business administration syllabus - my.tpages.intnet.mu/sirius76/syllabus/abe_ba_advdip.pdf ·...

AD V A N C E D D I P L O M A I N

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SYLLABUS

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMME

48

Advanced Diploma in Business Administration

Syllabus

The three compulsory papers are:

1. Corporate Strategy2. Management Organisation3. International Business

Students must pass two of the following options:

4. Strategic Marketing5. Corporate Finance6. Strategic Human Resource Management7. Managing the Information Resource

• The Advanced Diploma papers are set and marked to the level of the second year of aUK Business Studies degree programme.

• Following passes in the requisite five subjects above, the successful student will beawarded the Advanced Diploma in Business Administration.

• It is suggested that 150 study hours should be devoted to each subject. • No exemption is granted from any subject in the Advanced Diploma Examination.• The Method of Assessment for all ABE subjects is by written examination and the

following Grades are awarded:

Grade A - 70%+ DistinctionGrade B - 55-69% CreditGrade C - 40-54% PassGrade D - 30-39% FailGrade E - 29% and below Fail

Candidates will be notified individually of their results normally about two months afterthe examinations.

50


Conditions of Entry

Applicants must have attained one of the following entry qualifications:

1. ABE Diploma in Business Administration.

2. A degree, awarded by a recognised UK or overseas University.

3. Other recognised qualifications of approved overseas Institutions of Higher Education.

51


Registration Procedures

ABE Programmes are taught at institutions worldwide, and such institutions are given approval torun ABE courses only after they have submitted full details of their prospectus, teaching staff andsite facilities which must meet the criteria set by the ABE Education Committee.

Students enrolling with a college are advised to ensure that the college has been formallyaccredited by the Association before enrolment. A list is available from the ABE office.

Students wishing to register with the Association should complete a registration form and returnit to the Registrar together with appropriate fees, copies of educational qualifications (in English)and details of relevant working experience where necessary. Any incomplete applications will bereturned.

All prospective students are advised to enrol with ABE at the commencement of their studies inorder that their eligibility may be confirmed at that time.

Students should be aware of the closing dates for registration and examinations as these arestrictly adhered to. These dates are available at ABE approved colleges or from the ABE office.

Annual subscriptions fall due on the anniversary of the date of registration. An invoice will besent direct to each student.

Fees

Examination fees are indicated on Examination Entry Forms. The annual subscription and othercurrent fees are shown on the Fees list available from ABE.

52


Corporate Strategy

Aims

1. Structure complex strategic problems and propose logical solutions.

2. Apply the full range of techniques and concepts available to the contemporary corporateplanner.

3. Analyse, assess, and choose between strategic alternatives.

4. Understand the financial, human, and organisational issues which affect the successfuldevelopment and implementation of corporate strategies and plans.

5. Incorporate contemporary issues and developments affecting organisations intocorporate plans.

6. Assess the impact and implications of international and global issues on the corporatestrategic planning process.

Programme Content and Learning Objectives:

After completing the programme the student should be able to:

1. The nature, scope and need for corporate strategy. Some key concepts in corporatestrategic planning:

The nature and importance of corporate strategic planning in today’s organisation. The variousdefinitions and models of corporate strategy and planning and the characteristics of corporatestrategic decisions compared to other levels of strategic planning and decision making in theorganisation. The various elements involved in the development of corporate strategy andsome of the key concepts and vocabulary used by today’s corporate strategists.

2. Corporate strategy in practice:

The application of corporate strategy in various types of organisational settings and howcorporate strategies develop in different organisations. Strategy development for: smallbusinesses, manufacturing and service organisations, public sector organisations, voluntaryand not-for-profit organisations, professional service organisations, innovatory organisationsand multinational corporations. Different patterns of strategy development, including intendedversus realised strategies, pre-planned versus emergent strategies and imposed strategydevelopment. Factors affecting strategy development in the organisation and challenges forstrategy development including uncertainty and the notion of strategic drift.

53

3. Analysis for corporate planning:

Types of analyses required for corporate planning decisions. Environmental analysis including,for example, PEST and the identification of key environmental drivers. The steps and stages inenvironmental analysis, together with techniques for auditing and forecasting theenvironment. In addition, the competitor environmental analysis is included, encompassingstrategic group analysis, the analysis of competitive market structure, and competitor basedstrategies including strategies for market leaders, market followers and market challengers.Finally, in this part of the syllabus, internal analysis is considered, including the assessment ofstrengths and weaknesses, value chain analysis, comparative analysis and benchmarking,financial analyses and identifying core competences and critical success factors.

