Information Technology Systems Strategy Research Assignment

Information Technology Systems Strategy
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Information Technology Systems Strategy
1 Introduction
The adoption of relevant and latest information technology (IT) strategy in universities has become increasingly important. The adoption of latest technologies has caused profound transformations in higher education (Srivastava et al., 2014, p. 1). Information technology plays a key role in training and education. Particularly, IT has transformed distant education into an innovative form of experience (Hussain & Safdah, 2008, p. 46). As such, today’s higher learning institutions often use IT as a tool for knowledge sharing, communication, and exchange of information among other purposes. With the proper adoption and use of appropriate technologies, both students and their instructors are able to access up-to-date knowledge and information. Additionally, the use of IT enhances an interactive and collaborative learning and teaching environment. This report provides an analysis of the role of IT strategy at the university. The report begins by taking a critical look at the contribution of competitive intelligence, critical thinking, and competitive intelligence to the university’s IT strategy. Additionally, an analysis of the information technology’s relevance to the university is also critical in this report. The report also provides arguments and counterarguments relating to strategic delivery and achievements in a variety of services that utilize technology in achieving excellence. Three frameworks – Porter, SWOT, and Johnson Scholes were utilized to illustrate some of the arguments in the report. The report concludes with a recap of the major findings and provides the necessary recommendations.
2 Vital IT Strategy
Business knowledge or intelligence has become increasingly critical in the competitive business environments in this 21st century. Additionally, critical thinking skills also come in handy when it comes to making viable business decisions. Furthermore, organizations are striving to gain a competitive edge over their rival in an attempt to survive in the increasingly dynamic and competitive business environments. As such, various concepts, including competitive intelligence, competitive advantage, and critical thinking constitute a vital IT strategy. They cut across industries and are useful in higher learning institutions. The concepts have become integral to organizations’ IT strategy. With this in mind, it is important to analyze the contribution of each of these concepts to university’s IT strategy for its success in the 21st century.
2.1 Competitive Intelligence
Different researchers define competitive intelligence (CI) differently. Such varied definitions imply that there is a lack of a single and universally-accepted definition of CI (Toit, 2015, p. 15; Pellissier & Nenzhelele, 2013, p. 2). However, the concept of CI is most commonly defined as the process involved in monitoring an organization’s competitive environment (Gracanin, 2015, p. 27). It is also defined as a process that entails collecting, analyzing, as well as communicating information with the aim of improving strategic decision-making (Pellissier & Nenzhelele, 2013, p. 2; Nasri, 2012, p. 26). CI is a useful tool for the university’s IT strategy in various aspects. Firstly, it facilitates the university’s management to make informed decisions regarding various activities and processes, including research and development (R&D) and marketing. With regard to marketing, the university faces stiff competition in the higher education industry and thus CI affords it an opportunity to target a large number of students who need its services. With regard to R&D activities, CI allows the university administration to conduct market research on the latest instructional technologies. Similarly, it also facilitates the administration to develop the most relevant curriculum which is consistent with the current demands in the job market. As a continuous process, CI incorporates ethical and legal collection and analysis of data regarding the current trends in the higher education sector. Figure 1 shown in the Appendix Depicts 7 key steps involved in the competitive intelligence process.
Additionally, CI provides the management with important and timely knowledge and information, which is critical for making decisions for enhancing the university’s competitive position. With the information gathered and analyzed relating the competitive higher education sector, the university is able to review and improve its IT strategy. Gracanin (2014, p. 28) asserts that organizations with great insight into the concept of competitive intelligence achieve greater success in the industry than their rivals since the latter lack insight regarding the correlation between strategic decision-making and environmental scanning. It is noteworthy that strategic IT management entails the development and implementation of an effective IT strategy. Such strategy in turn allows for successful market positioning of the university. As a result, the university is able to deliver quality services to students as well as other key stakeholders. Without the use of competitive intelligence, it is difficult for the university to a superior market position over its competitors in today’s global marketplace because of the increasing intensity and pace of competition in higher education sector. Overall, competitive intelligence is integral to an effective IT strategy.
Given that technologies are continuously evolving, competitive advantage helps the university to avoid strategic IT errors. Without CI, the university is more likely to adopt costly, yet ineffective technologies and hence wasting its resources including money and time. Additionally, the CI also helps the company to make strategic decisions on the programs and courses to implement including distant learning programs. With regard to distance learning, CI affords the university with an opportunity to design and implement web-based programs and online student portals. Similarly, CI also helps the university to adopt the requisite technologies that enhance interaction and collaboration of students, which in turn enhance teaching and learning and hence academic performance. CI also enables the university to determine the various information technologies required to support different courses that are offered by the university.
CI also helps the university administration and management to gain insight into the information technologies that have been implemented by its competitors in the higher education sector. With such insight, the university can either emulate its competitors in terms of technology adoption or adopt more innovative technologies than its competitors. In the backdrop of its competitors’ technologies, the university can determine the strengths and weaknesses relating to its own information technologies. Overall, CI enables the university to maximize of its technological strengths while taking advantage of its competitors’ weaknesses. Table 1 below illustrates the SWOT analysis of the university.
Table 1: SWOT analysis of the university
Strengths

