Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "MGT 362"
COURSE NAME: "Management in the Digital Economy"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Summer Session I 2024

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Cesare Pisani
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MTWTH 11:10 AM 1:00 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: MGT 301
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Disruptive innovation, as well as technological, social and economic changes are key characteristics of the “New Economy," drastically impacting all aspects of businesses and social life. Information Technology (IT) is at the center of the Digital Transformation of companies for the optimization, redesign or reinvention of their business in response or in anticipation to the disruptive impact of emerging technologies and new business models.
All managers are directly or indirectly concerned with IT, either because they work in the IT department or because they are involved in the definition, purchase, deployment, and usage of IT infrastructures, software, and applications. This course will provide students with a basic understanding of IT as an introduction to the changing managerial role in organisation.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

On January 2007 during a sales conference a sales person holding a piece of metal and plastic said: “after this nothing will be the same!” And nothing was the same!
On November 30th, 2023 ChatGPT was unleashed and took the world by storm! Will this change everything again? How?
Smartphone is in the twilight zone, which will be the next Big Thing? Generative AI? AR/VR? The Metaverse?
Bitcoin is getting back, while few months ago it was considered dead: will Blockchain be the next internet? Will other cryptos, NFT and other digital assets resurrect as well?
AI is at the inflection point, is there any existential risk for humans? Which ethical problems humans will be facing?
And in this ever changing environment, why well established companies fail in face of smaller undertakings embracing a new
disrupting technology?
Why most of us don’t know or don’t remember Kodak or Blockbuster or Blackberry?
Why startups are so cool and impactive?
Together we will address these and other questions, try to understand the complex dynamics of innovation in the Digital Era and help to take conscious and educated decisions to improve the competitive position of the company we work for or to foster the creation of disrupting startups.

In addition to providing the traditional elements of classical Information Technology, i.e. business analysis, IT governance, information security, this course will present the exploitation of emerging technologies in management and will show in detail the growing importance of modern trends related to the digital economy. Ample space will be devoted during the course to the most recent developments of Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI, Foundation Models, Transformers, LLM). Opportunities and risks related to the exploitation of AI will analyzed. Blockchain as a shared and programmable validation tool will be studied; significant attention will be also paid to cybersecurity, to the use of big data and to Smart Manufacturing (i4.0), key elements in the field of products production and services provision.
The course approach will be based on the presentation of the innovation, the existing applications, and the future developments. In order to help students to better understand the issues that need to be faced in the real life, first-person business cases of innovation management will be presented.
Course slides will be made accessible to students after each lesson. Some of the books and documents presented in the bibliography will be presented and discussed with students during the lessons.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will be able to:

Understand the Dynamics of the Digital Economy in the Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0.

Acquire the basics of the major Trending Technologies (Social Networks, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, ERP and Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity) and use such technologies to anticipate innovation and disruption in a given industry.

Exploit “classical” IT Management Disciplines and participate in the IT management decision process of the company they work or will work for.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
Information Technology for Management 12th Ed Wiley	E. Turban et al.	Wiley	978-11-1980-252-5

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number
The Innovator’s Dilemma Harvard Business	Clayton Christiansen	Review Press	978-1-63369-178-0
What is ChatGPT doing and ...Why does it work?	Stephen Wolfram	Wolfram Media INC	978-1579550813
The PhoenixProject	Gene Kim et al.	IT REV	978-1-63369-178-0

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Participation	Presence, Punctuality and Participation in the Class	15%
Test	On Line open notes individual test at the end of each module.	30%
Group Work	Open Notes Group Works on Case Studies at he end of each module. Group grading will be the average of the peers evaluation, the professor evaluation and the self-evaluation. All the evaluations will be made online and will be anonymous.	30%
Final Exam	Individual open notes test on the topics presented in the course.	25%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

The course is structured in nine modules of four/six 1¼h classes. Each module may include a lecture, a classwork on a business case and an individual test online. For the classwork the students will be organized in groups; the grading will be the average of a peer evaluation, a professor evaluation and a self-evaluation.