4. Identifying strategic options:

The range of strategic options and decisions which the corporate planner must assess. First,the identification and selection of alternative mission statements and key objectives for theorganisation. The nature of mission statements and the importance of business definitiontogether with the range of possible objectives and goals which the corporate planner mayselect between. Factors affecting the selection of objectives including the role and influenceof stakeholders and shareholders. Options for strategic direction from consolidation to exitstrategies, including Ansoff’s Product Market Matrix. Methods of strategic developmentincluding internal development, mergers and acquisitions, and joint developments andstrategic alliances are introduced. Finally this part of the syllabus will also consider the basesof strategies, competitive advantage ranging from cost and price based strategies, added valuestrategies, differentiation strategies, through to focus and hybrid strategies.

5. Strategy evaluation and selection:

The range of concepts and techniques in evaluating and selecting between strategic options.The criteria of suitability, acceptability and feasibility in strategy evaluation and selection.Included in the techniques of strategy evaluation and selection are: decision tree analysis,strategy screening, risk analysis and techniques of financial analysis. Key concepts of strategyevaluation and selection include the concepts of strategic fit and synergy. Finally, the differentprocesses for selecting strategies are considered, encompassing how strategic choice andselection of strategies can be undertaken within organisations.

6. Implementing and controlling strategies:

Factors affecting the implementation and control of corporate strategies. The determinationof policies, procedures and budgets, together with the design of different organisationalstructures which may be used to implement strategies including those for multi-national/global organisations. Resource configuration and resource allocation and control,including the use of information as a control.

54

7. Tools and techniques for the corporate strategist:

The range of contemporary techniques and tools available to the corporate strategist togetherwith their limitations. The variety of tools which have specifically been developed to aid thecorporate strategist in the identification, selection and evaluation of strategies. The followingare considered to be examples of important tools and techniques for today’s corporatestrategist: BCG’s Growth Share matrix, Directional Policy Matrices including the GeneralElectric (GE) and Shell Matrices, Porter’s Industry/Market Evolution Matrix, A D Little’sCompetitive Position/lndustry Maturity Matrix, the Parenting Matrix, PIMS Technique, theExperience Curve Concept, and GAP Analysis.

8. Further and future issues in corporate strategy:

In this part of the syllabus, a number of contemporary and possible future developmentsimportant to the corporate strategist are considered. In particular the importance ofInformation Technology and Information Systems for the Corporate Strategist, internationaland global aspects of corporate strategic planning are also introduced. Finally, issues in themanagement of strategic change are considered together with the increasing emphasis andimportance given to the social/ethical, and environmental considerations for today’s corporateplanner.

Method of Assessment:

By written examination. The pass mark is 40%. Time allowed 3 hours.

The question paper will contain:

Eight questions of which four must be answered. All questions carry 25 marks

55

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Exploring Corporate G Johnson and K Scholes 1998 (Prentice Hall)Strategy (Fifth Edition)

Additional Reading

Strategic Management: J L Thompson, 1997 (Thomson Business Press)Awareness and Change,(Third Edition)

The Strategy Process: H Mintzberg and J Quinn 1996, (Prentice Hall)Concepts, Contexts andCases, (Third Edition)

Strategic Management, J D Hunger and T L (Longman)(Sixth Edition) Wheeler, 1998

Supplementary Journals

• Harvard Business Review

• Long Range Planning

• Strategic Management Journal

56


Management Organisation

Aims

1. Understand organisation principles and design, influences and differences in style andstructure, comparative analysis, and the wider aspects of the organisation environment.

2. Understand organisation theories and relevance, and their interpretation within theoperational context of organisations.

3. Understand the nature and purpose of organisation goals and how they are integrated intoorganisational activity, organisation processes and controls. The cultural contextof organisations.

4. Understand the impetus for organisation change, change as an integral part of theorganisation system, the process of planned change.

5. Understand organisation development and processes, the nature of organisationaleffectiveness and the criteria for evaluating success.



1. Explain the key elements of organisational structure and design, recognise the factors whichinfluence organisation design, describe alternative structures and design, and understand thedifference between organic and mechanistic organisations.

2. Recognise the links between strategy and design, and understand the nature of organisationbureaucracy, formal and informal organisation, size and life cycle, and the impactof technology.

3. Understand the differing nature of organisation environments - both internal and external -be able to analyse the environment as it relates to their own organisation, recognise therange of influences and uncertainty within the environment.

