Master Syllabus: QBA 362 - Management Information Systems

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I. Catalog Description

Examination of business information subsystems and the role of computers in accounting, marketing, production, and financial subsystems; theory of general management information systems.

Prerequisites
Courses: None
Justification: The course is an introduction to and survey of various business technologies and their uses. The student need not have experience with any of the technologies or business theories.

II. Course Learning Outcomes

General: This is a management course. Organizations use and are influenced by information technologies. Information and the technologies that facilitate its acquisition, storage, processing, analysis, and use are valuable corporate resources. A manager’s job is to learn to use technology to enhance productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. Workers and managers alike find both work and technology more rewarding when they understand how technology supports everyday task performance. This course is designed to inform potential managers and knowledge workers in all functional areas about issues, benefits, and problems related to the use and management of information systems in business.

Specific: Students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of information management and the impact of information technology (IT) on business. In particular, the student will learn what information is and what modern managers need to understand about their organization, their employees and technology to best manage information for operational, tactical and strategic benefits. Students will also engage in several "hands-on" computing exercises using common business information system tools. The goal of this course is not to give students proficiency in the use of any particular application. Rather, the course demonstrates how systems support information management in general. The course will also help the student understand how IT impacts the behavior of organizations and their employees.

Upon completion of this course students will:

1. Understand fundamental concepts of information management.
2. Understand why and how information technologies can be used to achieve operational, tactical, and strategic goals.
3. Demonstrate the use of communication and information technologies.
4. Demonstrate the use of computer applications for managerial problem solving.
5. Understand basic functions of hardware and software systems and how they work together.
6. Understand database systems: how they function, how they are used, when they are used, and why they are used.
7. Demonstrate construction of a database application.
8. Understand the components of a network as a system and the basics of how networks function.
9. Understand the various business models being implemented in electronic commerce and how they can be used support organizational strategies.
10. Demonstrate construction of a business web site.
11. Understand that knowledge is as an organizational resource and how information systems can be used to manage and leverage a firm’s knowledge resources.
12. Understand the functions of and the differences among several types of decision support systems (DSSs) including regular DSSs, expert systems, executive support systems, and group support systems.
13. Understand the vulnerabilities, risks, and precautions managers must be concerned about with regard to information and information systems.
14. Understand the impact of computing systems on people and the organization including privacy and ethical concerns.

III. Course Materials

Reading: The basic common material resources used in this course include an Information Systems Management textbook. Currently, the required textbook for the course is Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., Essentials of Management Information Systems: Organization and Technology in the Networked Enterprise, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001.

In addition to the textbook, instructors have discretion in the use of other materials. Commonly used are videos, cases and mini-cases, current information technology events from newspapers, guest speakers, and many faculty members also require additional reading of periodicals and books.

Applications: You will be required to complete several assignments using Microsoft Access (a database) and an internet browser. These applications are available to you on the university network. This class assumes that you have had CS 101 (or its equivalent) and have worked in MS Access. If it has been a while since you took CS 101, I suggest that you begin re-familiarizing yourself with Access early in the semester, prior to the database assignment.

IV. Teaching Methods

Teaching methods will be at the instructor’s discretion, but will likely include experiential exercises, discussions, lectures, guest speakers, video presentations, and computer and other exercises in various combinations and proportions depending upon the preference of the faculty member teaching the course.

Discussions: expose students to a variety of ideas and thoughts; let students apply lecture concepts in real-world situations; help students clarify their thoughts by articulating their ideas. Student preparation and participation in the discussions is important for everyone in the class to learn. Sharing insights, thoughts, opinions, and experiences helps all students learn. Individuals may be called on to respond to particular discussion issues. A student’s level of discussion preparation and participation will be reflected in the participation component of the student’s grade.

Hands-on Experience: There will be in-class demonstrations (not tutorials) of computer systems relevant to the current topics and assignments. Assignments following the demonstrations provide hands-on experience with a variety of information systems. Practice of the skills demonstrated directly following the demonstration sessions is highly encouraged.

V. Evaluation Tools

Evaluation will be determined by the instructor, subject to review by the Business area faculty. Traditionally, evaluation in this course consists of midterm and final examinations, homework assignments, and several hands-on computer-based assignments. Also evaluated may be quizzes on assigned reading topics and oral presentations, both of timely articles related to the course and other international business topics. In addition to these evaluation methods, some faculty teaching this course require term project proposals, term project progress reports, write-ups of articles related to course topics, written “take-aways” describing what students have learned from their readings, from guest speakers, and from their in-class experiences in the course. Also commonly evaluated are class contribution and participation, and, from time to time, group-level participation and contribution for small group exercises.

VI. Course Content

Course Topics:

1. Management issues in managing information technology (IT)
2. Information Technology and strategy
3. Supporting business with Information Technology
4. Hardware issues
5. Software issues
6. Database management systems
7. Building database queries, forms, and applications
8. Using network technologies in business
9. Internet and electronic commerce
10. Building electronic commerce sites for business
11. Knowledge management systems
12. Decision support systems
13. Information Technology: Security
14. Information Technology: Social issues and policy

VII. Support of Program Learning Objectives

Definitions of Student Mastery Levels
These set performance levels are somewhat parallel to Bloom’s Taxonomy.

I

The student can identify examples (and non-examples) of the desired outcome, name the elements involved, and answer "objective, multiple-choice, fill-in the blank" type of test questions showing awareness. (Objective tests are not necessarily simple, but they are most likely to be used at this introductory level.)

D

the student can describe, demonstrate or construct an example of the desired outcome but with guidance about each step. In some cases, the steps to learn the outcome may be spread among more than one course or activity within a course. Also included here is evaluation of existing examples of the outcome (pro's and con's, etc.) Essay questions and short projects would be used as evidence.

M

the student can demonstrate the outcome given a problem statement and appropriate data and tools. The student would need to synthesize skills learned previously in isolation. The skill demonstration would be sufficiently rigorous that an outside stakeholder (future employer) would be satisfied with it for an entry level position after graduation. Term papers, senior projects and research papers, senior portfolios, and capstone coursework would be used as evidence.

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