Page 1 of 4 Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology School of Systems, Management, & Leadership 32208 Information Systems Strategy Assignment 2: Individual Report Due Date: In class, Week 6 Submission:  Use the answer sheet (download from UTSOnline) to complete this task  Submit the answer sheet in class in person. Submission by proxy will not be accepted.  An electronic copy of the answer sheet (MS Word) must be also uploaded onto Turnitin, and the submission confirmation number must be added to the answer sheet  Answer each question only in the provided space.  All answers must be typed using Arial or Times New Roman, size 12, single spacing. Marks:  This assignment is worth 40% of the total subject mark.  In the case of late submission, a 10% of total mark penalty per day (or part thereof) for overdue reports up to ten days will be applied. After ten days (including Saturdays and Sundays) from the assignment deadline the report will no longer be accepted automatically earning a result of zero.  Special consideration, for late submission, must be arranged beforehand with the subject co-ordinator Feedback:  Written feedback will be provided for students. General feedback will also be discussed in the class in Week 7Page 2 of 4 Question Sheet Part (1): Short answer questions (30 marks in total) 1. Why is it important for business strategy to drive organizational strategy and IS strategy? Describe in details what might happen if business strategy was not the driver? Support your answer with an example (6 marks) 2. (a) How can information itself provide a competitive advantage to an organization? (2 marks) (b) Consider one of the big four Australian banks. Choose one of them, and discuss a strategy for them on how the bank can use information related to its clients’ pattern of expenditures as a competetive advantage (2 marks) (4 marks in total) 3. www.theiconic.com.au is a leading online fashion and sports retailer in Australia and New Zealand. According to their website “We are here to define the future of retail. We are a bunch of style-savvy, creative, and forward-thinking individuals with a dream to create a better shopping experience for you; maybe one you haven't even imagined yet.” Apply Porter’s Five Force model and write your detailed assessment about current market position of The Iconic, and its potential threats and opportunities (8 marks). 4. Given the growth in telecommuting and other mobile work arrangements, how might offices physically change in the coming years? Will offices as we think of them today exist by 2020? Check http://www.regus.com/ to justify your answer (4 marks) 5. Mary Kay, Inc., sells facial skin care products and cosmetics around the globe. The business model is to provide one-on-one, highly personalized service. More than 500,000 Independent Beauty Consultants (IBCs) sell in 29 markets worldwide. Each IBC runs his or her own business by developing a client base and then providing services and products for sale to those clients. Recently the IBCs were offered support through an e-commerce system with two major components: mymk.com and Mary Kay InTouch. Mymk.com allows IBCs to create instant online sites where customers can shop anytime directly with their personal IBC. Mary Kay InTouch streamlines the ordering process by automatically calculating discounts, detecting promotion eligibility, allowing the IBCs to access up-to-date product catalogs, and providing a faster way to transact business with the company. How would organizational strategy need to change to respond to Mary Kay’s new business strategy? (6 marks)Page 3 of 4 Part (2): IS Strategy Short Research Article (50 marks in total) Guidelines  The outcome of this task is a research article. Students need to demonstrate their ability to individually conduct a research on the importance of role of Information Systems Strategy for organizations  Students are recommended to use academic articles for this task, however professional articles from other sources are accepted  Your artcile need to use 7 to 10 references. Each reference should be carefully used and discussed in detail to support your arguments  Students strictly are required to use APA-Referencing style. For a detailed guideline, please check UTS Library http://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/c.php?g=202308&p=1332729  Students are encouraged to use academic databases for finding appropriate journal/conference papers (for assistance, see this http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/find/databases). As a guide, students can use Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)  Students’ articles will be marked against the following criteria Criteria Excellent Good Weak Abstract is clear and well written 5 3 1 The article is within the prescribed word limit 5 3 1 A critical and ‘out of the box’ thinking and argumentatoin is demonstared in the article 10 6 2 The key benefits and challenges of IS Strategy are property explained 10 6 2 An appropriate example for IS Strategy has been discussed 10 6 2 Referencing Style (APA) 5 3 1 Use of relevant papers/references (preferably academic references) 5 3 1 Total 50 30 10  For more assistance or further information, students are encouraged to make appointment with the subject coordinator to discuss their articlePage 4 of 4 Topic: The Importance of Information Systems Strategy in the Digital Age: Review of Benefits and Challenges for Organizations Use the following headings to structure your article Abstract (max 300 words) Research Background: - The Role of Strategic Management in Organizations’ Success (300 words) - What is Digital Age, How it Impacts Organizations (300 words) - Why Information Systems Strategy is Important? (300 words) Benefits and Challenges of Information Systems Strategy (500 words) Your reflection and critical evaluaiton related to an example of how information systems strategy has been used in an organization of your choice (500 words) Conclusion (300 words) References (5 to 7 articles) .