Forschungsgruppe für Informationssicherheit und Compliance

Strategic IT Management - M.Sc.

General information

  • Module: Strategic IT Management
  • Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Simon Trang
  • Module number: M.WIWI-WIN.0022
  • Cycle: Every summer term
  • Credits: 6 ECTS
  • Courses of study: Master WI, Master Ufü, Master MDM, Ph. D.
  • Type of teaching and learning: Lecture
  • Examination: Presentation and final paper
  • Language: German
  • Contact:

Summer term 2022

  • Registration: Starts from 01.04.2022, 9 am via StudIP on a First Come, First Serve Basis.
  • Lecture on practice and theory: 22.04.2022, from 9 am - 6 pm
  • Workshop on research method: 23.04.2022, from 9 am - 6 pm
  • Workshop on research design: 20.05.2022, from 9 am - 1 pm
  • Final presentations of research projects: 23.09.2022, from 9 am - 1 pm
  • Restriction: Maximum of 12 students

All meetings will take place in person.

Learning Objectives

The course combines practical and theoretical insights in the field of Strategic IT Management. In a first session, students will learn organizational, processual, and methodological topics of Strategic IT Management. Practical examples will be given on how organizations gain value from ever growing IT investments and reach business IT alignment. In a second session, students will be introduced to current theories and methods in Management Science and Strategic IT Management research. The focus lies on quantitative research papers. It will be taught how research interprets value creation and what organizational capabilities are necessary for outperforming companies. In a third session, students will learn scientific methods and how to contribute to Strategic IT Management research. They will have the opportunity to practically learn the way from a research question, over a research design, to their own research results. The results will be documented in a paper style documentation of their work and presented in a fourth session.

Students will:

  • have a comprehensive understanding of challenges in value adding networks and the implications on Strategic IT Management.
  • know and understand trends of data and IT integration for process automatization and can evaluate pros and cons.
  • know and understand reference models from practice (COBIT, ISO 20000, ITIL) and can apply them to questions of Strategic IT Management.
  • know and understand central theories of management science and be able to derive implications for practice.
  • understand the concept of scientific contribution, can formulate research questions and derive a research design that meets scientific standards.
  • learn how to adequately document and communicate research results in the field of Strategic IT Management.

Overview of the module contents

The class deals with three interdependent areas around practice, theory and research methods in the field of Strategic IT Management. Students will be provided with the necessary tools for empirically founded work for term papers, master thesis or dissertation in the field of Strategic IT Management.

Understand fundamentals of strategic IT management

  • Value of IT
  • Business IT alignment
  • IT governance, IT line organization and IT process organization
  • Reference frameworks (COBIT, ISO 20000, ITIL)
  • Two speed IT

Learn theories of Management Science and Strategic IT Management

  • Strategic Alignment Model
  • Resource-based View and Dynamic Capabilities
  • Theories of Strategic Fit
  • Measurement of business IT alignment and IT value

    • Learn and apply quantitative research methods in the field of Strategic IT Management

    • Quantitative research design
    • Survey design and questionnaire construction
    • Structural equation modelling with PLS
    • Adequate documentation and communication of quantitative research results

    Prerequisits and Examination

    The class is addressed to students of Master WI, Master MDM, Master Ufü, and Ph.D. An interest in quantitative methods and general background in management science is necessary.
    Students will design and conduct a research project in the field of business IT alignment. Research projects are conducted in groups of around 2-3 students (depending on class size). All statistical methods that are required for the research projects will be taught as part of the course. The research project will be evaluated in terms of its documentation and final presentation. Active collaboration and presentations are part of the module.