Extracts from other Reflective Learning Journals

e-Business Systems My Learning Reflections Through our class discussions and group activities, including the great buzz sessions, my classmates have been great teachers in helping me with my learning (ie, peer learning). One of things that was most important from my perspective was understanding the value of e-Business relationships and way in which information systems can be integrated in the online environment. Turban et al (2008) Table 5.1 provided some interesting models from which to understand the concepts and principles, and I believe my own online experiences in terms of Internet service and goods purchases work to reinforce my understanding of the artefacts that make up such systems. That said, I really felt I understood the e-Business strategy concept best when I read an article from the Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (Pagiavlas, 2005). The article discussed the use of mobile commerce strategies in the US Airline industry and gave me a better and deeper appreciation of how strategy tools could be used to create a sustainable competitive advantage and implement an effective eBusiness business model. It opened my eyes to the idea that e-Business has a unique and operationally defined segment in all business and corporate entities. This is something that I will be using in my work in the future no doubt. IT Support for the Organization My Learning Reflections In the class we looked at the Mintzberg (1983) model of organizations and while I happily compared it with the higher level Turban et al (2008) model of IS support of people in the organization (Figure 2.7), I think both models have a place in the theory. Neither is more right or more wrong than the other. They are just different and tell me different things about similar (yet non-identical) concepts. I think the Mintzberg (1983) model is more about the people and where they fit into the organization, while the Turban et al (2008) model is about people and IS/IT and the various relationships that exist in the technical and business domains as a consequence of forming and implementing corporate business units and organizational structures. I have actually gone on to read more of the work of Mintzberg (1994) and have come up with my own taxonomy of organizational structures (see Figure 1). Mobile, Wireless and Pervasive Computing My Learning Reflections When we discussed the Sydney Motorways e-Tag concept, I found myself thinking that this type of thing could happen anywhere in the world. In Turban et al (2008), the IT at Work 6.2 case (p231), gave me some further insights into a similar project in the California region of the United States. The Highway 91 project saves commuters between 40 and 90 minutes each day in transit time. The e-Tag solution does not really provide those efficiencies. I asked myself: Why? It got me thinking that maybe this whole transit mobile system design/efficiency issue is really dependent on where you live or possibly how fast you travel on a daily run. If you live a greater distance away, not having to sit in a series of toll booth queues for 15 minutes at each stop may save time. Comparatively, living closer to your intended destination may mean less

toll booths and hence a lower relative efficiency gain. I suspect that it is all a matter of perspective. References Mintzberg, H (1983). Structure in Fives, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. Mintzberg, H (1994), The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning: Reconceiving the Roles for Planning, Plans, Planners, Free Press, New York. Pagiavlas, N, Marburger, P, Stratmann, M and Young, S, (2005). Mobile business comprehensive marketing strategies or merely IT expenses? A case study of the US Airline Industry, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 6, 3, pp 251-261. Turban, E, Leidner, D, McLean, E, and Wetherbe, J. (2008) IT for Management 6th Edition. John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey.