IT Portfolio and RBV Theory (Individual report)
Unit Learning Outcome (ULO)
Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO)
ULO 1: Critically analyse how information and IT can generate business value and improve the firm’s overall competitiveness
GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
GLO4: Critical thinking
ULO3: Appraise, critically analyse, and communicate the business value potential of emerging information technologies in organizations.
GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
GLO4: Critical thinking
Assignment Description Purpose of Assignment 1
This is an individual assignment, which requires you to develop an understanding of how information and IT can generate business value and improve a business’s overall competitiveness using both IT Portfolio theory and RBV, and then produce a 1,500-word report on your findings. This term we are looking at Uber. Note the assigned case organisation will also be used for assignment 2.
Requirements of Assignment 1
This report should be 1,500 words (excluding the references and appendices). To complete this report, you should conduct research on Uber and its competitiveness. Your task is to understand Uber’s investments in information and IT for business value returns. You also need to assess its key resources and capabilities to assess its competitiveness in a turbulent disruptive market. More specifically, you should find answers to the following two questions:
1. Focus on the various IT assets that Uber has invested in the last 5 years. Using the IT Portfolio theory, provide an example of each type of IT asset classes (i.e. transactional, informational, infrastructural and strategic) with reference to Uber. Your chosen examples should be key IT assets for gaining real business value for Uber for competitive advantage. Indicate if the business returns are tangible or intangible.
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MIS782 – VALUED OF INFORMATION ASSESSMENT TASK 1 DETAILS
2. In general, firms cannot expect to obtain sustained competitive advantage when strategic resources are evenly distributed across all competing firms and highly mobile. Hence, competitive advantage does not occur unless heterogeneity and immobility are present. Based on the arguments around imperfectly imitable and the concept of resources and capabilities, discuss each of the four factors of the VRIO framework with respect to the key resources and capabilities to explain Uber’s current position in the competitive landscape.
Below you can find a detailed description of the required sections for this report:
• Executive Summary (~150 words): In this section, you need to briefly summarise key IT assets, resources and capabilities of Uber that you have selected for this report. You should also briefly mention how these capabilities helped Uber to gain competitive advantage.
• Introduction and Organisational background (~250 words): In this section, you need to briefly explain the information-based competitive environment of Uber and its business model in terms of its market, strategy, operations and overall industry. You should use the business model canvas (see useful resources) to structure the arguments in this section.
• IT Portfolio theory view (~350 words): In this section, you should write your response to Question number 1 above. Your arguments should be supported by references from the literature (both practitioner/academic).
• RBV theory and VRIO analysis (~650 words): In this section, you should write your response to Question number 2 above. Your arguments should be supported by references from the literature (both practitioner/academic).
• Conclusion (~100 words): In this section, you should conclude by stating your key conclusions about the competitiveness of Uber. You should also include a brief discussion on factors or threats that may affect sustainability of its competitive advantage in future.
• References: References and citations showing the source of all the information in the report need to be provided (Harvard referencing style). The references used must demonstrate thorough research using quality references such as journal articles, book sections, conference papers, and industry reports with good evidence to support your arguments in the sections above. Details on referencing can be found at: http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/handouts/ideas.php
• Appendices: In this section, you should place figures or tables that illustrate or summarize your key points from the discussion section.
Useful Resources:
• MIS782 reading list – https://rl.talis.com/3/deakin/lists/C0FB0A1B-B92C-5764-AF90-8DC91C5F8944.html
• MIS782 unit help guide for researching Uber related content –
https://deakin.libguides.com/c.php?g=558237&p=6651697
• Key article that introduces you to the theoretical model used in this assessment:
o IT Portfolio framework – Weill, P., and Aral, S. (2006). Generating premium returns on your IT
investments, MIT Sloan Management Review, 47:2, pp39-48.
o Barney, J. (2012). Evaluating the firm’s internal capabilities, Strategic Management
and Competitive Advantage: Concepts, 4th Ed, Pearson (Boston).
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MIS782 – VALUED OF INFORMATION ASSESSMENT TASK 1 DETAILS
o Business Model Canvas: https://strategyzer.com/canvas/business-model-canvas
• Tips and resources on report writing.
• Research and synthesis: Synthesizing research sources involves reading all the sources to find similarities and differences between what you read in the sources. You then write, in your own words, the similarities and differences you found. The ability to synthesize research sources is critical in university studies, and working in industry, because it enables you to demonstrate your ability to think critically and reach your own conclusions and interpretations.
Submission Instructions
The report must be one (1) single file, named T1_year_MIS782_surname_assign1 (e.g. T1_2020_MIS782_Alam_ assign1).
You must keep a backup copy of every assignment you submit, until the marked assignment has been returned to you. In the unlikely event that one of your assignments is misplaced, you will need to submit your backup copy.
Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means for the purposes of detecting collusion and/or plagiarism. Deakin University has a strict standard on plagiarism as a part of Academic Integrity. To avoid any issues with plagiarism, students are strongly encouraged to run the similarity check with the Turnitin system.
You are required to submit the assignment through your CloudDeakin unit site. You will receive an email to your Deakin email address confirming that it has been submitted. You should check that you can see your assignment in the Submissions view of the Assignment folder after upload, and check for, and keep, the email receipt for the submission.
Submit the report in CloudDeakin in the submission folder called T1 2020 MIS782 Assignment 1.
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MIS782 – VALUED OF INFORMATION ASSESSMENT TASK 1 DETAILS
Notes
• Assessment Feedback: Students who submit their work by the due date will receive their marks and feedback on CloudDeakin within 18 business days from the due date.
• Penalties for late submission: The following marking penalties will apply if you submit an assessment task after the due date without an approved extension: 5% will be deducted from available marks for each day up to five days, and work that is submitted more than five days after the due date will not be marked. You will receive 0% for the task. ‘Day’ means working day for paper submissions and calendar day for electronic submissions. The Unit Chair may refuse to accept a late submission where it is unreasonable or impracticable to assess the task after the due date.
• For more information about academic misconduct, special consideration, extensions, and assessment feedback, please refer to the document Your rights and responsibilities as a student in this Unit in the first folder next to the Unit Guide of the Resources area in the CloudDeakin unit site.
• Building evidence of your experiences, skills and knowledge (Portfolio) – Building a portfolio that evidences your skills, knowledge and experience will provide you with a valuable tool to help you prepare for interviews and to showcase to potential employers. There are a number of tools that you can use to build a portfolio. You are provided with cloud space through OneDrive, or through the Portfolio tool in the Cloud Unit Site, but you can use any storage repository system that you like. Remember that a Portfolio is YOUR tool. You should be able to store your assessment work, reflections, achievements and artefacts in YOUR Portfolio. Once you have completed this assessment piece, add it to your personal Portfolio to use and showcase your learning later, when applying for jobs, or further studies. Curate your work by adding meaningful tags to your artefacts that describe what the artefact represents.
FAQs
Where can we find a summary for the assessment?
• All details are provided in this document. In Module 2, the assessment is released formally in CloudDeakin with all details and links.
Is the word count of 1,500 a hard limit or just a recommendation? • The word limit is 1,500 words with a variance of +/- 10%.
Do we have to use the theory to answer the questions?
• The questions clearly state which theory to use for the answers. It is expected that student responses will be informed through these theory analyses.
If I have any questions about the assessment task, where should I ask/post my question?
1. You are encouraged in the first instance to ask questions to your lecturer/tutor during the class/seminar.
2. You can also post questions on the CloudDeakin site in the assignment 1 discussion thread. The teaching team will manage thisforum.
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