Category: Managing IT

Engaging globally in a flat world

Information Systems Professor Ajay Vinze has traveled the world as a Fulbright senior specialist since 2008, and now he is continuing his journey on behalf of ASU and the W. P. Carey School. Vinzé was appointed associate dean for international programs in 2012 and recently added associate vice provost of graduate education to his title. “Both my roles entail expanding our international footprint,” Vinzé explained. The initiative will help us, in collaboration with institutions in other countries, build a global education infrastructure, and promote a rich experience for both domestic and international students at ASU.

New faculty infuse department with big data expertise

Seven new faculty members, each with experience in business analytics, joined the W. P. Carey School’s Department of Information Systems this semester, adding depth to an already strong faculty lineup in the emerging field. “All of our new hires are attuned to the latest developments in this area,” said Department Chairman Michael Goul. “We have been able to get a real infusion of exactly what we need.”

Transforming service delivery in higher education and healthcare

Professor Raghu Santanam has focused much of his research on healthcare IT and consumer information systems. This past year he took that expertise to the Mayo Clinic’s Center for the Science of Healthcare Delivery, where he conducted studies on ways to use technology to share and gather health-related information. In this commentary, he addresses higher education as well as the healthcare industry to ask how these institutions can leverage innovations that are changing the way other professional industries deliver services.

Not just impulse: Mobile promotions work longer than expected

Marketers are starting to harness location-based mobile technology to send text messages to customers who are nearby their clients’ businesses. These promos are usually designed to spur impulse buys, but businesses that use the one-day coupon could be missing out. Information Systems Professor Bin Gu has found that location-based mobile promotions work the day smartphone users receive them, the next day, and for several days thereafter.

Cloudy IT forecast means change ahead

There’s a cloudy forecast ahead for corporate IT shops, and it’s getting cloudier fast. Analysts at Gartner predict that Infrastructure-as-a-Service, or cloud-based computing, will reach a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent through 2016. As enterprises adopt cloud computing models, they’ll need to make other changes, too, say researchers at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

Leave your comfort zone, get more from EPM

Companies have invested heavily in information technology known as Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) systems, which generate everything from basic budget and financial statements to complex forecasts of how to best meet consumer demand. But too few firms are using the systems to their full potential, according to Professor Robert St. Louis and doctoral student Jeremy Glassman.