4. Understand the nature and relevance of organisation theories, relate theories toorganisational types, size and activities, compare and contrast different theories, understandthe contingency approach to organisations.

5. Explain the concept and purpose of mission statements, define organisation goals and explaindifferences in goals, understand how goals affect organisational performance, define and planstrategies to achieve organisational goals.

6. Understand the meaning and nature of comparative analysis, choose an appropriateframework for analysis and carry out a comparative analysis of organisations andmanagement practices.

57

7. Understand the importance of organisational processes in achieving organisationaleffectiveness, and use appropriate techniques in planning, delegation, decision making andcontrol in meeting organisation goals.

8. Explain the nature of organisational change and distinguish change from innovation, identifyand analyse the influences and pressures for change in organisations, identify relevanttechniques in planning change, and understand how managers direct the change processes.

9. Explain the meaning and the main features of organisation development, recognise theimportance of planned strategies rather than reactive strategies, understand the nature andimportance of organisation culture.

10. Understand the importance of organisational social responsibility, explain the majorperspectives on social responsibility, assess the relevance and benefits of corporate socialresponsibility, monitor social demands and explain the relevance of managerial ethics withinsocial responsibility.




Eight questions of which four questions must be answered.

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Management and Mullins Laurie J Pitman, LondonOrganisational Behaviour (1996) 4th Edition

Additional Reading

Management Bartol Kathryn M & McGrawHill,David C Martin (1991) London/New York

Organisation and Kast Fremonte E & McGraw Hill, London/Management James E Rosenzweig New York

(1985)

Organisation Theory and Daft Richard L West Publishing Co.Design St Paul MN (1989 3rd Ed)

58


International Business

Aims

1. Appreciate that many businesses are no longer operating in the domestic local environment.2. Develop a sense of urgency that tremendous opportunities exist to develop business if

companies can change their mind-sets from domestic to international dimensions.3. Acquire the expertise to develop strategies for international expansion and, in so doing, to

understand how to deal successfully with a range of business issues at an international level.

Programme Content and Learning Objectives


1. Understand the key questions posed by international business and global operations, and beaware of the main reasons why businesses develop internationally.

2. Define globalisation and, in understanding what it means, appreciate how it impacts on allfunctions of the business.

3. Understand the changing nature of the international business environment with specificregard to:

• the macro factors that underpin world trade. These are the powerhouses that drivechanges in patterns of behaviour;

• the major international bodies, MF, WTO, World Bank etc, and their influences on shapingthe liberalisation of world trade.

4. Understand the factors that give rise to different behaviour patterns (both buying behaviourand other organisational behaviour) in different countries including culture, stages ofeconomic growth and local environmental conditions. Appreciate a range of cultural factorswhich impinge on firms doing business in overseas settings.

5. Recognise the strategic role of information gathering in directing international businessdecisions and be aware of the issues surrounding information gathering in an internationalenvironment.

6. Recognise the changing planning frameworks as companies deepen their international andglobal commitments, and their impact on production, finance, operations, marketing andhuman resource management.

7. Understand the implications of international operations for distribution and logistics withinthe firm.

8. Understand the human resource management implications of operating on aninternational scale.

59

9. Appreciate the range of alternative means by which international market entry may beachieved and the organisational and financial implications of each.

10. Have a clear grasp of the range of tools of the marketing mix in differing economic, politicaland cultural situations.

11. Define implementation strategies including their integration, timing and funding; the roles ofcommunication, leadership, teamwork and motivation in strategy execution.

12. Define strategy evaluation and control; contingency planning and strategic adjustment; themanagement of change; measures of performance.

13. Define social responsibility and business strategy.

A case study will be provided to candidates which they will be expected to analyse prior tothe examination. Candidates will be required to demonstrate their analytical ability withreference to the strategic concerns and issues raised by the case study and to makestrategic recommendations based on the outcomes of their analysis.

This is an open book examination and you may bring in any material in the form of booksor notes to help you answer the set questions. However, you must not hand in any preparedmaterial as this will not be marked by the examiner.




Three compulsory questions. All questions may carry different marks

Reading List:

Essential Reading

International Business Hill McGraw-Hill- Competing In A GlobalMarket Place

Additional Reading

An Introduction to Lewis and Housden Kogan Page 1998international Marketing- A Guide to Going Global

International Marketing Fifield and Lewis Butterworth HeinemannStrategy 1999

60


Strategic Marketing

Aims

1. Examine the broad concepts of marketing strategy and planning.

2. Develop a deeper understanding of the processes of strategy development and marketingplanning.

3. Understand the process of strategy development.

4. Examine and apply the core concepts and techniques for operationalising marketing strategy,particularly the elements of the marketing mix.

