Faculty Contact Information:
Dr. Robert E. Mann
CMR 420 Box 1643
APO AE 09063
mannr@bunt.com
06224-73033 | |
Consultation:
Instructor will be available before and after class or by appointment.
Class dates:
16/17 Aug, 6/7 Sep., 20/21 Sep and 4/5 Oct 2003 | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Bruner, R., Eaker, M., Freeman, R., Spekman, R., and Teisberg, E.
(1998). The Portable MBA (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. -- Chapters 1, 6
O'Brien, James A. (2003). Management Information Systems: Managing
Information Technology in the E-Business Enterprise (6th ed.).
New York: McGraw-Hill. | |
Supplementary Readings:
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.
Throughout the course, the instructor will assign specific articles that students are expected to read and discuss as part of the “Participation” component of the course grade. | |
Recommended Journals:
A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge, and pay-per-view academic journals are available through the MIS Webboard at http://webboard.ed.umuc.edu/~mis.
Governing.comis especially useful, as are the publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies). In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line. | |
Course Description:
| 3 semester hours credit. Prerequisites: Undergraduate principles of management and economics, or permission of the Program Director. Introduces basic management information systems concepts and examines the fundamental types of information systems. Personal, work group, and enterprise information systems are discussed. The challenge and use of information to gain competitive advantage are also examined. Other topics to be discussed include: the economics of information, use of value added concepts to evaluate information system effectiveness, and the application of system theory to information system architecture. | |
Course Goals:
As a required course in both the M.S. in Management Information Systems and the M.P.A., as well as the Information Systems Analyst Certificate, the Certificate in E-Government and the Certificate in Public Management, this course seeks primarily to:
1. improve the professional skills of the participants,
2. provide students with a foundational knowledge of the various
roles of information systems in organizations, and
3. assist degree-seeking students in preparing for the comprehensive
exam, and
4. improve the students' comprehension of the link between information
management and public administration. | |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the various roles information systems play
in organizations and discuss how these roles are reflected in the
organization's structure,
2. Analyze different organizational situations involving the use of
information systems and/or the application of information
technology and make recommendations for improvement,
3. Analyze and demonstrate the impact of advancements of information
technology on organizational variables (such as: communications,
work groups, management decisionmaking, and security),
4. Demonstrate knowledge of basic techniques and elementary skills in
in using application software (such as: databases and spreadsheets),
5. Demonstrate familiarity with the literature in information systems
or a field of their own interest (e.g., medicine or welfare) with
a focus on the use of information technology in that field,
6. Demonstrate knowledge of the other functional areas of an
organization (such as: finance, marketing or public relations,
operations, human resources, and research and development) so that
information systems analysis of any organization can be performed
in a more comprehensive fashion,
7. Analyze ethical issues surrounding the use of information technology
in organizations,
8. Discuss the importance of networkds to organizations, including
issues of security and privacy,
9. Analyze the extent to which an organization's use of information
technology contributes to its competitive advantage, and
10. Apply value added concepts in the evaluation of information system
effectiveness. | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%+ B 80 – 91% C 70-79%
F Below 70% F(a) or regular non-attendance F(n)
Please note that the Bowie State grading system does not include the grade of D.
Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC – Europe policies. Please refer to the UMUC – Europe Graduate Catalog available at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs/index.html or your local Education Center. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
Midterm Examination: 30%
Final Examination: 30%
Papers (2 X 15%) 30%
Participation in Class 10%
| |
Description of Course Requirements:
Midterm and Final Examinations will be in-class and essay. The student may use a dictionary.
Portable MBA Paper and Presentations
Each student will make a 10-minute presentation on a chapter from the book The Portable MBA. The instructor will assign the chapters. There may be more than one student assigned to the same chapter, depending on class size. Visual aids and inclusion of additional information from sources beyond the textbooks are highly encouraged. These chapters will be covered on the exams. Minimum requirements for the chapter review are:
1. Chapter review must include a summary and at least five (5) major points, and must compare and contrast the ways in which the chapter topics apply in the business world and in public administration.
2. Summary and discussion of major points are to be written up and posted to the Webboard no later than noon on Friday prior to the weekend of the presentation. The other students are encouraged to read this before the in-class presentation, and come prepared for discussion.
Organization Analysis Paper and Presentation
Each student will select an organization or company, and investigate how is manages its information system(s), and the ability of the(se) information system(s) to support the needs of the company or organization in the future. Since there are three weeks between the first and second weekends of class in this term, we will use email for your topic proposals and instructor feedback.
The papers should consist of an 8-10 page paper, double-spaced, with standard margins and type font/pitch.
The final version of your paper will be due, again via email and as a Word, WordPerfect, or pdf document.
All papers must conform to the APA style. The paper should be in the format described in the guidelines for the INSS 690 final paper (see http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~meinkej/inss690/apaguidelines.pdf). A Powerpoint summary of using references in the APA style can be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/APA2.PPT and a more extensive description of the APA style is available at http://owl.english.purdue.edu.