Weaknesses

* Highly recognized internationally
* Good academic reputation
* Online student registration portals
* Heavily invested in latest educational technologies
* Positive experience for students
* Offers many accredited programs
* Diverse student body
* Safe and friendly environment

* Operational bureaucracy/structure
* Highly competitive market environment for faculty and staff
* Inadequate financial resources for expansion
* Barriers to collaboration and coordination among campuses
* Uneven quality of programs offered

Opportunities

Threats

* Expansion of distant learning programs
* Expansion to other global countries
* Enhance the university’s brand name through the social networking sites
* Leverage the university’s mix and diversity of academic programs

* Stiff competition for available students from the university’s key competitors
* Rapid changes in educational technologies

2.2 Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is also important for the success of the university’s IT strategy. The concept of critical thinking has various definitions in literature. However, most of such definitions point out that critical thinking is an intentional use of higher order, rational thinking skills. Some of these skills include evaluation, inference, problem solving, problem recognition, synthesis, and analysis. It refers to an intellectual process of skillfully and actively conceptualizing, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or applying information generated through or collected from communication, reasoning, reflection, experience, or observation to guide one’s behavior and actions (UTC Training, 2018). In simple terms, critical thinking entails making rational and reasoned judgment. This argument points out that critical thinking is the criteria for making informed judgments. It is necessary in assessing something’s validity, including research, arguments, news stories, and statements.
Critical thinking is characterized by tolerating ambiguity, considering contradicting interpretations, avoiding oversimplification and emotional reasoning, analyzing biases and assumptions, defining evidence, problem-definition, and asking questions (UTC Training, 2018). Critical thinking also requires one to be self-aware or think about his or herself, a phenomenon referred to as metacognition. Some of the essential aspects associated with critical thinking include dispositions, criteria, argument, reasoning and criteria. One must apply a certain criterion for him or her to be able to think critically. One must also make arguments – propositions or statements – with sufficient supporting evidence. Reasoning on the other hand represents the ability to make valid inferences from different premises (UTC Training, 2018). To this end, it is clearly that critical thinking is an integral part of the design and implementation of an effective IT strategy.
To underscore the role of critical thinking in the university’s strategy, Duron, Limbach and Waugh (2006, p. 160) argue that though thinking is largely a natural process, it is often partial, distorted, uninformed, prejudiced, and biased when left to itself. This argument underscores the essence of critical thinking rather than merely thinking. Without the application of critical thinking, the executive management of the university is more likely to make uninformed and biased strategic IT decisions. In contrast, critical thinking enables the management to communicate effectively, think open-mindedly, utilize abstract ideas, and raise important questions when gathering and assessing relevant information. As a result, the management ends up making informed and highly effective decisions regarding the information technology strategy. Figure 2 in the Appendix depicts a 5-step process towards becoming a critical thinker. The model can help the top management to enhance their critical thinking skills.
In the same manner critical thinking supports creation and implementation of the university’s IT strategy, so does the information technology enhances the students’ acquisition of critical thinking skills. According to van Gelder (n.d) information technology is an important tool for helping students to develop critical thinking skills. Similarly, Swart (2017, p. 1) asserts that being familiar with both critical thinking and technology is not only important when undertaking studies, but also when seeking for employment. Overall, incorporating educational technologies in the university is advantageous to the management, instructors, and students. Particularly Haghparast, Hanum and Abdulla (2014, p. 528) assert that a combination of e-learning and critical thinking skills is effective for preparing students for the current society.
2.3 Competitive Advantage
Competitive advantage is also integral to the university’s IT strategy. With regard to the university, competitive advantage can be thought of as conditions that facilitate it to offer high-quality services at affordable cost. It refers to the conditions making the university better than its key competitors in the higher education sector. For any organ...