Office Hours: Fulton Hall, 350A Office Hours: Mondays 10:30am -11:30am, Saturday after class, and by appointment
(and e-mail)
Phone: 617 552-4031 Fax: 617 552-0433
e-mail: cronin@bc.edu
Course Overview
The
global upsurge in wireless use by consumers and organizations is influencing
how companies open new markets, communicate with their customers, and interact
with each other. Mobility of voice and data is transforming the way all
of us live and work. This course
analyzes the competitive and strategic trends in wireless and considers mobile
business opportunities from a management perspective. After an introduction to the history of
wireless and the shifting competitive landscape for traditional cellular
networks, infrastructure and industry leaders, we will discuss the impact of
wireless enterprise applications and mobilized workforce, the rise of
unregulated wireless connectivity from Bluetooth to WiFi,
WIMAX and Zigbee, and the latest developments in
mobile commerce, wireless marketing, and consumer applications. The all-day Saturday schedule will provide a
context for in-depth teaching and learning about innovative wireless and mobile
technologies and developments in specific companies and key industry verticals
via readings and case studies, research and discussion, small group in-class
interactions and guest speakers.
The readings for this course and
specific class assignments will be linked to the 834 Spring
2008 course web site or available from the Boston College Libraries online
databases. Students will prepare for each class meeting through
weekly readings and assigned projects.
There is no printed textbook
Assignments and Due Dates
Individual written papers and in-class small group work will focus on analyzing the strategies and competitive position of four companies who are courting both enterprise and consumer customers– Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Research in Motion (RIM). More details on the specific paper topics and assignments will be provided in class.
There will be one small group project, a team analysis of the impact of wireless and mobile business on a specific industry. Teams and industry assignments will be established on March 15. At the final class meeting on April 26, the teams will present and discuss their industry findings and submit a 5 page written executive summary of the group analysis along with the presentation materials. More details on this assignment will be provided in class.
The final individual project will be a research paper on a student-selected mobile business topic. This 12 page paper is due at the end of the spring semester (on or before May 9, 2008).
Course Evaluation
Criteria
Assignments and
participation will be weighted as follows in assigning a final grade for the
course:
20%--Participation
20%--Assigned papers
and related in-class
work
30%--Group
project-presentation and written summary
30%--Final research
paper
Students must attend and be active
contributors to all class meetings to obtain a passing grade in this
course.
Class Topics and Readings By Week