CASE STUDY Of Blackberry –Strategic Planning for Information Systems
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Added on 2019-09-16
CASE STUDY Of Blackberry –Strategic Planning for Information Systems
Added on 2019-09-16
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CASE STUDY –Strategic Planning for Information SystemsThe case study concerning the use of ‘Blackberry’ mobile devices describes the development of themobile business model of The Kogod School of Business, which is a college located in Washington D.C.This business school serves both undergraduate and graduate students and is said to be one of the topwireless campuses in the US. The case study gives you some indication of the Kogod School ofBusiness’s business processes and applications of mobile technology in an education environment.Students were offered Blackberry 7100t phones and can stream self selected media content, news, joboffers, lecture notes, assignments, project guidelines as well as conventional email and web browsingaccess. New Academic Experience Pioneered with BlackBerry and ContentStreaming Solution – The Kogod School of BusinessExecutive SummarySubject: The Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, D.C.Industry: EducationEnvironment: Lotus® DominoApplications Deployed: Real Simple Streaming (RSS)Situation: A leading business school wanted a way to engage students in a more vibrant educationalexperience and offer valuable information to them beyond traditional email and web communications.Organization Profile: The Kogod School of Business is ranked as one of the top business schools in theUS, and American University is one of the top 10 wireless campuses in the nation. Located inWashington, DC, the school attracts students from more than 60 countries for undergraduate andgraduate programs in business.Solution: Kogod offered a BlackBerry device to every new enrolled student, which is equipped withstreaming technology that pushes self-selected, “spam-free” content to the student about news, jobs,administration and campus life. An initial roll out of 150 devices paved the way for a roll-out of 300devices by the end of 2005.Results: The school plans to ultimately roll-out 600 to 800 devices by 2010 and to offer every studentaccess to wireless and streaming technology. The solution is already improving campus communicationabout events, augmenting classroom teaching by sharing current events, and promises to offer students acompetitive edge in the marketplace.The Kogod School of BusinessThe Kogod School of Business at American University is ahead of the curve when it comes to itscurriculum, real-world approach to learning, and understanding of the role technology plays in business.Ranked as one of the top 10 wireless campuses in the US, the school had already proven its visionarystatus by supporting the value of mobile technology on its campus. In 2005, it made the next leap forwardby becoming the first business school in the world to provide BlackBerry devices to 300 graduatebusiness students and faculty. “First and foremost, we are in an academic business – the business of sharing, distributingand creating knowledge,” says Bill DeLone, Acting Dean. “Our community includes studentsanywhere in the world. Anything that enhances our ability to move information amongst ourstakeholders is very important to us.”Their goal was to extend the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution™ beyond email to engage studentsthroughout their academic experience. They chose Real Simple Streaming (RSS) as a way to push outstudent-selected web content to BlackBerry® devices, including coursework, admissions, job listings andnews media. With a pilot project complete and the full roll out now underway, the school is making apowerful statement about the ways wireless technology can be used to change and enhance theeducational experience. Some of the benefits they expect include:•Attracting new students with leading edge technology;
•Engaging students to build a sense of community;•Giving students a competitive edge by using real-world technology;•Sharing and publicizing campus news and events to create a more vibrant student experience;•Providing an interactive learning environment where current events areintegrated into the classroom;•Linking students with recruiters to promote career building.Engaging students in a meaningful way was the initial goal of the wireless strategy at Kogod School ofBusiness. With students based around the world, the school wanted a way to endear their student body tothe university before they arrived on campus. They decided to offer a BlackBerry to every admittedstudent who accepted and gave their deposit.The Connected Campus: Business Goals EvolveBut something happened as they moved further into their wireless strategy – a marketing plan turned intoa way of revolutionizing the educational experience. Building on the advantages of being a leadingwireless campus, the school’s leaders saw an opportunity to give students an edge in their studies and asfuture business leaders. The idea inspired the Kogod Edge, a program designed to use innovativetechnology to enrich the academic process. “We’re looking at the use of wireless technology to give us,and our students an edge in terms of their preparation for professional business careers,” says DeLone.They realized that students needed to see administrative content such as the school’s calendar andschedules. That notification of events, social gatherings and speakers was key to a student’s life oncampus. That a teacher’s ability to focus on real-world scenarios could improve by the ability to share aheadline from the day’s media.“Email is a big concern,” says Bob Ranson, Kogod Technology Consultant. “We all know how much email we get, and spam filters are preventing a lot of information from getting through. As well, not every student is going to pull out a laptop to see if there is any breaking news. So we started to think about what we could do, as a technology leader, to bridge this – and we looked atthe national media and how they were using streaming media.”RSS technology on BlackBerry devices became the basis of their plan to push valuable content out tostudents according to user preferences. RSS is based on a traditional web model for viewing content, butcombined with BlackBerry, it becomes a way to push syndicated, spam-free content according to theuser’s specifications. Many news organizations, such as the Washington Post, use this on-demandapproach to send content to its subscribers.On-Demand Content Improves Communications and Builds CommunityThe school is currently linking up several streams of content, such as RSS readers for admissions andcalendar updates; graduate streams that include career feeds from the nation’s top job sites; andnewsreaders for publications such as the Washington Post and New York Times. One of the first thingsthat changed was the ability to communicate current updates to schedules and learning opportunities in astudent’s day. Previously, if there was an event or a speaker of interest, the school sent emails or putnotices on the plasma screen televisions located throughout the School.“That required them to be in the building or have access to a laptop to get the information,”says DeLone. “With BlackBerry devices, they can check when events start, and haveinformation sent to them from various departments or clubs and organizations so they arealways in-the-loop.”When the BlackBerry devices were piloted with a selected group of first-year students, the universitygained valuable feedback on the ease of using the device and the kind of content the students wanted tosee.“They gave us the idea of the student calendar or making our graduate business association –which was basically the information on the web site –available through a stream,” says
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