DEPT.

OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION

School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours
Period: July 8, 2022 to August 27, 2022
Lecturer: Fred Amankwah-Sarfo, PhD
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Telephone: 024 425 5525 / 054 433 1324

Description

This course addresses theoretical and conceptual foundations for the study of information systems
from an organisational perspective. It explains the mutual shaping that occurs between information
technology and organisation, drawing from their co-evolution to analyse how organisations can
develop, implement, manage and use information technology. The course will consider major themes
such as organisational information processing, organisational planning, institutional theory, and
sociology of technology. These themes will inform the study of emerging forms of organisation and
work. ICT innovation trends will form an integral aspect of the discussions on the predominant and
contemporary approaches to the study of information systems that underpin both practice and
research. Understanding all these issues will require a considerable investment of time for critical
reading and writing.

Objectives

The course will prepare students to analyse the adoption, implementation and management of
information technology from an organisational perspective (rather than a technical perspective).

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

 understand and explain an information system from an IT and organisational perspective, and in
terms of challenges, trends, opportunities
 explain how an organisation should or should not adopt some information technology, and why
 plan an organisation’s information systems from conception to sustainability management
 draw upon the sociology of technology to predict the consequences of the interactions between
information technology and organisations
 analyse the organisational requirements for integrating and sustaining information technology

Course Delivery Methods

The course will be delivered through lectures and discussions throughout the semester.

Measurement of Learning Outcomes

Continuous Assessment (50%)
End-of-semester examination (50%)

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours

Course contents and schedule

Lecture Theme Topics Remarks

1. Introduction  Ground rules Class test

 Concepts
 Systems thinking

2. Information  Nature Assignment 1 out

 Economics
 Consequences

3. Technology  Origins Assignment 1 in

 Nature and evolution
 Form, function and matter
 Consequences

4. Organisations &  Levels and elements Assignment 2 out

organising  Systems/perspectives
 Structures

5. ICT & IS innovation  Ubiquitous computing Assignment 2 in

trends  Digital innovation and content
 Data analytics and business intelligence

6. ICT, organisation, and  Co–evolution Assignment 3 out

personality  Technology and institutions
 IT coordination and control

MID-SEMESTER EXAMINATION

7. Emerging forms of  Value webs

organisation  Agile and virtual organisations
 Service orientation
 Enterprise 2.0

8. Digital work  Mobile and virtual work

 Business process outsourcing
 Crowdsourcing

9. Information systems  Nature

theories  Ontology
 Examples

10. Sociology of technology  Society and technology Assignment 3 in

 Technology determinism
 Interpretive flexibility

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours
11. IS and global diversity  Socio-technical rationality
 Multiple situated rationalities
 Institutional nature of ICT and organisation

Revision
End-of-semester
examinations

End-of-semester
examinations

v
Reading Texts

Lecture 1
Introduction
 Angell, I. O. and S. Smithson 1991. Information systems management: Opportunities and risks.
London: Palgrave Macmillan (Chapter 2).
 Lee, A. S. 2004. Thinking about social theory and philosophy for information systems. In Social
theory and philosophy for information systems, eds. J. Mingers and L. Willcocks. Chichester:
Wiley (Chapter 1).

Lecture 2
Information
 Leonardi, P. M. 2007. Activating the informational capabilities of information technology for
organisational change. Organisation Science, 18(5):813-831.
 Drucker, P. F. 1988. The coming of the new organisation. Harvard Business Review (January-
February):3-11.

Lecture 3
Technology
 Arthur, W. B. (2009) The nature of technology: What it is and how it evolves, Free Press, New
York.
 Kallinikos, J. (2012) "Form, function, and matter: Crossing the border of materiality" In
Materiality and Organizing: Social Interaction in a Technological World, (Eds, Leonardi, P. M.,
Nardi, B. M. and Kallinikos, J.), Oxford University Press, Oxford.
 Mumford, L. (1964) "Authoritarian and democratic technics" Technology and Culture, 5 (1), pp.
1-8.

Lecture 4
Organisations & organising
 Astley, W. G. and A. H. Van de Ven 1983. Central perspectives and debates in organisation
theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(2):245-273.

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours
 Leonardi, P. M. 2011. When flexible routines meet flexible technologies: affordance, constraint,
and the imbrication of human and material agencies. MIS Quarterly, 35(1):147-167.

Lecture 5
IT and IS innovation trends
 Negash, S. 2004. Business Intelligence. Communications of the Association for Information
Systems. 13, 177–195.
 Chen, H., Chiang, R. H. L., & V. C. Storey 2012. Business Intelligence and Analytics: From Big
Data to Big Impact. MIS Quarterly, 36(4):1165–1188.
 Tilson, D., K. Lyytinen & C. Sørensen 2010. Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research
Agenda. Information Systems Research, 21(4):748-759.