5. Develop a deeper understanding of the integration and application of the marketing mixvariables and their impact on other functions within an enterprise.

6. Apply and implement strategic marketing plans.



1. Identify society and customer values - describe the meaning of marketing in society and foran organisation. Understand the implications of the marketing concept. Identify and describemarketing activities. Recognise marketings social responsibility.

2. Understand the scope of strategic marketing - determine the marketing orientation ofcompanies and specify the relevant scope of marketing management. State the function ofmission statements, goals and objectives. Outline how companies identify and implement themarketing mix of an applied strategic plan.

3. Understand the marketing environment - apply portfolio models to the analysis of marketsand competitors. Understand the importance of monitoring the marketing environment.Determine the value of market segmentation for different circumstances. Understand theimportance of the product life cycle and its implication for managing the marketing mixelements.

4. Understand consumer markets - Identify the general influences on demand for a good orservice. Describe the nature and structure of competition in markets, distinguishing amongundifferentiated, differentiated and monopoly markets. Determine the impact of marketstructure on marketing management. Evaluate the myriad social, personal and marketinginfluences in consumer markets. Specify the company’s marketing response to the consumerbuying process.

61

5. Distinguish between strategic and tactical planning. Understand what planning is and itsimportance to the company. Understand the importance of flexibility in determiningmarketing objectives and how these will change within a marketing plan.

6. Understand strategic marketing issues of implementation, performance and control. Makedecisions on how companies develop an organisational commitment to marketing. Determinethe importance of human resources in the implementation of marketing strategy. Understandthe challenges of implementing and controlling marketing strategy.

7. Understand marketing decision making with respect to developing new goods and services.Describe and classify products in a managerially useful way. Examine the role of packagingand design as a marketing tool. Examine strategies arising from knowledge of the product lifecycle. Recognise the importance of innovation to strategic marketing.

8. Understand branding and its purpose. Evaluate the benefits of branding to the manufacturerand consumer. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of manufacturer brands versusprivate brands. Understand brand life cycles, extension and positioning.

9. Understand strategic marketing communications- determine the key factors in deciding thepromotions mix. Recognise the value of public relations. Identify the key elements in formingan advertising strategy. Evaluate the purpose of sales promotion and outline itsappropriate use.

10. Understand strategic marketing communications- understand direct marketing in operationalterms as part of an interactive marketing system Show how marketing can be used to buildpersonal relationships. Understand the role of personal selling.

11. Understand the nature of channel decisions in strategy. Understand the importance andelements of, and tasks involved in, managing a market logistics system.

12. Understand the role of price in marketing management. Examine the various approaches tosetting price. Examine the appropriateness of various strategies for pricing.


By written examination. The pass mark is 40%. Time allowed 3 hours


Eight questions of which four must be answered. All questions carry 25marks.

62

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Marketing Management: Phillip Kotler Prentice-Hall InternationalAnalysis, Planning and 1997Control (9th edition)

Additional Reading

Strategy and Process in John A. Murray and Aidan Prentice-Hall InternationalMarketing O’Driscoll 1997

Marketing Management: Frank Bradley Prentice Hall InternationalProviding, Communicating 1995and Delivering Value

Strategic Marketing Richard, M. S. Butterworth-Heinemann,Management: Planning, Wilson, Colin Gilligan 1997Implementation and Control(2nd edition)

Strategic Marketing: Cases, John Atkinson and lan Harper Collins, 1996Concepts and Challenges Wilson

Marketing Strategy Paul Fifield Butterworth-Heinemann,1994

Competitive Marketing, John O’Shaughnessy Routledge, 1995(3rd edition)

Marketing Classics: A B. Ennis, K. Cox and Prentice-Hall 1995Selection of Influential M.P.MokwaArticles, (8th edition)

Supplementary Journals• European Journal of Marketing• Journal of Marketing• Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science• Journal of Strategic Change• Long Range Planning• Journal of Marketing Management• Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

63


Corporate Finance

Aims

1. Understand the application of capital budgeting and investment appraisal techniques appliedto complex situations.

2. Understand the financing decision and the uses and limitations of the weighted average cost ofcapital. The Modigliani Miller proposition and optimal capital structures.

