WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
College of Business and Technology (AACSB Accredited)
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND DECISION SCIENCES
Spring 2010
Corporate Management Information Systems
IS 524-51 TTH: 2:00-3:15 ST 322
FACULTY:
Professor: Dr. Chandra S. Amaravadi
Office: Stipes 431J
Office Hours: TWTH 8:50-10:50 and by appointment
Telephone: 309-298-2034
Email:
Website: http://www.faculty.wiu.edu/C-Amaravadi/ , select course
SUPPLEMENTARY AND REQUIRED MATERIALS:
There is no text book as such for the course.
“Principles of Information Systems” by Ralph Stair and George Reynolds, (9th Edition) from Course Technology is recommended as a supplementary book.
The role of this book is supplementary, with respect to providing you with basic concepts concerning Information Systems. You will have to rely primarily on lecture notes that will be provided as power points via the course web site, and class discussions for the main material. In addition to the text book and lecture notes (in the form of power points), we will also rely on a number of journal articles and case studies. You must obtain the power points and other materials from the course web-site.
You need to buy the article:
“In E-Commerce, More is More “ by Andreas B. Eisingerich and Tobias Kretschmer, Harvard Business Review, March 2008, You need to buy this article from Harvard Business Review [http://hbp.hbr.org/store/index.html].
CATALOG DESCRIPTION & COURSE OBJECTIVE
An in-depth survey of information systems in organizations including their role, functionality, development, impacts and management.
The objective of this course is to prepare students for a business role involving information technology. Such roles include being a technical liaison, technical sales support, contract specialist, business lead analyst, corporate trainer etc. To properly fulfill this role, students must have a thorough technical understanding of information systems: they need to be able to describe/communicate components in an information system or specify the requirements for a business system. The course will provide an in-depth discussion of various types of applications in organizations including databases, transaction processing, decision support etc.
PRE-REQUISITES:
BAT501: Integrative Business Foundations
EVALUATION:
Two examinations will constitute approximately 50% of the grade with assignments, quizzes and class participation making up the remaining percentage points.
Category / PointsMidterm / 80
Final / 80
Assignments / 100
Participation / 40
Quizzes / 30
Total / 330
Letter grades will be based on total percentage points earned with A >= 90%; B 80 to <90; C 70 to < 80 and D 60 to < 70 and F < 60.
Exams: There will be one mid term and one final examination. The midterm will be in class and the final will be take home. The midterm will have multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. Both will thoroughly test your conceptual and analytical abilities and your ability to react to novel situations/problems as mandated by AACSB guidelines. Read accreditation standards, section on participant standards ( http://aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards.asp ).
Pop Quizzes: There will be six pop quizzes worth five points each. They are generally administered on next convenient class day following completion of a topic/module. The quizzes will consist of T/F, Fill-in-blank, multiple choice, match-the-following and short answer/problems. The questions will be very specific. Makeups for missed quizzes will be administered only under extreme circumstances with adequate documentation.
Assignments: Assignments must be of high quality – correct grammer and spelling, orderly arrangement etc. All typed work should be double spaced and have 1” margins. Slipshod work, illegible or messy text will not be accepted. At the same time, please do not go overboard on assignments, keeping in mind that bulk or quantity does not necessarily constitute quality. You are advised to keep answers concise and to the point. Assignments must be handed to the instructor (or co-ordinator) in class on the day they are due. Here is a tentative list of assignments:
Assign#1: Presentation on organizational concepts (10pts)
Assign#2: Database models (20pts)
Assign#3: Database management system (20pts)
Assign#4: Corporate website (20pts)
Assign#5: Management support systems -- summary and review of article#2 (10pts)
Assign#6: Healthcare information systems (?) (20 pts)
Except for unavoidable circumstances (such as a job interview), late assignments will not be accepted. In such cases, you must notify and take the instructor’s permission in advance.
Participation: Participation will be both assigned and unassigned. In the former, you might be asked to research a topic or complete a small assignment. Unassigned participation includes raising issues, answering questions, contributing your experience etc. Both types are recorded on a per-class basis. One good response or two moderate contributions per class are sufficient to get the top participation grade.
Discussion articles: Due to the limitation of text books, we will rely on a number of articles to supplement the class lectures and discussions. These are available from the course web site, except for article #1, which you need to purchase online. You will need to summarize and review article#2 in accordance with guidelines below (also on website). The other articles are discussion only and questions are posted online to guide the discussion. Note that discussions will extend beyond the discussion questions. The best way to remember an article is to jot down important ideas and reflect on them.
1. “In E-Commerce, More is More “ by Andreas B. Eisingerich and Tobias Kretschmer, Harvard Business Review, March 2008, You need to buy this article from Harvard Business Review [http://hbp.hbr.org/store/index.html].
2. “Past, Present, and Future of Decision Support technology” by Shim J. P., Warkentin, M., Courtney, J. F., Power, D. J., Sharda, R., Carlsson, C., Decision Support Systems, 2002, 33, pp. 111-126.
3. “Role of data mining in organizational cognition” by Amaravadi, C. and Daneshgar, F., Book Chapter in Organizational Data Mining edited by Hamid Nemati and Christopher Barko, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey PA, 2003, pp. 46-60.
4. “Common knowledge” by Nancy Dixon, ACM ubiquity Issue 9 - April 18-24, 2000.
5. “The World and Business Computing in 2051,” by Amaravadi, C.S. Fifty years of Business Computing conference, Guildhall, London, U.K., Nov 5-6, 2001.
Article Summary and Review: For articles #1 and 2, you need to submit a one page summary and a half page review on the day it is listed in the schedule/website as being due.
