Project Description

This project focuses on building e-government leadership capability within the government and directly linked with the ICT Policy, Leadership and Institutional Development Programme which aims to build an e-leadership capacity amongst senior government officers.  To support this initiative there is also a large scale training programme to equip government staff at all levels.

In conjunction with these programmes, ICTA offers a scholarship programme for government officers for an e-Governance MBA. The new MBA in e-Governance   programme was initiated by the ICTA and conducted in collaboration with the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the University of Moratuwa.

The two year part time programme covers a range of subjects from ICT, Management, and e-government. The course is conducted by the senior faculty of the University of Moratuwa together with a host of local and foreign resource personnel.

The MBA in e-governance programme is aimed at identifying and fulfilling the requirements of the changing role of public sector institutions. The course would prepare the participants for successful planning and implementation of e-government initiatives and would enable the participants to build collaborative networks with software engineers and IT professionals.

Project Objective

The Project objective is to develop the human resource skill levels within Government, thereby ensure the effective delivery of the Re-engineering Government Programme of ‘e-Sri Lanka’ and ensuring sustainability of the Re-engineering Government programme.

 

The Project will contribute to the goals of the ‘e-Sri Lanka’ initiative in general, and to the Re-engineering Government Programme in particular, of improving the focus and delivery of government services to citizens, businesses and to Government agencies.

 

Syllabi of Course Modules

 

CS 5101 - IT Project Management

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of the role of management in IT projects, how to apply project management knowledge, skills, tools and techniques, the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) and application of project management software in managing IT projects.

 

Introduction to project management, context and processes, project integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communication management, risk management, procurement management, project management software and case studies.

 

CS 5102– IT Policy & Planning

Objectives: To provide an understanding of: the importance of IT policy for an organization as well as to a nation; formulating policies; important factors that need to be considered during policy formulation.

 

Importance of IT policy; identify IT policies at firm, industry, national and international level; plan IT projects at firm, industry, national and international level; how to formulate policies: techniques and methodologies; important considerations for policy planning; implementation of policies.

 

CS 5103 - Information System Management

Objectives: To provide an understanding of issues in and techniques for managing hardware, software and human resources in information systems (IS) and the increasing importance of IS as a strategic tool in business.

 

Using IS for strategic advantage; CIO’s role; managing IS staff; legal and ethical issues: philosophical ethics, professional ethics, privacy, property rights, accountability; managing IS infrastructure: planning, performance, reliability, availability, disaster recovery, outsourcing IS functions; knowledge management; case studies.

 

CS 5104– Management Information Systems

Objectives: To provide an understanding of various information flows in an organization and the information needs of managers for decision making; tools and techniques for effective collection, organization, storage, sharing and transferring of information.

Management information system (MIS) development phases – terms of reference (TOR), feasibility study, system analysis, design, implementation, review and maintenance;  data modeling; dataflow diagrams, logical and physical designs; logical database design, entity-relationship (ER) models, relations, normalising relations, normalisations; specialized MIS and decision-support systems; e-business systems; data input and output methods; control, audit and security of MIS.

 

CS 5105 – Information Security

Objectives: To provide an understanding on what is information security, aspects of security, related concepts, access control, Internet security, securing networks and servers; security planning and management; security policies.

 

Introduction to security, implementing system security as primary or secondary aspect and its implications, features of a security system, threats and attacks on security, client and server security, firewalls and secure networks, secure communication protocols, secure data storage; security policies and management of organizational information security.

CS 6107– Research Project (20 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an opportunity to apply a range of ideas and concepts derived from the MBA taught programme to an issue or problem of practical importance, normally in his/her own organisation; thereby both to demonstrate the value of the MBA learning experience within the organisation and to allow the student to understand through active application the meaning and value of what has been learnt.

 

The students will be expected to design, develop and conduct a research project of their choice, which will address management/IT issues of the organization they work for, or an industry project that will be approved by the supervisor and the Course Coordinator. The project will enable the application of theory to practice and will provide a useful outcome for the organization.  Periods for supervision and peer discussion will be timetabled into semesters 5 and 6.  Students will be expected to make brief presentations on their progress at several stages on the way to completion.

The project should be comprehensive with respect to breadth and/or depth in scope and the amount of work done, as judged by the supervisor, the Course Coordinator and the panel of examiners.

CS 5111– Networking & Communication

Objectives: To introduce the basic concepts of computer networking, protocols and standards and show the applications of them in modern business environment and for management.