3. Understand the portfolio approach to risk and uncertainty and the relationship between riskand return.

4. Understand the issues surrounding dividend and distribution policies.

5. Demonstrate a knowledge of various business valuation techniques.

6. Understand the problems associated with foreign exchange management.



I. The broad environment of financial decision making involving corporate objectives andfunctioning of the capital markets:

Evolution of financial management in response to economic and other external factors e.g.technical developments and inflation resulting in the globalisation of financial decisionmaking. The agency problem, finance theory in practice incorporating market and otherimperfections. Financial markets, market efficiency and short-termism.

2. The capital investment decision in practice, including unequal project lives, effects ofinflation and risk:

Identifying the relevant information in investment analysis. Evaluating replacement and otherinvestment decisions. The problems of inflation and taxation. Replacement decisions. Thecontrol process as part of the investment decision. Post audit reviews.

3. The impact of risk and uncertainty on the financial decision-making process and thecontribution of modern portfolio theory:

The need to understand how uncertainty affects investment decisions. Managers’ attitudes torisk. Mechanics of portfolio construction. Determination of appropriate risk premiums toincorporate into discount rates. The capital asset pricing model and its limitations.

64

4. The financing decision of firms, including leverage, debt/equity ratios and Ieasingdecisions:

Treasury management and working capital policy. Short term asset management. Gearing andthe advantages of debt capital. Factors to be taken into account when designing a capitalstructure policy. The Modigliani and Miller contribution. Buy or lease decisions, effects onoverall financing strategy.

5. The role of financial markets in the provision of finance and the efficiency of themarkets in the pricing of securities:

The key characteristics of the main sources of finance. The efficient market hypothesis and itspractical implications The derivatives market including the role of options, futures and swaps.

6. The dividend policy debate, including the implications of particular dividend distributionpolicies on the future of the firm:

Competing views about the role of dividend policy. The implications of a change in dividendpayouts. The ‘information content’ of dividends. The theory of dividend policy. Marketimperfections and the clientele effect

7. Evaluation of acquisitions and mergers and the problems associated with the valuationdecision:

The reasons behind the choice of merger or acquisition as a strategic option. Financing ofacquisitions. The valuation problem particularly related to unquoted companies. Evaluation ofthe success of a merger or take-over.

8. The impact of international trade on financial decisions, including the impact ofexchange rates and the problems both financial and non-financial of internationalinvestment:

Economic theory underlying the operation of international markets. Understand the threeforms of risk involved in international trade: currency risk, translation risk and economic risk.Internal and external hedging of these risks.




Six questions of which four must be answered. All questions carry 25 marks.

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Corporate Finance and Richard Pike and Bill Neale Prentice HallInvestment ISBN No. 0133712613

Additional Reading

Corporate Financial Glen Arnold PitmanManagement ISBN No. 0273630784

65


Strategic Human Resource Management

Aims

1. Understand the elements of a human resource strategy and the necessity for integrationbetween the HR strategy and the strategies adopted by the organisation in general and by allother business functions.

2. Understand the tasks and processes involved in the creation of a human resource strategy,including capability evaluations, development of an HR vision, assessment of the strategicgap, and construction of plans designed to enable the gap to be reduced or eliminated.

3. Understand the relationships between human resource strategies and associated performancemeasures like profitability, competitive innovation, service quality, customer satisfaction,employee retention, and so forth.

4. Understand the construction of meaningful strategies and implementation programmes withineach human resource management function, i.e. employee resourcing, employee reward,employee relations, and employee development.



1. Perceive the necessity for alignment between an organisation’s corporate strategy and itshuman resource strategies, particularly in circumstances of growth, change, survival, ortransformation.

2. Analyse the connections between human resource strategies and strategies created forspecific business functions and roles.

3. Undertake the sequence of activities linked to the construction of a meaningful humanresource strategy, including internal resource/capability evaluation, external assessment of thelabour market, creation of a human resource vision for the future, assessment of the strategicgap, and development of credible action plans to enable the strategic gap to be overcome.

4. Evaluate the significance of human resource strategies for specific organisational scenarios,including global enterprises, manufacturing and service companies, not-for profit entities, anddevolved (business unit) structures.

5. Measure the effectiveness of a human resource strategy through the design and operation ofappropriate methodologies linked to quantified, time-bounded objectives and goals.

6. Construct human resource plans which cater for future organisational needs throughrecruitment, retention, skill acquisition, employee development, and so forth.

7. Appreciate the significance of the external economic, political, sociological, cultural andcommercial environment so far as human resource strategies are concerned.

