Consider the Harvard Business School case, "IBM Europe Headquarters," which is available at the reserve desk in the library. For each one of the nine cases that we are covering in this course ("Mrs. Fields, Inc.," "Otisline (A)," "Data Administration in Citibank Brazil," "Phillips 66: Controlling a Company through Crisis," "United Services Automobile Association (USAA)," "Division among the Ranks: the Social Implications of CASE Tools for System Developers," "Union Pacific Railroad: Transition to Client-Server," "Agrico, Inc. -- A Software Dilemma," "Eastman Kodak Co.: Managing Information Systems through Strategic Alliances"), derive and explain at least one lesson that is relevant to IBM Europe Headquarters.

When deriving a lesson (for instance, from the Otisline case), use details from the case to describe why and how the lesson is important. Then, apply the lesson to IBM Europe Headquarters (i.e., show how the lesson helps to explain what you consider to be, or would be, a good or a poor IS management practice in the IBM Europe Headquarters case), where you use details from the IBM Europe Headquarters case.

Each lesson that you identify must be about something to do that is right, or something to avoid that is wrong, in the development, implementation, and/or management of information systems in organizations. It is possible and allowable for a lesson to be common to two or more of the nine cases. You might not be able to identify a unique lesson for each of the nine cases, but please attempt it. Please note that a mere parallel between an old case and the IBM Europe Headquarters case (for instance, "Otis Elevator had a business strategy and so did IBM Europe Headquarters") is not a lesson; it would only be a parallel. HINT: use the word "should" or the phrase "should not" when stating a lesson. Consider the following: "In the Mrs. Fields case, I learned the lesson that top management should not do XXX... At Mrs. Fields Inc., the details of the situation where I observed and learned this lesson are... At IBM Europe Headquarters, the details of the situation to which this lesson applies are... ."

When you re-examine a case that we have already discussed in class (especially the earlier cases), you might find that the meaning of the case changes for you. The changed meaning could be a sign that you are actually acquiring an expertise in information systems. You might also find that, in reading "across cases," you will synthesize lessons that never occurred to you (or anyone else in our class) during the group and class discussions.

As for all other questions and topics that this course has covered, there is not necessarily a single correct way to respond. When identifying your lessons, do not "shoot from the hip." An important point is for you to justify your answer so that there is evidence that you have examined, processed, learned, and grasped the material in this course. Such evidence can involve the use of material covered in class and material covered in the readings. Originality can contribute to the quality of your answer.

Work on the final paper by yourself. It is not a group project. Do not discuss it with other students. The final paper has the same status as a take-home exam.

Remember that a paper should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Spell checkers are available; use them.

The final paper (hardcopy) is due on Monday, April 28, 1997, at 10:00 A.M.. Please leave it in my mailbox in room 476 of the Bronfman building. Hence, you have over five weeks to prepare the paper; start now. Because many of the remaining case discussions in our class will involve cases that you have already read, the weekly workload for this course (including the time to be spent on the final paper) should not increase substantially.