BU.350.620.XX – Information Systems – Instructor– Page 1 of 8

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Information Systems

2 Credits
350.620.XX
[NOTE: Each section must have a separate syllabus.]
[DayTime / ex: Monday, 6pm-9pm]
[StartEnd Dates / ex: 3/24/15-5/12/15]
[Semester / ex: Fall 2016]
[Location / ex: Washington, DC]

Instructor

[Full Name]

Contact Information

[Email Address]

[Phone Number, (###) ###-#### (Optional)]

Office Hours

[Please specify the day and time of the 2 hours that will be dedicated to office hours each week. For evening classes, faculty may wish to hold their office hours by phone or email. While faculty are permitted to state “and by appointment,” office hours should not be held exclusively by appointment.]

Required Text(s)

There is no required textbook, but there are multiple required readings. You will need to obtain a Harvard Business School Publishing coursepack (for the cases and book chapters) and will be provided information on how to order it.

Book Chapters (will be available on the course Blackboard site under eReserve):

  1. Shapiro,C., & Varian, H. (1999). Information rules: A strategic guide to the network economy. Chapter 1: The Information Economy. Boston, MA:Harvard Business Press.
  2. Weill, P., & Ross, J. (2009). IT savvy: What top executives must know to go from pain to gain. Chapter 1: Transforming IT from Strategic Liability to Strategic Asset. Chapter 2: Defining Your Operating Model: Making IT a Strategic Asset. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Cases (obtained by purchasing a Harvard Business School Publishing coursepack):

  1. Airbnb(A): Designing an online digital marketplace (2012), 912019-PDF-ENG
  2. Appirio: New venture on a cloud (2012). Babson College Case, BAB694.
  3. Cirque du Soleil: Information technology at Cirque du Soleil: Looking back, moving forward (2012), HEC Montreal Case Centre, HEC039.

Other Readings:

Required readings also include articles that are listed below according to class session.All required readings are available on the course Blackboard site under eReserve or Course Documents.

Course Description

This course addresses how markets, market mechanisms, and channels of product and service delivery are impacted and often transformed by information and communication technologies. Students will learn how technology, brought together with people and processes into systems, contributes to leveraging the creation of business value. The course considers different elements of the information architecture of the corporation and its impact on the nature of the work and the structure of the corporation.

Prerequisite(s)

None

Course Overview

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have had a far-reaching impact on individuals, organizations, and markets. This course will address these impacts. We will examine how organizations have leveraged ICT for their success, both in providing strategic competitive advantages and also transforming enterprise architectures.

To address the challenge of keeping pace with the relentless progress in ICT, we will emphasize foundational models and frameworks that can serve as valuable reference points in interpreting the evolving landscape of technologies. Information systems diagrams provide a particularly useful structure to link a company’s ICT-delivered products and services with the information infrastructure that makes them possible. We will then see applications of these models as we analyze technologies and how they are used by a wide range of organizations.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Prepare assessments of information technologies for their potential effects on organizations.
  2. Develop recommendations for an organization to use ICT as a strategic asset.
  3. Analyze and interpret ICT architecture diagrams as depictions of organizational infrastructure and functionality.
  4. Develop an approach for an organization to benefit from big data, analytics, mobile technologies, social media, and cloud computing.
  5. Work effectively in a team environment to apply ICT models and frameworks to organizations and industries.

To view the complete list of Carey Business School’s general learning goals and objectives, visit the Carey website.

Attendance
Attendance and participation are part of your course grade. You are expected to attend all scheduled class sessions. If you need to miss a class, please let the instructor know as soon as possible. You are responsible for all information covered in class, both substantive and administrative, for example, by obtaining that information from a classmate. Classes will include opportunities for you to participate in discussions and for your teams to work together. Failure to attend class will result in an inability to achieve the objectives of the course. Absences may result in loss of points for class participation. Full attendance and active participation are required for you to succeed in this course.

Assignments

Submit assignments and presentations in MSOffice format (Word or PowerPoint), unless otherwise approved in advance (in writing). Assignments will be posted on the ‘Assignments’ section of our Blackboard site.Submit each assignment via Blackboard by the starting time of the class when it is due using the following identifying file-naming convention: lastname-assignment, where assignment is Blog #1, etc.

