Innovation in IT Education

Abstract

An on-going concern for information systems (IS) curriculum designers is to strike the right balance between the technical, people and business skills required (Rogow, 1993, Farwell et al 1992, Chau and Tye 1993. Many would suggest that the manager who possesses a firm understanding of the role of IS in an organization coupled with a sound management training and sufficient human relations skills is vital to the development of effective IS in the new global environment (Carlson and Wetherbe, 1989, Leitheiser 1992, Trauth et al 1993, Earl and Feeny 1994, Burn et al 1994. This "hybrid" however, remains a very elusive species.Lee et al (1995) suggest that the current IS curricula in many universities are not well aligned with business needs and that IS curriculum design must be targeted at specific career tracks relevant to the restructured IS services. This gap between organizational requirements and IS professionals is the focus for an innovative program offered at post-graduate level at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The program recruits business managers who wish to improve their under-standing of the strategic application of IS and who will be in a position to influence the decision making process surrounding the use of information technology (IT).The main focus of the curriculum is the strategic use of IT in organizations and the development of effective IS and business strategies to support this. While there are many strategic frameworks which can be explored within the syllabus, it is often difficult to show students how these can be practically applied in a real environment. One solution has been to use extensive case study material but in order to be effective these have to be large scale and fairly complex. A further problem in the use of case studies relates to the "customization" of case material which may be required, particularly when transportation across cultures takes place, and the amount of work involved to maintain currency. The course team have developed a novel approach which eliminates these problems but furthermore, provides a very rich base of case material relevant to the working environment. The approach not only facilitates student learning but has had The changing skills requirements for the information systems professionals of the nineties has forced many universities to reconsider their curriculum. The concept of a generic curriculum to meet the educational needs of all future IS professionals is obsolete and IS curriculum design must be targeted at specific career tracks. This paper describes the development of an innovative program to cultivate the "hybrid" business and information systems manager who can play a major role in strategy formulation for effective use of information technology. In order to sustain a high degree of relevancy to the needs of the business community, an action research approach is used which allows the students to build up case portfolios through an organizational cultural audit. These cases have initiated and supported considerable research work from...