 

Concepts such as primary/secondary, polling/selection, peer-to-peer type, priority/non priority; layered protocols and OSI model; standards institutions and their communication standards such as IEEE LAN standards, gigabit speed LANs, Wireless LANs; communication protocols used in WANs; client-server computing; LAN operating systems; web servers, mail servers, authentication servers. [This subject is intended only for students who do not have basic background in networking]

 

CS 5112– Internet Technologies

Objectives: To provide an understanding of how the Internet works, related protocols, applications and how it is evolving; how modern businesses can use the Internet for efficiency, cost reduction and better relationship with customers and suppliers.

 

Introduction and history of the Internet; TCP/IP protocol suite and architecture, IP datagram and routing; TCP and UDP, application layer and its protocols such as http, ftp, telnet; structure of Internet protocols, client server protocols, web-based protocols; network technologies, network structure, routing; relevant applications and technologies including Java, HTML and XML; business applications of the Internet; case studies. [This subject is for students who do not have sufficient technical background on the Internet]

 

CS 5113– Visual Programming

Objectives: To provide basic knowledge and skills on computer programming, programming principles and graphical interface design.

 

Variables and data, data types, arithmetic/logical operators, local and global variables; Control flow structures - sequence, selection, repetition; functions, procedures and methods: scoping rules, parameter passing by value and reference, recursion and iteration; single and multidimensional arrays;  pointers: creation and assignment, pointer arithmetic; linked lists, trees and graphs, traversing linked lists and trees; file I/O, access rights and sharing; introduction to object-oriented programming concepts; GUI and event driven programming; IDEs; tools and environments for debugging.

 

CS 5114 – E-Commerce: Principles and Infrastructure

Objectives: To provide an understanding on the concepts and types of e-commerce, effective methods of e-commerce solutions, specifying functional requirements and technical requirements for the e-business.

 

E-commerce principles: concepts and types of e-commerce, methods of e-commerce solutions, create business case for an e-business, functional requirement for the e-business.

E-commerce infrastructure: Specify technical requirement for the e-business, guiding principles behind design and strategy of the customer web interface, management of on-line content, understand the traditional and new communication approaches.

 

CS 5115 - IT Procurement Management

Objectives: To provide an understanding of issues and challenges in IT procurement; techniques and best practices for writing specifications and evaluating proposals.

 

Importance of IT procurement for business; complexities, issues and challenges; changing world of technology; product standards; techniques for writing specifications for IT procurement; industry best practices; buy vs. lease/rent options; evaluating vendor proposals; testing and verification of products and their performance levels; service agreements; regulations for procurement in the public sector; case studies.

CS 5116 – IT & Society

Objectives: To provide an understanding of social issues related to and resulting from widespread use of IT; how IT has affected family, education, entertainment, social order, crime and how it could change the future.

 

Investigation of how IT has changed the fundamentals of everyday life; why modern societies could hardly continue functioning without it; IT as an integral part of business; IT as a personal and household assistant; IT as a medium of communication and entertainment; the social, legal, ethical, moral and personal implications of IT and its potential influence on economy, education, entertainment, communication, law enforcement and family life.

 

MN 5201 - Organisational  Behaviour and Management

Objective(s): To introduce the ‘people’ side of management: to outline the tasks of management and leadership and show how organisations can be constructed and reconstructed in order to get them carried out.

 

The nature of organisational behaviour. Approaches to organisation and management. The organisational setting. The individual: individual differences and the process of perception. Groups and leadership: the nature of groups; group processes and behaviour; the nature of leadership. The context of the organisation: organisational goals and objectives; the contingency approach. Management as an integrating activity: the nature of management; managerial behaviour and effectiveness. Organisational processes: the nature of work motivation; job satisfaction and work performance; the nature of delegation; the nature of organisational control. The personnel function: personnel and employee relations; staffing the organisation. Improving organisational performance: organisation development; management development and organisational effectiveness.

 

MN 5202 - Analysis for Managerial Decision Making

 

Objective(s): To teach how to use business data for decision making and analysis.

To provide operations research (OR) foundation required for modelling and analysis     of management problems.

Introduction to Statistics, Summary of descriptive measures, Statistical sampling theory, Probability, Probability distribution and expected value, The normal distribution, Statistical estimation, Hypothesis testing, Regressions and correlation analysis, Multiple regression and correlation, Time series analysis and forecasting, Index numbers, Inferences using two samples, Chi-square applications, Analysis of variance

 

Mathematical modelling, Linear programming, Network models, Decision making under uncertainty, Multiple criteria decision making, Software for decision analysis.

