Undergraduate Course: Technology and Organisations (BUST10101)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the organisational issues arising from the application of new kinds of organisational technologies and systems within private and public sector businesses and organisations.
Its central argument is that the nature of the modern enterprise-wide information system is changing and that this has radical implications for organisations. For instance, most large and medium-sized organisations around the world now use a 'packaged enterprise system'. A small
number of software suppliers, of which the software giant SAP is the clear leader, have succeeded in deploying their enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship
management (CRM) and other kinds of financial and administrative computer systems across many different organisations, sectors and countries around the globe. Large organisations now appear to be dominated by a new breed of standardised software package. These are not the
locally specific, tailor-made systems experts had predicted would prevail but the most highly generic kind of information system. This illustrates a significant shift, which involves the reshaping of the corporate information system and has implications for how organisations choose between, adopt and use these kinds of information systems.
The aim of the course is to give students a sophisticated and critical appreciation of the nature and complexities surrounding these kinds of organisational technologies. It will look at a variety of issues ranging from: the emergence and growth of the packaged software sector; the
procurement, implementation and use of ERP systems, the design and development of generic software systems; and how the wider market for these systems is created.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
- understand the organisational issues surrounding enterprise-wide systems and other kinds of
organisational technologies;
- describe the basic capabilities and limitations of these organisational technologies;
- develop a critical awareness of the operation and limitations of the modern day information system arena
Cognitive Skills
- move beyond simple descriptions and develop a more sophisticated and critical awareness of the complexities involved in technical and organisational change;
- demonstrate an ability to critically analyse and present material on emerging topics.
Key skills
- recognise both the benefits and limitations of resolving organisational problems through the use of information technologies;
- utilise and analyse information from a variety of sources;
- analyse real examples of information systems and their rollout within organisations and the related organisational change that occurs.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Neil Pollock
Tel: (0131 6)51 1489
Email: Neil.Pollock@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Anne Cunningham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3827
Email: Anne.Cunningham@ed.ac.uk |
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