IT Enabled Process Improvement (Spring 2019)

Abstract

The students will learn theoretical foundations of IT-enabled process improvement and apply these to a real life practical context by working with an organisation.

Description

Continuously improving and innovating organizational processes is considered essential for organizational survival. Accordingly, many frameworks and theoretical perspectives exist for approaching such improvement initiatives.

After the course the students should be able to: 

• Explain the aim and content of the different theoretical perspectives on process improvement taught in the course. 
  
• Reflect on similarities and differences for the different theoretical perspectives on process improvement and the effect it may have when conducting process improvement in an organizational context. 
  

In addition the students have to demonstrate (as part of the project work) that they can: 

• Develop an appropriate research design for an improvement project in a specific organisational context reflecting upon different options and qualifying their decisions 
  
• Define a relevant and adequate problem definition for an improvement initiative in a specific organisational context involving relevant stakeholders 
  
• Facilitate/conduct an ample analyse of the current situation in a specific organisational context as a basis for suggesting actual improvements 
  
• Develop and justify a plan/solution for an improvement initiative in a specific organisational context involving relevant stakeholders 
  
• Perform an executive presentation of the result of their project work
  
• Reflect upon the project work; research design, process, result, learning etc.
  

In this course, the students will learn about five approaches: 

• Design Thinking 
• Lean
• Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
• Six Sigma
• and Soft Systems Methodology
  

Formal prerequisites

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Explain the aim and content of the different theoretical perspectives on process improvement taught in the course
• Reflect on similarities and differences for the different theoretical perspectives on process improvement and the effect it may have when conducting process improvement in an organizational context
• Develop an appropriate research design for an improvement project in a specific organisational context reflecting upon different options and qualifying their decisions
• Define a relevant and adequate problem definition for an improvement initiative in a specific organisational context involving relevant stakeholders
• Facilitate/conduct an ample analyse of the current situation in a specific organisational context as a basis for suggesting actual improvements
• Develop and justify a plan/solution for an improvement initiative in a specific organisational context involving relevant stakeholders
• Perform an executive presentation of the result of their project work
• Reflect upon the project work; research design, process, result, learning ect.