Using the Information Orientation Maturity Model to Increase the Effectiveness of the Core MBA IS Course.

Introduction When Harvard Business Review published Nicolas Carr's article, "IT Doesn't Matter," (2003) a debate was launched in which many gallons of ink and reams of paper were consumed. Our purpose here is not to rehash the debate, but to reference its passion in introducing the purpose of this paper. Despite extensive evidence suggesting the valuable contribution that IT can make to enterprise performance (Marchand, Kettinger, & Rollins, 2002; Weill & Ross, 2004) the relative value of information technology and the status of IT professionals in modern business remains contested (Kaarst-Brown, 2005) and the "ineffective business communication with IT" remains a the top inhibitor of effective IT and business alignment (Luftman, Kempaiah, & Nash, 2006, p. 81). Although information systems are an integral part of every modern organization, IS faculty often struggle to show MBA students the value of the core IS course in the MBA curriculum. This is also evidenced by the fact that some business schools do not have an IS course in the core MBA curriculum. Also, although it was changed in an early revision, the first draft of the new AACSB accreditation standards did not include "information systems" or "information technology" as a core knowledge area for students (Hilton, 2003). In addition to the probable existence of systemic issues within the business culture discussed by Kaarst-Brown (2005), we suggest that students and, perhaps, some appreciable portion of business school faculty perceive that "there is not much 'there' there" with respect to what is taught in the typical MBA core IT course. However, there has been an abundance of research examining IT management practices and contributions that has resulted in the development of a set of fairly consistent IT management prescriptions (Broadbent & Weill, 1997; Feeny & Willcocks, 1998; Rockart, 2004; Rockart, Earl, & Ross, 1996; Ross, Beath, & Goodhue, 1996; Weill, 2004; Weill & Ross, 2004; Wheeler, Marakas, & Brickely, 2002) published in top management journals and generally reflected in major IT management textbooks (Applegate, Austin, & McFarlan, 2003; Laudon & Laudon, 2003; Luftman, 2004; McNurlin & Sprague, 2004; Turban, McClean, & Wetherbe, 2004). While these articles and textbooks contain explicit and quite useful IT management knowledge based on theoretical and empirical research, their content is most likely to be of use to experienced professionals possessing a wealth of practical experience. For inexperienced professionals and students, these publications may raise more questions than they answer. A commonly heard question is something to the effect that "If they know all this stuff, how come there are still so many problems [with IT management]?" The problem, as we see it, is that the textbooks very capably provide "know-what" but find it difficult to impossible to adequately convey "know-how." Students lacking a sound experiential framework have a difficult time comprehending the challenges presented in implementing these prescriptions in practice. The pedagogical challenge then, becomes one of providing students with an experiential learning opportunity where they can evaluate their new knowledge in a "real world" environment. MBA courses often use case analyses to provide students opportunities to apply conceptual material. However, written business cases are necessarily simplifications of reality, and therefore lack the richness of live business situations. Projects that require students to engage in some activity with a live organization are another way to provide students the opportunity to apply newly-learned concepts. However, live projects present significant risks, in that the students may struggle to successfully recognize and apply concepts if not provided a robust organizing structure to guide their actions. This paper describes the initial use of the Information Orientation (IO) Maturity Model as the basis of a MBA course-based project intended to assist students to experientially investigate the relationship between business performance and several information and technology management concepts. …