As you probably have noted, this course is organized to focus more on organizational and enterprise level issues than on individual or group behavior. There are other courses in the program that allow you the opportunity to reflect on lower level behavior. It's also important from time to time to take a more global view.

We conclude this course with this module on economic evaluation at the enterprise level and this case specifically discussing the issue of "return on investment" as a potential criterion for evaluating information systems. Basically, a large portion of the generalized "information system" of the organization consists not of anything hard or concrete, but rather of ideas, knowledge, and other kinds of what is often called "intellectual capital". It's only in relatively recent years that intellectual capital has been recognized as a separate kind of asset for an organization, and it's still not well understood by either IT people or financial managers, or, for that matter, managers of any kind. It's amazing how much effort companies will put into systematic maltreatment of their best intellectual assets.

Let's start with this general review of the idea of intellectual capital as such:

Serrat, O. (2011) A primer on intellectual capital. Knowledge Solutions. August. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from http://beta.adb.org/sites/default/files/primer-intellectual-capital.pdf

Here we have two separate discussions of the issue of measuring return on investment. One of them thinks it's a good idea; the other things it's a crummy idea. Obviously, this is a judgment call, but it pays to be aware of the arguments on both sides.

Morissette, D. (2011) Measuring Return on Investment for Technology Initiatives. ExecutiveInsight. 2(1):36. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from http://healthcare-executive-insight.advanceweb.com/Archives/Article-Archives/Measuring-Return-on-Investment-for-Technology-Initiatives.aspx

Griffiths, D. (2011) KM: The ROI myth. K3-Cubed Limited. Retrieved March 3, 2012, from http://theknowledgecore.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/km-the-roi-myth/

When you have had a chance to read the required articles, review information from the Background readings, and conduct your own research, prepare a 3- to 4-page paper on the topic:

•The advantages and problems in assessing return on investment in information technology investment.