Lecture 6
Information technology, organisation, & personality
 Wiredu, G. O. 2014. "The Co-Evolution of Organisation, Technology and Personality " In Mobile
Computer Usability: An Organisational Personality Perspective, (Ed, Wiredu, G. O.), Springer,
Berlin. pp.61-87.
 Zammuto, R. F., T. L. Griffigh, A. Majchrzak, D. J. Dougherty & S. Faraj. 2007. Information
technology and the changing fabric of organisation. Organisation Science, 18(5):749-762.

Lecture 7
Emerging forms of organiaztion
 McAfee, A. P. (2006) "Enterprise 2.0: The dawn of emergent collaboration" Sloan Management
Review, 47(3):20-28.
 Peppard, J. & A. Rylander (2006). From value chain to value network: Insights for mobile
operators. European Management Journal, 24(2-3):128-141.
 Sambamurthy, V., A. Bharadwaj and V. Grover. 2003. Shaping agility through digital options:
Reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms. MIS Quarterly,
27(2):237-263.

Lecture 8
Digital work
 Wiredu, G. O. 2011. Understanding the functions of teleconferences for coordinating global
software development projects. Information Systems Journal, 21(2):175-194.
 Wiredu, G. O. and C. Sørensen. 2006. The dynamics of control and mobile computing in
distributed activities. European Journal of Information Systems, 15(3):307-319.

Lecture 9
Information Systems Theories
 Gioia, D. A. 1986. Symbols, scripts, and sensemaking: Creating meaning in the organisational
experience. In The thinking organisation, eds. H. P. Sims and D. A. Gioia. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours
 Gregor, S. 2006. The nature of theory in information systems. MIS Quarterly, 30(3):611-642.

Lecture 10
Sociology of Technology
 Bijker, W. E. 2001. Understanding technology culture through a constructivist view of science,
technology and society. In Visions of STS: Counterpoints in science, technology and society
studies., eds. S. H. Cutliffe and C. Mitcham. New York: State University of New York Press.
 Kallinikos, J. 2004. Farewell to constructivism: Technology and context-embedded action. In The
social study of information and communication technology: Innovation, actors, and contexts, eds.
C. Avgerou, C. U. Ciborra and F. Land. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Winner, L. 1986. Do artifacts have politics? In The whale and the reactor: A search for limits in
an age of high technology, ed. L. Winner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 Winner, L. 1993. Upon opening the black box and finding it empty: Social constructivism and the
philosophy of technology. Science, Technology and Social Values, 18:362-378.

Lecture 11
Information Systems & Global Diversity
 Avgerou, C. 2002. Information systems and global diversity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
 Wiredu, G. O. The Platform Executive: Technology Shaping of Executive Cognition during
Service Innovation. Unpublished Manuscript.
 Wiredu, G. O. 2012. The implementation of G2B inter-organisational information systems: A
dialectical design perspective. African Journal of Information Systems, 4(4):137-157.

Allocations
Area Marks
Continuous Assessment (essays, reviews, etc) 50%
End-of-Semester Examination 50%
Total 100%

Grading Scheme
Grade Numerical Mark % Interpretation Grade Point
A+ 80 – 100 Distinction 4.00
A 70 – 79 Excellent 3.75
B+ 65 – 69 Very Good 3.50

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours
B 60 – 64 Good 3.00
C 50 – 59 Pass 2.00
D 40 – 49 Fail 1.50
F Below 40 Fail 0
Y - Exempt -
Z - Disqualification -
I - Incomplete -

Other Policies and Regulations

Please locate the Graduate Handbook on the GIMPA website, read it carefully, and endeavour to
observe all of the provisions published in it.

Registration
GIMPA policy requires all students to be officially registered in each class they are attending.
Students who are not officially registered for a course by published deadlines should not be attending
classes and will not receive credit or a grade for this course. Each student must confirm enrollment by
checking his/her personal page in the Institute’s Enterprise Resource Planning system prior to the
deadline indicated. If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and
participate in classes for which you are not officially registered, you will not receive a grade at the end
of the semester.

Examination and Other Assessment

If for any reason (such as medical, accident, lateness, etc), a student is unable to take an examination
or other assessments, then he or she may take what was missed at the next offering. No separate
examination or other assessment will be organized for any student.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

Students enrolled in GIMPA programmes, at all its campuses, are to perform their academic work
according to standards set by faculty members, departments, and schools of the Institute; and cheating
and plagiarism constitute fraudulent misrepresentation for which no credit can be given and for which
appropriate sanctions are warranted and will be applied.

Please read the Postgraduate Student Handbook for more information about examination and/or
assessment regulations (e.g. incomplete grade, contesting examination marks, academic integrity, etc).

Subject to Change Statement

The syllabus and course schedule may be subject to change. Changes will be communicated via email.
It is the responsibility of students to check email messages to stay current on information pertaining to
their courses.

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DEPT. OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & INNOVATION
School of Technology
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
MSc MIS, MSc DFC & MSc ICT

SOT701B & ICT712B: Org. Study of Info. Systems 2022 – 3 Credit Hours

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