B: Power Point Slides Part B

Listen:

Module B: Wimba Recording: Public View  Part A (25 minutes)

Module B: Wimba Recording: Public View  Part B (40 minutes)

Read:

Mankiw, N.G., and Swagel, P. (2006), “The Politics and Economics of Offshore Outsourcing,” Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 53, pp. 1027-1056.

 

Lacity, M., and Rudramuniyaiah, P. (2009), "Funny Business: Public Opinion of Outsourcing and Offshoring as Reflected in U.S. and Indian Political Cartoons," Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS), Vol. 24, Article 13, pp. 199-224.

Watch:

Thomas Friedman Video, The Other Side of Outsourcing

Do:

Module B Assignment: Public Opinion Assignment

MODULE C

Global ITO and BPO Suppliers

Understand the global ITO and BPO markets;

 

Understand how a country’s policies, demographics, infrastructure, location, and culture affect that country’s ITO and BPO industries;

 

Ability to identify major countries competing in ITO and BPO;

 

Ability to identify top global ITO and BPO suppliers;

 

Appreciate how quickly country and supplier advantages change.

Print:

Module C Power Point Slides

Listen:

Module C Wimba Recording: Global Suppliers (42 minutes)

Read:

Practitioner Lists of Top ITO/BPO suppliers:

 

§         The IAOP 2008 Global Outsourcing 100 list

§         Explanation of how the IAOP 2008 Global Outsourcing 100 list is generated

§         Everest Research Institute: BPO Indian Supplier Landscape

§         Black Book of Outsourcing: Africa

 

Carmel, E. (2008), “Chinese Providers in IT Services Offshoring: It Takes 10 Years to Sharpen a Sword,”  MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 7, 4, pp. 157-170.

Watch:

None

Do:

Module C Assignment: Continent/Country Profile Assignment

MODULE D

Offshore outsourcing of IT work: Stakeholder Perspectives

 

 

Understand how different stakeholders view and participate in ITO including client senior managers, client project managers, supplier senior managers, supplier IT professionals;

 

Ability to diagnose a client context against best practices for ITO success.

Print:

Module D Power Point Slides

Listen:

Module D Wimba Recording: ITO (53 minutes)

Read:

Rottman, J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from Outsourcing IT Work Offshore,” Information Systems Frontiers, Special Issue on Outsourcing of IT Services, Vol. 10, 2, pp. 259-275.

 

Lacity, M, and Rottman, J. (2009), “Effects of Offshore Outsourcing of IT Work on Client Project Management,” Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, Vol. 2, 1, forthcoming.

 

Lacity, M., Iyer, V., and Rudramuniyaiah, P. (2008), “Turnover Intentions of Indian IS Professionals,” Information Systems Frontiers, Special Issue on Outsourcing of IT Services, Vol. 10, 2, pp. 225-241.

Watch:

None

Do:

Module D Assignment: Client Case Analysis Assignment

Monday

June 1

 

IN CLASS

 

EXAM I

 

Exam covers modules A-D; 005 CCB 11:00am to 12:00pm

MODULE E

Global Sourcing Standards

Understand how standards help global sourcing;

 

Understand at a high level 3 IT standards: CMM/CMM, IITIL, COBIT;

 

Understand at a high level general quality standard: Six Sigma;

 

Understand affects of standards on project outcomes

 

Print:

Module E Power Point Slides Part A

Module E Power Point Slides Part B

Listen:

Module E Wimba Recording Part A (70 minutes)

Module E Wimba Recording Part B (54 minutes)

Read:

Anthes, G., "Model Mania," Computerworld, March 8, 2004, Vol. 38, 10, P.

 

Davenport, T., “The Coming Commoditization of Processes,” Harvard Business Review, June 2005, Vol. 83, Issue 6.

 

Gopal, A., Mukhopadhyay, T., and  Krishnan, M. (2002), “The Role of Software Processes and Communication in Offshore Software Development,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 45, 4, pp.193-200.

Watch:

None

Do:

Module E Assignment: How Global Standards Affect Project Performance

MODULE F

Multicultural Ethics

Our overall objective is to understand the basic ethical & judicial theories and how these theories can inform moral reasoning to assess ethical/unethical behaviors associated with global outsourcing and other IT related ethical dilemmas.

§         Understand Theories of Ethics

§         Understand IS Professional codes of ethics

§         Understand Theories of Justice

§         Understand Three Theories of Corporate Ethics

§         Apply a Moral Reasoning Framework

Print:

Module F Power Point Slides

Listen:

Module F Wimba Recording: Ethics PART A (42 minutes)

Module F Wimba Recording: Ethics PART B (25 minutes)

Read:

Smith, J., and Hasnas, John, “Ethics and Information Systems: The Corporate Domain,” MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23, 1, 1999, pp. 109-127.

 

Oz, “Ethical Standards for IS Professionals: A Case for a Unified Code”  MIS Quarterly, December, Vol., 16, 4, 1992.pp. 423-433.

 

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ Code of Ethical and Business Practices for Outsourcing Professionals

Watch:

Video:  30 days of outsourcing

Do:

Module F Assignment: Applying ethical theories and ethical codes

MODULE G

Client perspectives on BPO: Human Resources & Procurement & Financial Services

Understand that BPO trends, suppliers, and services evolve rapidly!

 

Learn to track trends

 

Understand how BPO works from a client perspective

               Example of Human Resources

               Example of Procurement

               Example of Financial Services

Print:

Module G Power Point Slides PART A

Module G Power Point Slides PART B

Module G Power Point Slides PART C

Listen:

Module G Wimba Recording: BPO PART A (26 minutes)

Module G Wimba Recording: BPO PART B (63 minutes)

Module G Wimba Recording: BPO PART C (38 minutes)

Read:

Chapters 6 and 7 in Willcocks, L., and Lacity, M. (2006), Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services, Palgrave, United Kingdom.

 

Lacity, M., and Fox, J. (2008), “Creating Global Shared Services: Lessons from Reuters,” MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 7, 1, pp. 17-32.

Watch:

None

Do:

Module G Assignment:  Current Trends in BPO

MODULE H

Course

Conclusion

Understand that despite all the strategies, frameworks, standards, best practices, ITO and BPO success comes down to people. People who are educated, trained, empathetic, ethical, dedicated, positive, understanding, flexible, embrace diversity, effectively work in teams, lead by example, understand larger strategies while diligently completing operational and tactical details, and who are open to new experiences matter.  Are you ready to be a positive contributor to the global market?

Print:

Module H Power Point Slides

Listen:

Module H Wimba Recording (9 minutes)

Read:

None

 

Watch:

Outsourced (2008)

 

Do:

Module H Assignment: When art imitates life; Top five lessons Assignment

Thursday

June 11

 

IN CLASS

 

Exam II

Exam II covers modules E through H; 11:00am to 12:00 pm 005 CCB