 

MN 5203 - Communication and Presentation Skills

 

Objective(s): To teach communication and presentation skills which will help the students          perform betters on the rest of the course as well as in managing organization.

To provide the knowledge of how communication works in organizations

Effective communication, communication models and network. Skills of speaking, writing, listening and effective reading, telephoning, interviewing, meetings, letter and report writing. Information search.  Presentations. Visual and non-verbal communication. Technologies in communication.

 

MN 5204 - Negotiation and Teamwork Skills

Objective(s): To provide skills and knowledge for effective negotiation in business.

To provide skills and knowledge for effective teamwork which will help the students perform betters on the rest of the course as well as in management.

Basic techniques of negotiation. How to achieve optimum negotiation power. How to overcome barriers such as anger and rejection, Making negotiation dialogue positive and constructive. Developing listening and intuitive skills for effective negotiation  to achieve business goals.

Forming of teams. Factors for effective teamwork. Practical difficulties and tools for overcome difficulties. Team leadership, Team motivation. Conflict resolution of teams. Virtual team working

 

MN 5205 - Economics for Business

Objective(s): To introduce the economic concepts and techniques of analysis which are most useful for understanding the internal operations of business, its choice of competitive and cooperative strategies and tactics, and its industrial, national and international environment.

 

Micro-economics: Costs. Basic concepts of cost from the economist's point of view: opportunity cost; marginal and average (unit) cost.  Short run and long run costs. Economies of scale and their origins. Internal and external economies of scale.  Economies of scope/synergies.  The learning/experience curve.  Private and social cost.

Microeconomics: Demand. The demand side: price and income elasticities of demand. Elasticities of demand for the firm and for the industry.

Microeconomics at industry level. Types of competition: atomistic, oligopolistic. Monopoly and monopsony power.  Differentiated oligopoly. Predatory pricing and dumping. Porter’s five forces analysis.

 

Macro-economics: basic Keynesian analysis. The components and determinants of aggregate demand.

 

Macro-economics: money and interest rates. Money: meaning, demand and supply, interest rates.

International macroeconomics. The balance of payments: current and capital accounts. Exchange rate changes: causes and effects. Fixed and flexible rates.  Economic integration at international and regional level: free trade areas.

 

 

 

MN 5206 – Marketing Management

Objective(s): To provide the knowledge to apply marketing theory and concepts to what    marketers do   in "the real world" and to use marketing concepts to make business decisions.

To improve familiarity with current challenges and issues in marketing.

 

The roles of sales, marketing and service. General marketing, marketing of industrial and consumer products, similarities and differences; new product development and the role of the marketing function; the importance of cooperation among functions (production, marketing, development).

New opportunities for customer-focused strategies. Focusing on the customer: from selling standard hardware to offering customised solutions to customer problems; the role of the Internet. How information technology and the Internet is changing structures, relationships and possibilities inside and between firms.

 

MN 5207 - Accounting and Financial Management

Objective(s): To introduce the basic tools of financial and management accounting and financial management.

Financial accounting: Measuring and reporting financial position and performance; accounting for limited companies; measuring and reporting cash flows; analysing financial statements; expanding the annual financial report.

Cost and management accounting: Relevant costs; cost-volume-profit analysis; full costing; costing and pricing in a competitive environment; budgeting; accounting for control.

Financial management: Capital investment decisions; sources of finance and financial markets; the management of working capital.

 

MN 5208 - Strategic Management

Objective(s): To provide learning opportunities for participants to be familiar with strategic management concepts and frameworks being pervasive in the literature, to be confident in evaluating the existing frameworks in the light of knowledge about the emerging trends in the business contexts and to be competent in analyzing business cases related to strategy issues and debates.

 

Nature, scope, concepts and process of Strategic Management. Conceptual Framework for Strategic Management. External environmental analysis. Internal environmental analysis. SWOT analysis. Strategic direction component – rationale, vision, mission, goals and objectives. Strategy formulation – Corporate and functional. Strategy analysis and choice. Competitive Advantage. Strategy implementation – organizational structure, Leadership and culture. Strategy and management control. Strategic business plan and corporate plan. Measuring strategic performance, evaluation and control. Management change and innovation. Strategic issues in managing technology and innovation.

 

 

MN 5214 - Human Resource Management

Objective(s): To appreciate the role of HRM in an organization and it’s various facets.

To study and critically evaluate HRM practices in organization.

To develop the practice HRM functions in a professional manner.