Assignment / Learning Objectives / Weight
Class Participation / 1–5 / 10%
Individual Assignments, Technology Blogs, & Case Analyses / 1–4 / 30%
Individual Exam / 1–4 / 30%
Team Project & Presentation / 1–5 / 30%
Total / 100%

Class Participation (Rubric: Class Participation)

This course will be delivered with in-class sessions, supplemented by the Internet technology provided by Blackboard. While a portion of the course will involve classroom lecture, the class is run in an interactive style, with classroom discussion on course material, cases, and current events related to the subject. Specific textbook and outside readings will provide the foundation for discussions. Consequently, extensive class participation is required.

Individual Assignments, Technology Blogs, & Case Analyses

Individual assignments will provide opportunities for you to demonstrate an understanding of the course material and apply it to new situations.Assignments may include answering specific questions, case analyses, article critiques, research reports, etc. (Rubric: Written Reports)

For technology blogs, you will identify leading-edge technologies and blog about them. Your blog will identify technologies and analyze their potential impacts—for example, on society, on organizations, or on an industry vertical such as healthcare delivery, financial services, etc. (Rubric: Assessment of Blogs)

Case analyses will provide opportunities to apply course learning to the circumstances of a case study and make recommendations. (Rubric: Case Study)

Note to Instructor: One of the case analyses is an accreditation assignment for AACSB Assurance of Learning.

Individual Exam (Rubric: Written Reports)

This will provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate an understanding of the course material by applying what you have learned to questions raised in the examinations.

Note to Instructor: Selected questions in this exam are used for AACSB Assurance of Learning.

Team Project & Presentation (Rubrics: Written Reports and Oral Presentations)

You will work in teamson identifying a business/industry issue: an opportunity, challenge, practice, process, or problem that can be reformulated, redesigned, or improved using advances in ICT and drawing upon the technological and business frameworks and concepts learned in this course. More guidance and details of the assignment will be provided in class.Your team may also be given other assignments on which to develop solutions and submit them as a team.

Grading

Effective Fall 2017: The grade of A is reserved for those who demonstrate extraordinarily excellent performance as determined by the instructor. The grade of A- is awarded only for excellent performance. The grades of B+, B, and B- are awarded for good performance. The grades of C+, C, and C- are awarded for adequate but substandard performance.The grades of D+, D, and D- are not awarded at the graduate level (undergraduate only). The grade of F indicates the student’s failure to satisfactorily complete the course work.

Please note that for Core and Foundation courses, a maximum of 25% of students may be awarded an A or A-; the grade point average of the class should not exceed 3.3. For Elective courses, a maximum of 35% of students may be awarded an A or A-; the grade point average of the class should not exceed 3.4. (For classes with 15 students or fewer, the class GPA cap is waived.)

Course Outline

Session 1: Information, IT, and the Network Economy

With all of the advances in IT (or the more globally accepted ICT, information and communications technology), there remain principles of economics and markets that not only aren’t going away but are highly relevant and need to be re-examined in light of our modern business environment. We want to understand the relationships and dynamics of information and IT in the networked markets of today.

Readings:

  1. Shapiro,C., & Varian, H. (1999). Information rules: A strategic guide to the network economy. Chapter 1: The Information Economy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
  2. Davenport, T.,Snabe, J. (2011, Spring). How fast and flexible do you want your information, really? MIT Sloan Management Review,52(3), 57–62.

Session 2: Models and Frameworks of Information Systems

This session explores information systems and technologies, and their many roles in organizations.We place an emphasis on frameworks that have staying power for depicting and tracking IT trends, technological maturity, and IT markets.

Readings:

  1. McAfee, A. (2006, November). Mastering the three worlds of information technology. Harvard Business Review, 1–10.
  2. Weill, P., & Ross, J. (2009). IT savvy: What top executives must know to go from pain to gain.Chapter 1: Transforming IT from Strategic Liability to Strategic Asset. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Session 3: IT as a Strategic Asset for an Organization

We will study the paths of IT-savvy firms that have turned ICT from a liability and often out-of-control cost center into a strategic asset that provides competitive advantage.

