Overview
This course will introduce students to a range of disruptive technological developments, including industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (AI), the cloud, Internet of things, big data, open innovation, and blockchain technologies. Students will learn about the business and commercial impacts of these developments and how the formation of appropriate strategies can help businesses transform and respond to the opportunities and challenges associated with the digital economy.
This is an integrative course that requires students to bring their knowledge of different functional areas to bear upon a corporate level issue (digital transformation). The course will encourage collaboration between students and will also require individual effort as each transformation plan will be unique. Students considering business process re-engineering, transformation through change in process, transformation through adoption of digital technology, etc., will find this course of particular interest.
ETDW 603 and EEAI 611
Students may take ETDW 603, EEAI 611, or both of these electives to meet their individual MBA program goals.
ETDW 603 and EEAI 611 offer two distinct but complementary perspectives on AI. ETDW 603 focuses on how organizations can apply AI to transform operations, build competitive advantage, and drive strategic change. It emphasizes disruption, data as an enabler, digital strategy, and organizational transformation, asking students to critically apply concepts to their own contexts. EEAI 611 takes a broader, sector‑wide view of AI’s impacts across business functions such as HR, marketing, banking, information systems, project management, supply chain, and manufacturing. It helps students understand enablers, barriers, ethical considerations, and strategic implications at the organizational level.
Taken together, these courses give students both the high‑level landscape of AI’s influence across industries and the deeper, practice‑oriented understanding of how AI can reshape performance inside their own organizations.
Outline
This course is divided into 10 lessons
- Lesson 1: AI & Competitive Advantage
- Lesson 2: Business Model Innovation
- Lesson 3: The Importance of Data
- Lesson 4: Responding to Disruption
- Lesson 5: The Business Case for Digital Transformation
- Lesson 6: Digital Strategy
- Lesson 7: Driving Digital Transformation
- Lesson 8: Privacy, Security, and Ethics
- Lesson 9: The People
- Lesson 10: Ethical and Human-Centric Perspectives on AI
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to demonstrate the capacity for digital leadership by:
- assessing the organizational impacts of particularly disruptive technologies;
- understanding the entrepreneurial strategies of disruptors and strategic responses from incumbents;
- showing an awareness of digital transformation drivers through informed discussion; and
- assessing the digital potential of an organization.
Evaluation
Your grade will be based on the successful completion of two individual assignments
and on your participation in moderated group discussions.
| Activity | Weight |
| Participation in Discussions | 40% |
| The Executive Briefing Note | 20% |
| The Scaling Proposal | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
To receive a passing grade in this course, you must meet these minimum standards:
- receive a minimum of 60% on the participation component (Discussion application); and
- receive an average grade of 60 % over all course components.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Rogers, D. L. (2016). The digital transformation playbook: Rethink your business for the digital age. New York: Columbia University Press.
Other materials
Additional readings are provided in the course’s Digital Reading Room.