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RMIT UNIVERSITY
School of Business IT and Logistics
EXAM
ISYS2394 Examination:
Globalization and Business IT
Semester 2, 2014
All students have from 5pm on 17 October –
midnight 24 October 2014 to complete the exam.
Late submissions will not be accepted.
Instructions
• Students must answer 3 (three) questions only
• Each answer must not exceed 1500 words (not including references)
• Please include your student number and name on the RMIT cover page and on every
page. Underline your family name.
• Please list the actual question number you are answering as part of your final
submission
• All pages must be numbered eg 1/16 or 1 of 16 Page 2 of 4
• One attachment only. Please ensure that your answers are submitted as one file
only, with a signed assignment cover sheet and the Turnitin percentage result (all
as ONE file, multiple files will not be accepted).
• Submit as a word document or PDF
• Please save your submission with your student number and ISYS2394. For example,
s1234567_ISYS2394.doc.
• Keep a digital copy until final results have been confirmed by RMIT University
• All answers must be typed.
• Please upload a copy of your answers to Turnitin before the due date. Details are on
blackboard. Please keep in mind that the report can take up to 24 hours to collate.
• Please use paragraphs when writing. Large slabs of text will not be accepted.
• Do not use personal pronouns for any of your answers.
• Each answer must include all references used. You must use the Harvard system of
referencing (which is what we have used all semester). Please refer to the
referencing website on the learning hub. Your referencing in text must match your
reference list. You must have a separate reference list for each question.
• Minimum of 10 references per question expected.
• Do not email anyone else at RMIT University about your exam. You can only ask
technical questions such as ‘I cannot open the file’ and these will need to be directed
to Dr Konard Peszynski
• Once you have completed the exam, you will need to send your one file (named as
above) including Exam questions, signed coversheet, Turnitin percentage result, via
email to paul.cerotti@rmit.edu.au with the subject line ISYS2394 EXAM. This must
be done in addition to uploading your exam to Turinitin.
• Do not include any message in your email such as ‘I did my best’, ‘please pass me’.
This is inappropriate at any time in correspondence regarding an exam.
• Copies of your exams are kept on file for six months, should you wish to view your
completed exam. You will need to email paul.cerotti@rmit.edu.au for an
appointment.
• Failure to observe these instructions will result in loss of marks or failure. Page 3 of 4
Exam Questions
1. Globalization
Imagination is more important than knowledge (Albert Einstein)
We need to think more seriously than ever about how we encourage people to focus on
productive outcomes that advance and unite civilization-peaceful imaginations that seek to
“minimize alienation and celebrate interdependence rather than self sufficiency, inclusion
rather than exclusion,” openness, opportunity, and hope rather than limitation, suspicion,
and grievance.
Discuss how a global business could harness these ideas to create a better world for all
countries especially the countries that do not benefit from globalization.
2. Excellence
The platform for Peters and Waterman onto which the In Search Of Excellence research and
theorising was built, was the McKinsey 7-S model:
• Strategy
• Structure
• Systems
• Style of management
• Skills - corporate strengths
• Staff
• Shared values
Discuss the 7-S model in relation to a company of your choice. The company can be from
anywhere in the world. In your answer you will need to discuss the seven steps to success
and how organisations achieve success in today’s market place
3. Security
Do you consider hacktivism to be civil disobedience or a cyber crime? Justify your answer
with evidence.
4. The world is flat
Stanley Fischer, the former deputy managing director of the IMF, once remarked to me.
“One good example is worth a thousand theories.” I believe that is true. Indeed, people do
not change only when they must: They also change when they see that others-like
themselves-have changed and flourished. Discuss the above quote in relation to the rise of
the middle-class in China and India. Page 4 of 4
5. Counterfeit goods
a. Watch the video clip http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4103157.htm
b. Discuss the impact of counterfeit goods in the context of conducting profitable,
sustainable global business enterprises such as Gucci, Pfizer, Rolex or LVMH.
c. Discuss how counterfeit goods fund terrorism and what can be done to eradicate
this funding.
6. Disruptive innovation – The Internet of things
“Pill-shaped microcameras already traverse the human digestive tract and send back
thousands of images to pinpoint sources of illness. Precision farming equipment with
wireless links to data collected from remote satellites and ground sensors can take into
account crop conditions and adjust the way each individual part of a field is farmed—for
instance, by spreading extra fertilizer on areas that need more nutrients. Billboards in Japan
peer back at passersby, assessing how they fit consumer profiles, and instantly change
displayed messages based on those assessments.” (McKinsey&Company 2010)
Business models based on today’s largely static information architectures face challenges as
new ways of creating value arise. In this context (the Internet of things) choose an industry
and a specific technology and discuss the impact this change will have in the next five years.
Analyse the business value and sustainability.