Readings:

  1. McAfee, A.,Brynjolfsson, E. (2008, July–August). Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference. Harvard Business Review, 99–107.
  2. Weill, P., & Ross, J. (2009). IT savvy: What top executives must know to go from pain to gain.Chapter 2: Defining Your Operating Model: Making IT a Strategic Asset. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Session 4: Social Technologies in your Digital Business Model

With social media so much a part of our everyday personal lives, why hasn’t it had a corresponding impact when it is brought inside an organization?The session addresses how firms optimize their digital business model, including their use of social technologies.

Readings:

  1. Huy, Q.,Shipilov, A. (2012, Fall). The key to social media success within organizations. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(1), 73–81.
  2. Weill, P., & Woerner, S. (2015, Summer). Thriving in an increasingly digital ecosystem. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(4), 27–34.

Session 5: Big Data, Analytics, and Cloud Strategy

This session will investigate the state of big data, analytics, and cloud computing—why they are more than IT issues and need to be at the forefront of your company’s strategy.We will discuss the Appirio case study.

Readings:

  1. Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. (2014, November). Digital ubiquity.Harvard Business Review, 90–99.
  2. Iyer, B.,Henderson, J. (2010). Preparing for the future: Understanding the seven capabilities of cloud computing. MIS Quarterly Executive, 9(2), 117–131.
  3. McAfee, A.,Brynjolfsson, E. (2012, October). Big data: The management revolution. Harvard Business Review, 61–68.
  4. Morey, T., Forbath, T., & Schoop, A. (2015, May). Customer data: Designing for transparency and trust.Harvard Business Review, 96–105.

Session 6: Organizational Readiness for IT

What can be expected with future IT advances and their effects for organizations? What is the organizational readiness to take on the introduction of new IT?

Readings:

  1. Iveroth, E. (2010). Inside Ericsson: A framework for the practice of leading global IT-enabled change. California Management Review,53(1), 136–153.
  2. Nolan, R., & McFarlan, W. (2005, October). Information technology and the board of directors. Harvard Business Review, 96–106.
  3. Young, M., & Jude, M. (2008). Module 3 - Organizational Readiness.iExec Enterprise Essentials Companion Guide. Indianapolis, IN:Cisco Press/Pearson Education. (Available at no cost through JHU Library, Safari Books Online.)

Session 7: IT, Organizations, and Society

This session will take a broad look at IT and its impact on organizations and society, including current models of human–technology interaction and how it may change in the future. We will discuss the Airbnb case study.

Readings:

  1. Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2012, Winter). Winning the race with ever-smarter machines. MIT Sloan Management Review,53(2), 53–60.
  2. Davenport, T., & Kirby, J. (2015, June). Beyond automation.Harvard Business Review, 58–65.

Session 8:Exam and Team Project Briefings

The first part of class will be an exam.In the remainder of the class, we will use team project briefings in this session as they highlight key themes of the course.

Tentative Course Calendar
The instructors reserve the right to alter course content and/or adjust the pace to accommodate class progress. Students are responsible for keeping up with all adjustments to the course calendar.

NOTE: See elsewhere in this syllabus for content descriptions and readings for each session

Week / Content / Major Milestones
1 / Information, IT, and the Network Economy
2 / Models and Frameworks of Information Systems
3 / IT as a Strategic Asset for an Organization
4 / Social Technologies in your Digital Business Model
5 / Big Data, Analytics, and Cloud Strategy / Appirio Case
6 / Organizational Readiness for IT
7 / IT, Organizations, and Society / Airbnb Case
8 / Exam and Team Project Presentations / Exam
Team Project Presentations

Optional Readings Resources

General References on Information Systems:

The books below are available at no cost via Safari Books Online in the JHU library and may be helpful to provide details of hardware, software, data, networks, and processes that comprise information systems:

  • Piccoli, G. (2012). Essentials of information systems for managers. New York, NY:John Wiley & Sons.
  • Rainer, K.,Cegielski, C. (2012). Introduction to information systems: Enabling and transforming business. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

For additional perspectives on the roles of ICT in businesses, the following books are available and downloadable without cost from

  • Information systems: A manager’s guide to harnessing technology
  • Information systems for business and beyond

BU.350.620.XX – Information Systems – Instructor– Page 1 of 8

Carey Business School

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Blackboard Site

A Blackboard course site is set up for this course. Each student is expected to check the site throughout the semester as Blackboard will be the primary venue for outside classroom communications between the instructors and the students. Students can access the course site at Support for Blackboard is available at 1-866-669-6138.

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