Information Management Strategic plan

Portfolio of evidence FAQ (I will add/subtract as we go along)
Suggestion
Use the given strategic plan outline and do a bit of literature study on each topic. The apply each heading to your organisation (SME) Scale it down to the essentials. Do some research to find it. There are about 300 examples on the Internet of Information systems strategic plans of large organizations.
Can it be the same as my group assignment? The answer is no. You will be tempted to use much of your group assignments info, if you do badly in the group assignment you will do badly in the PoE. Secondly e-fundi will pick it up as plagiarism and that will take time on my side to verify. We need to see if you can manage it on your own. We do not want another group assignment in the PoE.
Many students claim they cannot go and investigate. Thus be innovative Use WhatsApp video call skype zoom or even Microsoft’s conference.
The audit is just to find out what do they have currently and what is needed for the post Covid restart in the “new normal” operations. There are different views on the that. Pick one and motivate. Various authors have written on that topic. From doomsayers to new “revivalists”.
Format: Do it again in a Managerial report format I.e. An executive summary, Table of content Introduction and then off you go. Thus the following needs to be reflected, Analysing the industry, Analysing the firm (IS), and Recommendations. This is the basic topics not headings. The headings will differ from organization to organization. See the various PowerPoints included
Readings. Your literature study should contain approximately 30 sources as evidence of a good understanding. As you work through the strategic plan’ topics you will find that your handbook does not cover everything in detail, again the warning, do not COPY AND PASTE. The whole document must be in your own words.
Remember you must show your literature study in the PoE. Thus it brings you nearly halfway there as proof that you mastered the subject. The other half is the application thereof and the insight demonstrated as well as the technical layout.
Do not use an imaginary organisation. You need to supply me with the contact person’s details, the reason being we need to verify that you actually did contact theme and their inputs were sourced. Thus this is an actual realistic plan and I can contact them if I need clarity on any given section you wrote.
Implementation: This is crucial for any strategic plan. An implementation plan. Again the industry and province will play a huge role.
Extensive knowledge of the organization is not necessary but as you move along in the information environment you will pick up quite a bit. Remember you need to write an introduction. Usually in the introduction we give a bit of a background on the situation where we are now and what should happen next.
The attached example of the strategic plan is just that. It is an example. See also the e book in the folder.
Lastly use the NWU Reference guide HARVARD and please do a grammar check. There are various software engines available to do this. One favourite is Grammarly. There are open source equivalents. A lot of students received low marks in the technical aspect on the previous assignments. Normally the technical aspects may consist up to 30% of the mark you will receive.
Do not take shortcuts such as using the organizations’ strategic plan and submit it. I do check and correspond to them. If you feel to take that route you will set you up for failure and the whole academic wrath may fall upon you. This warning is not to be taken lightly.
NB Software to create the strategic plan:
There are a lot of templates out there to create a strategic plan. That is the problem. The Strategic plan template covers the whole Strategic plan and that plan can be up to 180 pages. What is required of you is a subsection. The information Management Systems Strategic plan that will assists the organization to obtain its goals post Covid-19 In the “new normal”. There are a number of templates and software programmes that assists in crating the overall strategic plan. That is not required and will lead to a fail.
NB Strategic templates; Please do not use the as it is designed for a business strategy i.e. Strategic management. These are topics such as Blue ocean and Scenario planning. If your chosen organization chose to use the Blue ocean strategy, they need to change anyway to adopt to the “new normal” This is where IMS strategy plays a role. IMS will be the enabler for the new environment and new strategy. However, if the IMS cannot change then we have a problem. That meet your infra structure cannot be adapted for the new environment. This is the strategy that we in IMS concern ourselves.
Where do I get more information?
The obvious thing is to change your mind set and read technical, general and business news. Talk to your group members. Of the box thinking. Read the e-book in the PoE, See page 34 onward and 106 onward.
See Gartner and Mckinsey
e.g.
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/reimagining-the-post-pandemic-organization?cid=other-eml-alt-mcq-mck&hlkid=2882988b7c5f4605b718ad34150a0b25&hctky=1195420&hdpid=a4ee8168-8b46-4eb0-86df-e2d95c58a7f2

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-covid-19-recovery-will-be-digital-a-plan-for-the-first-90-days

Access these through the library and also see Emerald Insight and Ebsco Host, if not use Jstor.com Google scholar or Science direct. Do not use general searches as it will lead to a huge number of blogs etc. and other junk sites.

Organizations in Hot spots
If it is in a hot spot of C-19, obviously the organization will be in a bit of a disadvantage. We know at this stage where the hots spots are, but who knows where it will be on the second wave? And when. This little old virus is not finished with us. It will hang around for some time. My personal opinion. And it is deadly to the elderly and those with heart and other diseases. (Elderly = 60 years and older. PS I am in that group).

Thus if you are in a low risk area it could be that business will nearly normal, a high risk area is not so easy. Example, Arthur Kaplan (one of the biggest retail jewellers went online e-commerce). But it is not that easy. Most of the online are way cheaper, but some of the so called cheapies are fakes. Now here is the dilemma, how do the buyer tell which is which? Remember that in the provinces certain municipal areas can be declared at a higher level than others. Now how will your ISM plan assist businesses now?
Ten pages are not enough!!?
Ten pages of the actual plan is more than enough. If you are not even one third of the way and have used more than 6 pages on the headings only you are definitely off the track. Then you need to contact me as stipulated below.
If you need one to one contact please feel free to Skype me in your groups if possible, Skype Addy johannes.coetzee7. Or use Zoom or Microsoft teams. Set the meeting. I am always around on the “net” during working hours.