The following course System Strategies Planning is provided in its entirety by Atlantic International University's "Open Access Initiative" which strives to make knowledge and education readily available to those seeking advancement regardless of their socio-economic situation, location or other previously limiting factors. The University's Open Courses are free and do not require any purchase or registration, they are open to the public.

The course in System Strategies Planning contains the following:

• Lessons in video format with explaination of theoratical content.
• Complementary activities that will make research more about the topic , as well as put into practice what you studied in the lesson. These activities are not part of their final evaluation.
• Texts supporting explained in the video.

The Administrative Staff may be part of a degree program paying up to three college credits. The lessons of the course can be taken on line Through distance learning. The content and access are open to the public according to the "Open Access" and " Open Access " Atlantic International University initiative. Participants who wish to receive credit and / or term certificate , must register as students.

Lesson 1: CONCEPTUALIZATION OF STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLANNING (SISP)

The rapid changes in information technology (IT) and business environment have challenged the organizational capabilities in planning the appropriate information systems/information technology (IS/IT) strategies for organizations. With SISP consistently remains as one of the top managerial concerns, there is a need to find ways to improve SISP. Based on this scenario, the role of knowledge and knowledge based processes should be the central focus in SISP.
Therefore, some studies have suggested that SISP process should be viewed as a learning process rather than a problem solving process. As a learning process, SISP success can be determined by how much impact the SISP practice has influenced on information system (IS) planners’ thinking and actions.

Lesson 2: Nature of Strategic Planning

A review of research from organizational behavior supported the guidelines by corporate planners: that is, use an explicit approach for setting objectives, generating strategies, evaluating strategies, monitoring results, and obtaining commitment. To determine whether these findings could be applied to strategic decision making in organizations, a review was made of all published field research on the evaluation of formal planning.

Lesson 3: Strategic Alignment between Business Information & Technology

Strategy has been always a key concern to top management. Companies are striving to find the right strategy to success, especially in this competitive era. Recent developments in information technology have highlighted the capabilities and the strategic functionalities IT could add to companies' strategies. More and more attention has been granted to exploit IT capabilities in supporting and introducing new business strategies. Also, researchers have showed an increased interest in introducing a model which aligns IT with business strategy. So far, there has been big discussion about the factors which influence the strategic alignment between IT and business strategy.

Lesson 4: Information Technology & Business

IT position has changed dramatically in the last decades from a support tool into an Essential resource for obtaining and sustaining competitive advantage (Porter and Millar, 1985), even some business executives can no longer perceive it as exclusive territory of IT department, it is treated as a corporate resource. IT is offering new management and business opportunities which empowers firm to gain competitive advantage, improve productivity and performance, facilitate new ways of managing and organizing, and develop new business (Peppard, 1993).

Lesson 5: Interplay of Strategic Management & Information Technology

A significant body of research has attempted to link firms’ investments in information technology (IT) with overall competitive advantage in the pursuit of superior performance (Kohli and Devaraj 2003; Melville et al. 2004; Piccoli and Ives 2005).2 While there is clear evidence of a measurable correlational relationship between IT investment activities and firm performance on several strategic dimensions (Barua et al. 1995; Francalanci and Galal 1998), the relationship is often found to be indirect, mediated by the effectiveness of implementation (Brynjolfsson and Hitt 1998; Mooney et al. 1996) and subject to severe measurement issues (Bharadwaj 2000).

Lesson 6: System Strategies Planning

To earn a profit, the price at which a firm can sell a good or service must exceed the average cost associated with producing and/or providing that good or service. Since industries vary in their average long-term return on equity (ROE), and since long-term superior ROE is not an outcome predicted by perfect competition (which drives prices down to variable costs), theories of imperfect competition are necessary to explain such variations in interindustry long-term profitability. Industry thus matters to profitability; a firm’s choice of, and position in, an industry are important factors for performance, as are its abilities to collude, coordinate, and/or cooperate with its rivals to limit the entry of new competitors, block the threat of substitution, and exert power over both its suppliers and customers (Porter 1980, 2008).

Lesson 7: Integration of Information Technology & Business-level Strategy

Competence-based perspectives emphasize the resources and capabilities that the firm can draw upon to create and capture value. These resources and capabilities may be variously inherited by the firm from its history, bestowed by chance, or built by conscious managerial action to develop and harvest their fruits. It is the effective utilization of these resources and capabilities at the firm level—as opposed to the structure of the firm’s industry, a collusion-based concept—which determines the firm’s profitability.

Lesson 8: SWOT Analysis

In the beginning of the 19th century, the increasing competition between the large industrial companies stirred great interest for competitive management solutions. The corporate decision-makers became aware that success greatly depends on the quality of the strategic decisions made together with the board members. Although apparently correct, some strategic plans often led companies to failure and bankruptcy. This is why in the 1960s and 70s much research was carried out in the field of management, especially strategic analysis (first performed by the Stanford Research Institute, USA, in a questionnaire with 250 questions applied to 5000 directors and managers of successful companies).

Lesson 9: DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Making decisions concerning complex systems (e.g., the management of organizational operations, industrial processes, or investment portfolios; the command and control of military units; or the control of nuclear power plants) often strains our cognitive capabilities. Even though individual interactions among a system's variables may be well understood, predicting how the system will react to an external manipulation such as a policy decision is often difficult. What will be, for example, the elect of introducing the third shift on a factory floor?

One might expect that this will increase the plant's output by roughly 50 percent. Factors such as additional wages, machine wear down, maintenance breaks, raw material usage, supply logistics, and future demand need also be considered, however, as they all will impact the total financial outcome of this decision.

Lesson 10: The Evolution of Decision Making: How Leading Organizations Are Adopting a Data-Driven Culture

In a rapidly changing global business environment, the pressure on organizations to make accurate and timely decisions has never been greater. The ability to identify challenges, spot opportunities, and adapt with agility is not just a competitive advantage but also a requirement for survival. People have long preached the benefits of relying on data and insights from business intelligence (BI) and analytics to help make better and timelier decisions. A reliance on data from these tools was expected to deliver better financial performance.

We understand how busy adults do not have time to go back to school. Now, it's possible to earn your degree in the comfort of your own home and still have time for yourself and your family. The Admissions office is here to help you, for additional information or to see if you qualify for admissions please contact us. If you are ready to apply please submit your Online Application and paste your resume and any additional comments/questions in the area provided. (Online Application) (Request Info)

Atlantic International University
800-993-0066 (Gratis en EUA)
808-924-9567 (Internacional)