66

8. Acknowledge the importance of ethics and values in the design of human resource strategieswhich adequately reflect organisational priorities and cultural preferences.

9. Create strategies for each component within human resource management, namely, employeeresourcing, employee relations, employee reward, employee retention, employee involvementand participation, employee consultation, employee communications, and performancemanagement.

10. Assess the human resource management implications of significant contextual developments,e.g. concerns about customer service as a source of competitive advantage, factors affectingemployment trends in manufacturing industry, new thinking about organisational learning,and so forth.




Eight questions of which four must be answered. All questions carry 25 marks.

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Human Resource Michael Armstrong (London: Kogan Page,Management: Strategy and 1995)Action

Additional Reading

Business Driven Human David Hussey (Chichester: John Wiley,Resource Management 1996)

Human Resource Tony Sadler (London: Kogan Page,Management: Developing a 1995)Strategic Approach

Human Resource Dave Ulrich (Harvard BusinessChampions School Press, 1996)

HR Effectiveness Jim Matthewman (London: Institute ofPersonnel & Development,1994)

The Reality of Strategic Michael Armstrong and (London: Institute ofHRM Phil Long Personnel & Development,

1994)

Students should also read suitable quality newspapers and periodicals for articles about strategichuman resource management (covering the issues in general or through application in specifiedorganisations), and if possible should download up-to-date materials via scrutiny of Internetsearch engines.

67


Managing the Information Resource

Aims

1. Understand how to use information technology to design organisation that are competitiveand effective in the complex global environment of contemporary business.

2. Understand and contribute towards developing an information architecture that supports thegoals of the business and that takes into account both social and technical factors.



1. Information Systems; Challenges and Opportunities• Understand the competitive and strategic uses of information systems.• Understand that information systems are more than computer systems.• Understand how the Internet and Networking are transforming organisations.

2. The Strategic Role of Information Systems.• Identify the major types of organisational information systems and discuss how each

supports the managers of the organisation.• Demonstrate and show the major operations and management roles of information systems

and the strategic role that they can play in gaining competitive advantage for theorganisation.

3. Information Systems, Organisations, and Management Decision Making.• Explain the changing role of information systems in organisations.• Discuss the impact of information systems on organisational structure, culture, political

processes and management.• Explain how information systems can assist managers and improve managerial decision

making.

4. Computers and Information Processing.• Describe the major input and output devices and approaches to input and processing.

• Describe multimedia, network computers, and future information technology trends inoutline.

• Identify major types of software and describe new approaches to software development.

68

5. Managing Data Resources.• Describe traditional file environments and contrast these with a database management

environment.• Explain the managerial and organisational requirements for creating a database

environment.

6. Telecommunications, the Internet, and Enterprise Networking.• Describe in outline the basic components of a telecommunications system and identify

telecommunications applications that can provide competitive advantage to organisations.• Explain the criteria used in planning for telecommunications systems.• Describe characteristics of, and problems posed by, enterprise networking and the Internet,

and recommend solutions.

7. Systems Development and Planned Organisational Change.• Understand why building new systems are a process of planned organisational change.• Identify and describe core activities in the systems development process and distinguish

between various systems-building alternatives in terms of strengths and limitations ofeach approach.

• Describe traditional and new approaches for promoting information systems quality.

8. Implementation of Information Systems.• Describe appropriate strategies to manage the implementation process.• Identify and explain the indicators of successful system implementation.• Understand the enabling, role played by information systems and technology in Business

Process Reengineering (BPR)

9. Managing Knowledge.• Describe and discuss specific types of information systems that help organisations create,

capture, and distribute knowledge and information.• Appreciate the role of the Internet, Document Management technologies, collaborative

work, and artificial intelligence in capturing and distributing knowledge.

10. Decision Support Systems.• Explain in some detail the nature and role of decision support systems (DSS), group decision

support systems (GDSS) and executive support systems (ESS).

69




Eight questions of which four must be answered. All questions carry 25 marks.

Reading List:

Essential Reading

Management Information K C Laudon Prentice Hall 5th EditionSystems: New Approaches to J P Laudon ISBN 3-13-906462-1Organisation & Technology

Additional Reading

Process Innovation; Thomas Davenport Harvard Business SchoolReengineering Work Press 1993through InformationTechnology

Balance Scorecard; Robert S Kaplan Harvard Business SchoolTranslating Strategy into David P Norton Press 1996Action

70

business administration syllabus - my.tpages.intnet.mu/sirius76/syllabus/abe_ba_advdip.pdf ·...

Documents