Top 20 IT Topics

This term I'm teaching an MBA course on information technology.  In this course my students will research and prepare a presentation on an IT-related topic.  Wanting to make sure the students invest their research efforts in meaningful knowledge, I prepared a list of topics that are frequently covered in the IT professional magazines.

Here is my list of the top twenty IT-related topics (in no particular order):

• Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
• Customer Relationship Management Systems
• Cloud Computing
• Bring Your Own Device
• Software as a Service
• Business Intelligence
• Web Services
• Tablet Computers
• Data Analytics
• Chromebook Computers
• Business Process Reengineering
• Knowledge Management Systems
• Big Data
• Electronic Medical Record Systems
• Supply Chain Management Systems
• Crowdsourcing
• Radio Frequency ID
• Hadoop and MapReduce
• Telemedicine
• Internet of Things

My guess is that if you made a list you would have some of these topics on your list too but I bet your list would not look the same as mine.  What topics are missing from my list?  What topics shouldn't be on this list?

India Trip

This week and next I am participating in an international education experience with fourteen of our MBA and Master's in Management students.  During this trip our students are meeting with several multinational firms and some local firms to better understand business in India.  We are learning what it takes to be sucessful in the India market, the support offered by the US government to expand our businesses in India, how US firms are able to offshore some of their bussiness procsses, and how local firms operate.

The students are having a great appreciation for the differences in cultures and businesses and insight into how to better build relationships with international partners and customers.  Some of our students are having the opportunity to actually meet their work colleages who are located in Dehli and Bangalore.  It has been a great experience so far.

I particularly found value in our visit to a business process outsourcing firm (BPO).  The BPO is a form of offshoring and outsourcing where a business processes is moved to a location outside of the country.  In this case the BPO was owned by the parent company and serves as lower cost and process specialization option.  Offshoring and outsourcing are common practices in the IT field so I found it facinating to see an example of how these firms operate and the value they bring to their partner organizations.  After this visit to the BPO I have so many ideas to bring to my Managerial Applications of Technology course later this fall.

{please note this post was made from my iPad so spelling was not verified; my apologies for any spelling errors}

New Certificates in Project Management

Earlier this week I received approval to begin offering new certificate programs in project management!  This is very exciting since it provides us with the opportunity to offer our project management curriculum to professionals looking for continued education in project management but may not be interested in a full master's degree.

We will now have a Master Certificate in Project Management and a Master Certificate in Advanced Project Management.  Each certificate consists of four courses.  Below are the requirements for each certificate:

Master Certificate in Project Management

• CIS 6101 Leadership Communications
• PRM 6110 Project Management Essentials I
• PRM 6115 Project Management Essentials II
• PRM 6119 Strategic Decision Making

Master Certificate in Advanced Project Management

• CIS 6101 Leadership Communications
• PRM 6225 Procurement and Budget Management
• PRM 6234 Project Risk and Quality Management
• PRM 6242 Emerging Topics in Project Management

Later this fall our website will be updated to reflect these new certificates.  Very exciting!!!

Mind Map vs Concept Map

I came across a white paper written by a software vendor explaining the differences between a mind map and a concept map.  The white paper provides a good delineation between these two terms and provides examples of when to use each type of model.

Using a knowledge management perspective, the difference between a mind map and a concept map is very important.  A mind map is used to diagram concepts within a domain and typically involve identifying connections between the main topic and contributing ideas to the main topic.  For example, I could develop a mind map where I diagram the components of an automobile.  I would begin with the automobile topic then break it down into transmission, breaking, electrical, etc components.  Each of these components could then be further broken into sub-components and so on.  This more hierarchical modeling illustrates the connections between ideas.  This is a good tool to illustrate information and many students follow this approach when taking notes or preparing for a paper.

The concept map closely resembles the mind map but includes more cross-connectivity between sub-components to create a less hierarchical structure.  Additionally, and this is important, the concept map also describes the relationships between the elements in the model.  Rather than simply drawing the relationships in the mind map, the concept map describes the relationships.  This provides the contextual insight into the model and removes any reliance on individual interpretation of these relationships.  The more complex structure and the explicit definitions of the relationships illustrates knowledge of the domain.

While both models provide benefit, the concept map provides a much more complete description of the topic and unambiguous definitions of the relations between elements in the model.  The mind map is used to convey information while the concept map is used to convey knowledge.