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Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Information Technology and Systems, Term II, PGDM, 2014-15
Perspective:
Over the last few decades, Information Technology (IT) has penetrated almost every sphere of business activities. IT
had started as a support tool. Over time, it has become a crucial implement for attaining strategic objectives such as
improving productivity or quality, reaching out to customers, reducing cycle time or spawning new businesses.
Leveraging IT for strategic benefit is, however, strewn with risks. There is a need for careful thinking regarding
strategic fit and appropriate deployment process.
Organizational use of IT for decision making has also undergone sea changes. Increasing complexity and rapid change
in business environment today necessitate decision makers to foresee the effects of interventions before they are
implemented in real situations. Operationally this calls for an explorative process through which decision makers can
visualize and abstract the reality, assess merits of possible alternatives, and then take a decision with some clarity on
expected consequences.
Accordingly, this course will be covered in two modules with the following objectives:

Module I
! To understand how IT can be leveraged to gain competitive advantage.
! To explore emerging trends in IT and their implications in business.
Module II
! To develop the capability of modeling real life problem scenarios where data driven decision making play a
key role.
Course Instructors:
Subir Bhattacharya, Coordinator and Instructor, K 105, subir@iimcal.ac.in, x703.
Rahul Roy, Instructor, K 102, rahul@iimcal.ac.in, x701.
TTAs:
Debajit Sen, debajit_tta@iimcal.ac.in Mukta Majumder, muktam_tta@iimcal.ac.in
Evaluation:
Module I: Mid-term 15% Case Analyses 15% End-term 20%
Module II: Quizzes 30% Project 20%
Note 1: Case Analyses in Module I involve three group assignments. Groups of 3-4 will shortly be announced in
the courseweb along with instructions for submission and lead questions for each case. Each analysis is
due to be submitted before the class meets to discuss the case.
Note 2: Following is the indicative plan for Module II quizzes and project:
Module II Quiz Schedule Module II Project Schedule
Quiz I Week 3 Week 6 Topic handed out
Quiz II Week 6 Week 8 Intermediate review
Quiz III Week 9 Post End-term Final review
Course Material:
(a) Cases and articles distributed by the PGP Office
(b) Book entitled Microsoft Office Excel 2013: Data Analysis and Business Modeling
(c) Materials, slides and links uploaded in the course web.
Class Schedule
Time
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Section (Module)
10.15-11.45 C(I), D(II) D(I), A(II) E(I), C(II)
12.00-1.30 A(I), F(II)
2.30-4.00 B(I), E(II) F(I), B(II)
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Tentative Coverage
Module I
Session Coverage Reference
1 Planning for Information Systems:
balancing between risk and gain
Porters article on Strategy and the Internet
InClass Case: Esel Shoes 2
3
How business need translates into IT
implementation
HBS Case: OTISLINE
4 Pros and cons of Open Source Software Stanford Case: MySQL in 2006
5 Issues in IT outsourcing HBS Case: Strategic Outsourcing at Bharti Airtel Limited
6 Overview of Cloud Computing Readings to be uploaded on courseweb
7

SaaS: providers and consumers
viewpoints
Readings to be uploaded on courseweb
8 Business model of a SaaS aggregator HBS Case: Jamcracker
9 Technology Convergence ECCH Case: Apple, Google, Microsoft
10 Mobility: impact on business Readings to be uploaded on courseweb
Module II
Session Topic Caselet/Example Pre-reading/practice
1.
Introduction to
Modelling

IF(), Relative and absolute
addressing, Iterations
2.
Structuring the
Problem
Inner Eye/F1 Night City Race/Planning
Restaurant Expansion/Bobs Retirement Planning
Write-up on Influence Diagram
3.
Formulating a Model
Snoey Software VLookUp(), Match()
4. Customer Service at Pizza Kutir Offset(), Index()
5. Racquet Ball Racket
Charting, Forecast(), Linest(),
Logest()
6. Data use in Model
Product Review at Information Services
Company/ Predicting the outcome of next general
elections
Table, Filter, Countif(), Sumif(),
Database functions, Pivot table
7.
What-if Analysis of
Model
Inner Eye
Data table, scenario manager,
Indirect()
8.
Draft Commercials/Paradise Ski-lift/National
Leasing
Data Table
9. Presentation of Result Price variation of Potato in two markets
Offset(), Form Controls,
Dynamic Named Range, Charts
10. Wrap-up Destiny Consultants
Section-wise Tutors:
Section A Anbu Dhileepan Abhijit Thapa
Section B Ankur Gupta Ankur Singh
Section C Manish Deepak Nipun Jain
Section D Karthik Paratamsetty Razak Gupta
Section E Rahul D. V. Subramanium Harishwar
Section F Tushar Bindal Rahul Roy