Welcome to INFO343

How this course will help you

In this course we will explore IT management topics and problems faced by many organisations. We also
aim to make you more employable, so the course will help you develop useful transferable skills for
workplace and career opportunities. As you build your own knowledge and understanding of the important
world of IT management, you will also develop your business analysis skills. Most importantly, the method
of instruction I will employ in this course - the case study and analysis method - will change the way you
think, since it requires a different mental approach to solving problems.

Achieving a high grade in this course

Our method for this course will be a mixed-method employing primarily discussion, and case study analysis,
with some traditional lecture. This is a little different than what you may be used to, so please be diligent in
your preparations, and observe a few simple rules (see the following). I will also post some guidelines for
the preparation of case analyses separately. I have much experience teaching upper-level students using this
technique, and I am confident that after a short time you will become very comfortable with it.

There are many things that you can do to assure a high grade in the course. For example, it is important that
you prepare for each class, and attend and participate. You should also access the Learn course space
regularly in order to access useful information, and use the reading material. I expect you to do about 10
hours of study each week for this course – see the course outline for a suggested hours budget, eg, 2 hours
each week preparing for class, 2 hours per week attending class, etc.

To help you to achieve the highest possible grade, I will offer advice for each assessment so that you can
optimise opportunities to score well on the criteria used to assess particular work. Always look at the
criteria, and do ask questions in class about what the standard is that is required etc, before attempting the
assessment. This will also help you to make the most efficient use of your time.

News

I will often post News items on Learn343, and attempt to weave these into the course content. Also, please
refer to Learn for the weekly readings, tasks, and supplementary work.

Course-related issues, queries and concerns

I almost always open class sessions with an opportunity for you to voice any concerns, or ask any questions
you may have. Please don't hesitate to use this opportunity, since I intend it not to be a mere formality.

Contact me personally

Understandably, you may have personal issues or course concerns. If appropriate, you should e-mail me at
my staff e-mail address. Please include the course code in the subject line as this will help me notice your
email and thus answer your query more promptly. It is better that you e-mail me as soon as you feel the issue
developing rather than wait and feel uncomfortable or unsure about the course. Beware: it is best to use your
UC email account to contact me. If you use another account, eg, gmail, the University's SPAM system is
highly likely to filter out your email.

I hope you enjoy the course.

Stephen Wingreen       stephen.wingreen@canterbury.ac.nz