London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Modules

Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences

 Units111 Information systems evaluation (half unit)

Prerequisite

If taken as part of a BSc Degree, 62 Information systems development and
management. Exclusion
This unit may not be taken with 104 Information systems: evaluation and policy.
Aims and objectives
This unit has three main aims:
? To provide a good understanding of why organisations do (or do not) evaluate
their information systems. This applies in terms of assessing the systems in
advance as investments, after they have been implemented and during their
operation.
?
To provide a critical understanding of the methods used by organisations in
evaluating their information systems, as well as the paradigms underlying
these methods.
? To provide a comprehensive understanding of the difficulties surrounding the
relationship between information systems investment and improved
productivity at both the firm and national levels.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
? Understand both the need for, and the difficulties involved in, evaluating an
organisational information system.
? Understand how these difficulties are magnified when dealing with inter-organisational
information systems.
? Understand the political and organisational influences upon the social process
of evaluation.
? Discuss the merits of different approaches and methods of information
systems evaluation, taking into account the organisational context.
? Understand the macroeconomic position of information systems within
national statistics, including the conceptual and measurement difficulties
inherent within the notion of productivity, especially in the case of economies
moving towards a digital economy.
Syllabus
The syllabus comprises two sections: the first mostly at the firm level and the
second largely at the industry sector and national macroeconomic levels. At the
firm level, evaluation is discussed in terms of investment analysis, the problems of
measurement and tangible and intangible costs and benefits, against a backdrop of

organisational and political pressures. At the national level, measurement and
conceptual problems persist, both in terms of IT inputs and productivity output.
These are discussed with relation to increasing externalities and moves towards a
more digital and weightless economy. As such, the syllabus incorporates elements
from information systems, economics and accounting.
Section 1: Information Systems Evaluation and the Organisation
The importance of evaluation, the role of IS evaluation through the system life
cycle, assessing IS investments, IS evaluation methods and paradigms, IS
evaluation and outsourcing, IS evaluation as infrastructure, quantitative and
qualitative approaches to IS evaluation, organisational and political aspects of
evaluation
Section 2: The IT Productivity Paradox: IS Evaluation at the National Level
Conceptualising and measuring national productivity and IT investment, the
productivity paradox: has it been resolved?, the importance of externalities, a
model for the relationship between IT investment and productivity, information
systems and the new ‘weightless’ economy, implications for metrics.
Essential reading
Willcocks, L.P. and S. Lester Beyond the IT Productivity Paradox. (Chichester:
Wiley, 1999) [ISBN 0471986925].
Major journals:
MIS Quarterly
European Journal of Information Systems
Journal of Information Technology
Communications of the ACM
Assessment
This half unit is assessed by a two hour unseen written examination.
All information in this document is subject to confirmation in the Programme Regulations for
degrees and diplomas in Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences that are
reviewed annually. Notice is also given in the Regulations of any units which are being phased
out and students are advised to check unit availability.