Meanings and models: Concepts of personnel management and HRM, Definition of human resource management (HRM) and relationship between the  work of specialist HR staff and line managers in an organization, Alternative models of HRM. Human resources planning (HRP): HRP process, Link with organizational strategic planning and career path planning, Key HR performance indicators. Job Analysis and Job design: Purpose of job analysis and its links with other HR functions such as training, performance management and rewards. Job analysis techniques, Different approaches to job design including, scientific management, job enrichment and the quality of working life movement. Design and conduct a job analysis. Recruitment & Selection: Define recruitment. Appraisal recruitment methods such as, newspaper advertising, on-line recruiting and employment agencies, Design of a recruitment strategy, Selection process, Appraisal of selection methods such as, psychological testing, reference checks and performance tests, Benefits and limitations of selection interviews, Design and conduct of an effective selection interview. Training & Development: Differentiation between 'training', 'development' and 'education'. Training process, Training needs analysis, Characteristics of different training techniques, Evaluation of the impact of training on individual, group and organizational performance. Managing Performance: Importance of effective performance management, performance appraisal methods, Inhibitors of effective performance appraisal, conducting an effective appraisal interview. Reward Management: Components of a remuneration management system including salary structures, Salary packaging, benefits and incentive schemes. HR Regulatory Framework: Laws dealing with HR, Procedures in the HR functions to ensure compliance, Discuss the circumstances and relevant law where an employer may dismiss an employee, HR audit. Human Resource Information Systems: Key features of HRIS, Primary information sources used in HRIS, Organizational benefits and applications of HRIS. Managing Labour Relations: General approaches to managing labour relations, A Model of labour relations, Labour relations policy approaches, Methods for resolving grievances.

 

MN 5215 - Supply Chain Management

 

Objective(s): To explore the key issues associated with the design and management of industrial supply chains, which are concerned with efficient interaction with suppliers, plant, warehouse and stores so that products are distributed to the customer in the right quantity and right time.

 

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, Logistics Network Configuration, Inventory Management & Risk Pooling, The Value of Information, Supply Chain Integration, Strategic Alliances, Procurement and Outsourcing Strategies, International Issues in Supply Chain Management,  Coordinated Product and Supply Chain Design, Customer Value and Supply Chain Management, Decision-Support Systems for Supply Chain Management.

 

 

MN 5218 - Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation

Objective(s):  To show how newly-developed (or adapted) technology can be exploited commercially in a new firm, particularly in relation to developments in universities and research institutes.

The creation of new technology-based firms. Profile of a technical entrepreneur. Academe and established firms as sources of techno-entrepreneurship. Sources and types of funding for the stages of NT-BFs.  Venture capital, formal and informal: the business angel.  Framing, researching and writing a business plan. The stages of management development in the new technology-based business. The law on intellectual property: patents and copyrights. Applying for patents, and exploiting them.

 

MN 6201 - Skills for Research Project (only for MBA)

Objective(s): To provide students with the skills they need for the successful conduct of their final research project.

Preparation of research proposal. Research methodologies: primary and secondary data collection. Structured and semi-structured interviews. The design and use of questionnaires. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Literature search and review. Writing up: structure and style of dissertations.

 

 

EG 5301 – eGovernment Concepts (3 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of eGovernment concepts and issues from the perspectives of public policy, public administration, and public management.

 

An introduction to concepts in the management and implementation of information systems in the public sector. The topics covered include the management of strategy and projects, data security, quality assurance, policies, political challenges and ethical challenges. Addresses implementation of eGovernment information systems including aspects such as feasibility studies, system analysis, system design, and construction with international case studies.

 

EG 5302 – e-Development: The e-Sri Lanka Case Study (1.5 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of e-development through the analysis of the e-Sri Lanka program vision and design.

 

A discussion of the practical constraints and issues faced by developing countries in the effective use of ICT for development. The e-Sri Lanka program is studied as an example of how developing nations can design e-development strategies to join the global information society and knowledge economy by focusing on holistic, cross-sectoral development-driven approaches to ICT use.

 

EG 5304 – Interoperability and Integration in eGovernment – National Enterprise Architecture  (3 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of the management, administrative and technical aspects necessary for interoperability and integration in eGovernment.

 

This course will introduce technologies, management & administrative techniques and tools needed to achieve application interoperability and cooperation in the Public Administration and eGovernment. The course will cover all the aspects necessary to achieve interoperability, including open standards, cooperation infrastructures and infrastructural services, domains of responsibility and domain gateways, service agreements and monitoring, distributed identity and access management. The technical & technology components of this course will focus on service oriented architectures and web services as an approach to achieve interoperability among distributed, heterogeneous applications. Examples taken from e-Government application domains will be used to illustrate the technical concepts introduced in the course.