Requirements:
§ Title should include your name and complete reference of the article (you can copy from this from the list above).
§ First sentence should describe what the article is about. The rest can summarize the main points. It must be a complete summary i.e. all important ideas need to be included in your summary.
§ Italicize important terms and concepts. If the article introduces a new concept, you must italicize the concept in your summary. For example consider, “memory resident databases reside in primary storage during the entire execution. “ Note that you need to italicize only the word that describes the concept i.e. in this case it is “memory resident” rather than the complete definition.
§ Proof for organization, style, typos, and whether or not the main issues discussed in the article have been included. Avoid statements that are not meaningful & colloquial expressions.
§ The review will critically evaluate the knowledge claims in the article i.e. it will consider the strengths and weaknesses. More detailed guidelines are available on the course web site.
§ Limit summary to one double spaced page (to leave room for comments). You can alternatively use a spacing of 1.5.
§ Use only standard margins 1” or 11/2”.
§ Use only 11 point or 12 point font.
Articles not meeting the submission guidelines will be rejected. Each submission, is worth 5+5 points. You must submit the summary just before class, late summaries will not be accepted. In addition to the summaries, you must also prepare to discuss the articles in class. The discussion questions are also posted on the web.
EXAMINATION-RELATED COMMENTS:
You must refrain from giving answers that fall outside of the realm of the knowledge base of the course, unless if you are asked specifically to extend your knowledge. For instance, if we’ve discussed that the major challenges in the field are: the a) globalization challenge, b) IT investment challenge, c) Strategic challenge, d) Architecture challenge, and if you were asked about the challenges in IT and you respond by discussing security issues, you will lose half the points. Obviously, the more plastic and pliable your thought processes are (i.e. do not have a “mindset”), the greater the chance of absorbing & retaining knowledge and the better the performance on examinations.
It is a good idea to take notes during lectures and to make a special attempt to remember class discussions. Be sure to note the context of the discussion when you write your notes.
MBA STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
In accordance with AACSB guidelines http://aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards.asp, MBA students are expected to:
a) have good conceptual understanding of the subject
b) apply this knowledge to new and novel situations
c) persevere when faced with challenging or difficult assignments
d) perform upto the standards set for them by their instructors
e) display initiative
NOTE: The syllabus and course schedule are subject to revision with notice.
DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES
Talking to other students, eating, playing with devices, sleeping (if you have a medical condition, please notify instructor at the beginning of the semester) are considered disruptive activities and are in violation of university policies. Please be aware that through your activity you may be preventing other students from learning. Sitting in the class room is a privilege that cannot be misused.
The consequences of engaging in a disruptive activity can include one or more of the following:
a) being asked to leave the class room,
b) forfeiting the points for a quiz or class participation activity assigned for that day,
c) reduction in participation grade,
d) confiscation of device till the end of the semester, if a device were involved in the disruptive activity.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
In accordance with University policy and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies the instructor of the need for an accommodation. For the instructor to provide the proper accommodation(s), you must obtain documentation of the need for an accommodation through Disability Support Services and provide it to the instructor. It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to the instructor's attention, as he/she is not legally permitted to inquire about such particular needs of students. Students who may require special assistance in emergency evacuations (i.e. fire, tornado, etc.) should contact the instructor as to the most appropriate procedures to follow in such an emergency. Contact Disability Support Services at 298-2512 for additional services.
COURSE/ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE SPRING 2010
Date / Agenda / Assignments/Readings / Relevant Chapter
01/19 /
Intro to IS524.
/ Ch. 1-201/21 /
Presentation preparation.
/Group meetings, Ass#1 start.
01/26 /Basic organizational concepts.
/Ass#1due —group presentation.
01/28 /Basic organizational concepts.
/Discuss org. concepts questions.
/ Ch. 3-702/02 /
Basic information systems concepts.
/Quiz 1.
/ Ch. 1-202/04 /
Intro to information systems I.
/ / Ch. 1-202/09 /
Intro to information systems II.
/Quiz2.
/ Ch. 502/11 / Intro to databases I & II. /
Ass#2, 3 start.
/ Ch. 502/16 / Intro to databases II & III. / / Ch. 5
02/18 /
Intro to databases II & III.
/Ass#2due, Quiz .
/ Ch. 502/23 / Database wrap up. /
Ass#3 due.
/ Ch. 902/25 / TP and ERP systems. / / Ch. 9
03/02 / TP and ERP systems. /
Quiz 4.
/ Ch. 903/04 / TP and ERP systems. /
03/09 / Midterm
03/11 /
Midterm review, IS careers.
03/16 /Spring Break No class
03/18 /Spring Break No class
/03/23 / E-commerce. / / Ch. 8
03/25 / E-commerce. /
Ass#4, 5 start, discuss article#1.
/ Ch. 803/30 / E-commerce wrap up. /
04/01 / Buffer zone
04/06 / Management support systems – I. /
Ass#4 due, Ass#5 due, Quiz 5.
/ Ch. 1004/08 / Management support systems - I. / Discuss article#2. / Ch. 10
04/13 / Management support systems – II. / Quiz 6. / Ch. 5, 10
04/15 / Management support systems wrap up. / Ass#6 start, discuss article#3. / Ch. 5, 10
04/20 / Artificial intelligence – I. / Ch. 11
04/22 / Artificial intelligence – II. / Ch. 11
04/27 / Knowledge management. / Ass#6 due. / Ch. 11
04/29 / Knowledge management. / Discuss article #4 / Ch. 11
05/04 /
TBA[i]
05/06 / The future. / Discuss article #505/11 / Final Exam at 3:00 pm.
5
[i] To be announced.