1. Jan 16th, 18th, 23rd - MODULE 1 - The Technological Cambrian and Innovation Dynamics
            Presentation of the Course: Schedule, Assignments, Tests, Grading
                        First-hand Business case: TIM San Marino “The living lab of TIM Group”
                        How to analyse the dynamic of emerging technologies: Gartner Cycle of Hype.
            Reading Assignment: Gartner Hype Cycle
            Classwork: Analyse a trending technology using Gartner Hype Cycle
            Test on IT (anonymous and ungraded)

2. Jan 25th, 30th, Feb 1st - MODULE 2 - Disruptive Innovations: The Innovator’s Dilemma
            Why do successful new technologies cause great firms to fail?
                        Sweet Spots; Dynamics of Disruptions; The Innovator’s Solution;
                        First-hand business case: VoIP Vocaltec’s Disruption Case.
            Reading assignment: C. Christiansen The Innovator’s Dilemma Introduction 1-19
            Classwork: Using The Innovator’s Dilemma framework (wherever applicable), analyse a case of technological disruption             (ChatGPT vs Google Search, Kodak vs Digital Photography, iPhone vs Blackberry, Netflix vs Blockbuster)
            On line Test on the Innovator’s Dilemma Model

3. Feb 6th, 8th, 13th - MODULE 3 - The Digital Economy and Social Media
            Definition of Digital Economy, History, Business Models, Economic Rules.
                        Social Networks (SNS) in Business: Advertising, Branding, Customer Care. Major SNS platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter X, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube.
            Reading Assignment: Social Media differentiation
            Classwork: From a managerial standing, analyse a Social Network Platform pro’s and con’s and plan a marketing/publicity             campaign on it. On line Test on the Digital Economy and Social Media

4. Feb 15th , 16th , 20th, 22nd, March 5th, 7th – MODULE 4 - Artificial Intelligence
History of AI. Neural Networks. Deep Learning. Supervised and unsupervised learning. Backward Propagation. Transformers, ChaGPT, Bard, Anthropic. AI Business Applications. AI Ethical Issues.

            Reading Assignment: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/
            Classwork: analyse Generative AI ChatGPT applications for business.
            On line test on Artificial Intelligence

5. March 12th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 26th, 28th MODULE 5 – Blockchain: Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Web 3.0
            Money and Trust; Different Kind of Money; Centralized vs Decentralized Ledgers; Fiat Money Pro’s and Con’s; Satoshi             Nakamoto White Paper; Hashing Algorithm SHA256. Blockchain, Bitcoin, Merkle Tree, Proof of Work,
            Mining, BTC Explorer, Wallets; Altcoin, Proof of Stakes, ICO, Altcoin: Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, Ripple, Decentralize Finance             (DeFi), NFTs
            Reading Assignment: Bitcoin Wallet, Will web3 reinvent the internet business?
            Classwork: As Digital Economy specialist, you are requested to present Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technologies

On line test on Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

6. April 2nd and 4th  MODULE 6 - Information Technology Management and ERP
            Information Technology and Information Systems Definition and Classification. IT Governance. System Development.
            ERP; Legacy and Evolution; Supply Chain Management; CRM; Enterprise Social Platforms; Systems Selections; VAR and             Vendors.
            Reading Assignment: Top ERP Vendors – Panorama Consulting

7.  April 9th, 11th - MODULE 7 - Cloud Computing
            Computer Architecture: CPU, Memory, NIC; Operating Systems and Applications. Computers Clusters. Virtualization. Private             and Public Cloud. SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, DaaS.
            Reading Assignment: Cloud Competitive Scenario – The Economist, Gen Kim et al. The Phoenix Project Page 15-24
            Classwork: As Account Manager of ERP and Cloud Vendor present your solution to the Client Company
            On line test on Technology Management, ERP and Cloud Computing

8. April 16th 18th- MODULE 8 - Cybersecurity
            Cyberthreats; Cyberwar, Actor State, Objectives of Cybersecurity; Malware, Ransomware, Hacking; Internal Threats
            Reading Assignment: Data Breach Cost 2021 Report - IBM
            Classwork: Analyse and Discuss a major 2021 Cyber Attacks
            On line test on Cybersecurity

9. April 23rd - Course Summary and wrap-up

10. April 30th – Final Exam