Applications Exercises, Discussion Questions:
Exercises and questions from the O’Brien text (and other sources) will be assigned throughout the course. Some of these will be done in-class, others will be assigned as homework exercises. Details of these assignments will be posted to the Webboard.
Participation:
Every member of the class will be provided with access to the Webboard for this class (http://webboard.ed.umuc.edu/~mis/) and will be expected to check there frequently.
From time-to-time, questions will be asked in class (by the instructor and/or by students) for which you will be told to search out an answer (using the web, library, or other sources) and share the information found with the rest of the class via the Webboard. This is part of “Participation,” as the Webboard is our mechanism for communication during the weeks between class meetings.
The remainder of the “Participation” component of the grade comes from traditional in-class discussions.
Absences:
If you must miss class, you are responsible for getting information from fellow students regarding what you missed. Assume that there will be discussion and/or lecture information that is not in the textbook. Realize also that the Course Schedule shown below is subject to change by the instructor as needed. The instructor is willing to help you regarding what you missed, but will not have notes regarding the discussions that take place in the classroom, nor on the presentations, and cannot repeat the class.
If you must miss an exam, you are responsible for making arrangements with the instructor, in advance if possible. | |
Course Schedule:
Projected Course Schedule:
Note that chapters indicated in parentheses are in the O’Brien text.
Note also that chapters are NOT being covered in the order in which they appear in the textbook!
Note that any changes to this projected schedule will be posted to the Webboard.
Students are expected to have read the chapter(s) and other assigned readings BEFORE the class period in which they are to be covered.
AM Sat 16 Aug: Introduction; Discussion of the roles of information systems in organizations.
Foundations of Information Systems (Ch. 1)
Assign first paper
PM Sat 16 Aug: Basics – Computer Hardware, Networks
Computer Hardware (Ch. 13)
Telecommunications and Networks(Ch. 4)
AM Sun 17 Aug: Basics – Computer Software, Application Software
Computer Software (Ch. 14)
PM Sun 17 Aug: Basics – Data Management, Literature Searching
Data Resource Management (Ch. 3)
Assignment of MBA chapters to be presented on Saturday, 6 Sept.
Project proposal due via email by Monday, 1 September.
Post MBA mini-papers to the Webboard by noon Friday 5 September. Note that only Word or pdf documents will be acceptable as attachments.
AM Sat 6 Sept: Fundamentals of Organizations, Public and Private
Student Presentations of Topics from the Portable MBA
PM Sat 6 Sept: Organizations’ Uses of Information Systems/IT
Introduction to e-Business Systems (Ch. 5)
Enterprise e-Business Systems (Ch. 6)
Electronic Commerce Systems (Ch. 7)
Review for mid-term exam
AM Sun 7 Sept: Midterm Exam
PM Sun 7 Sept: Impact of Advances in IT on the Organization
Developing Business/IT Strategies (Ch. 9)
MBA Chapter 9 – Innovation & Technology Management
First paper due.
Assign second Paper/Case--Due Fifteenth Module
AM Sat 20 Sept: Information Systems in Support of Functional Areas
Decision Support Systems (Ch. 8)
Developing Business/IT Solutions (Ch. 10);
Enterprise and Global Management of Information Technology (Ch. 12)
PM Sat 20 Sept: Use of IT to gain Competitive Advantage
Competing with IT (Ch. 2)
MBA Chapter 13 – Strategy: Defining and Developing Competitive Advantage
AM Sun 21 Sept: Value Added Concept in Evaluation of Info. Systems
Competing with Information Technology (Ch. 2)
Enterprise e-Business Systems (Ch. 6)
PM Sun 21 Sept: Networks, Issues of Privacy and Security
Security and Ethical Challenges (Ch. 11)
AM Sat 4 Oct: Ethical Issues
Security and Ethical Challenges (Ch. 11)
PM Sat 4 Oct: Student Presentations;
AM Sun 5 Oct: Final Exam (Emphasis on material since the Mid-term)
Second pape due.
PM Sun 12 Oct: Special Issues and Discussion. | |
Academic Policies:
Please refer to the UMUC - Europe Graduate Catalog, available online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs/index.html or from your local Education Center, for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities | |
Faculty Bio:
Hello, my name is Bob Mann and I will be your instructor for this course for the next several weeks.
I grew up in the northern Rocky Mountain area where I obtained my education through the undergraduate level. I spent some time in the military: in command of lower level field artillery units, teaching, various staff jobs as a human resource manager, comptroller, special operations, manpower staffing and other odd jobs in several parts of the world. The opportunity become available to join private industry, so for eight years I worked for various companies ranging in size from 4 to 45,000. In private industry the jobs were varied: as an analyst, functional expert, project leader, resource management and human resource manager.
My current full-time job is as an adjunct instructor for UMUC Europe at the undergraduate and graduate level. I have been teaching for over twenty years in the European program. | |