 

EG 5305 – Legal Frameworks for eGovernance (1.5 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of the laws that are necessary to create a legal framework that enables effective & efficient eGovernance.

 

This course introduces the appropriate legal frameworks that need to exist in a country to enable eGovernment. A comparative analysis of existing enabling legal frameworks in many countries will be discussed including an evaluation of the most appropriate policy options for eGovernment implementation. The evolution of the Sri Lanka legal framework, with specific references to the e-transactions act, the computer crimes act, as well as the IP act will be discussed as a case study.

EG 5306 – Service Management (3 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an understanding of effective management of service operations and marketing related activities  from a customer perspective as well as from a government service organization perspective.

 

This course will present complex strategic and marketing  issues in service operations and discuss operating strategies to address those issues. The students will be introduced to many service concepts including, globalization of services, service strategy, prioritization of services, technology and its impact on services and their management, design and development of services and service delivery systems, human resource development for services, work measurement in services, locating facilities and designing their layout, service quality and continuous improvement, service productivity and measurement of performance and management of public service organizations.

 

EG 5307 – Public Management (3 credits)

 

Objectives: To develop the knowledge and skill required for rational discourse and intelligent action concerning organizational achievement in the core public sector and for proper management of public sector finances. The broad concepts of economics related public sector management concepts will be discussed. .

 

The course introduces a theoretical framework for understanding and pursuing organizational achievement in the core public sector. Specific topics examined are: economics, finance,  the process of decision-making in organizations; practices of problem-finding and –solving; theory and argument in organizational design; organizational learning and capacity building; organization-wide risk management; and public policy-making. Case studies will be used to learn how to analyse and extrapolate from direct and second-hand organizational experience and to develop reflective skill in intervening effectively in managerial situations. The reform trajectories of countries are compared, and key differences of approach discussed, covering 'New Public Management' (NPM) and the 'non-NPM' or 'reluctant NPM' countries.

EG 5308 –Economics for Public Policy (3 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide an economics background suitable for high-level public policy-making with an emphasis on models & methods suitable for appraising policy-making issues and applicable in a wide variety of contexts.

 

The micro economic topics that will be covered include, the notion of supply & demand, consumers' optimization, the demand for goods and the supply of labour, the supply of goods and the demand for labour, the evaluation of policy programs, incentive contracts & productivity, patents, exchange & markets, price determination, inequality & poverty, social welfare, models of government decision making, governments and income distribution.

 

The macro economic topics that will be covered include, the role of the Central Bank, growth and poverty, institutions and economic performance, regulation and economic performance, human capital and growth, productivity and innovation, unemployment, openness and economic performance, economic fluctuations and stabilization & reform.

EG 5309 – Concepts in Media & Communication (1.5 credits)

 

Objectives: To introduce key theoretical and conceptual issues in the field of media and communications, with an interdisciplinary social science perspective..

 

This course provides a broad introduction to theories and concepts in the field of media and communication and reviews interactive technologies and their impact from a cultural and social context. The course also aims to develop an understanding of the relationships between media and power at the levels of institutions, culture and social processes.

EG 5310 – Technologies & Technical Concepts in eGovernance (1.5 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide a broad overview of technical concepts and technologies that are relevant in information systems for eGovernance.

 

The topics covered in this course include, Unicode & ICT in local languages, issues in transliteration & natural language translation, font development, standards, enterprise architecture frameworks, mobile computing, geographic information systems (GIS), usability & aesthetics in interface design, accessibility standards & technologies, social computing, assistive technologies, biometrics, records management, service oriented architecture, web services, semantic web technologies, enterprise service bus technology, IPV6 and next generation infrastructure, Web 2.0 concepts and information & services portals.

EG 5311 – Special Topics in eGovernance & ICT4D (1.5 credits)

 

Objectives: To provide a broad overview of special topics that are relevant and related to eGovernance and ICT for development.

 

The topics covered in this course include, monitoring and evaluation of eGovernment projects, IT workforce ,IT clusters & technology parks as incubators of innovation,  concepts in bridging the digital divide, working with donors, models of public-private partnerships (PPP), application scenarios for G2G, G2B and G2C, emergence of new e-sectors such as e-Health, e-Water & e-Tourism, ICT for democracy & development (e-Municipality, e-Democracy, e-Voting), transparency & right to information, proprietary vs. open source software, e-literacy and illiteracy.