Faculty Contact Information:
Mailing Address: UMUC - Unit 29216, APO AE 09102
Phone: 49(0)6224/929773 (Germany)
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Consultation:
in classroom during lunch break; other times by appointment
CLASS MEETINGS:
0900-1600
1/2 Nov; 15/16 Nov; 6/7 Dec; 20/21 Dec
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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.
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Supplementary Readings:
The standard for papers in the graduate program is the APA style. All participants in this course and all graduate INSS, MGMT, PUAD, and ECON courses should have a copy of the style guide:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition. Washington DC: Author.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.
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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.com is 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.
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Course Description:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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, your course grade comes from:
15% Midterm Examination
20% Final Examination
15% Organization Analysis Paper and Presentation
15% Comps-question Paper and Presentation
15% Portable MBA Paper and Presentation
10% Applications Exercises, Discussion Questions
10% Participation
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Description of Course Requirements:
Midterm and Final Examinations will be in-class. At least 50% of each exam will be closed-book.
Portable MBA Paper and Presentation – Saturday of Weekend 2:
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.
Comps-question Paper and Presentation – Sunday of Weekend 3:
During the second weekend, each student will be assigned a comps-type question. The student is to research the question, using several sources in addition to the textbooks, write a 4-7 page paper answering the question, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation of the answer to the class. More than one student may be assigned the same question, but the work is to be done independently.
Organization Analysis Paper and Presentation – Saturday of Weekend 4:
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.
1. No later than Monday, 10 November, you must submit a one-page proposal (Word or WordPerfect document) identifying the organization or company (and the industry in which it operates), a description of why you have chosen this company or organization, and the sources you expect to use for your research (you may add sources as your work progresses). You will receive feedback from the instructor on within two days regarding the suitability, scope, etc. of your proposal.
2. Once approved, perform an analysis of the company or organization. This should consist of an in-depth study that provides a brief overview of the company or organization, discussing the appropriateness of their current systems, and assessing the future potential of these systems to support growth, reduce costs, maintain competitive advantages, and otherwise support the future needs of the organization. The results of the analysis should be presented as by a consultant hired to recommend an improved system to the board of directors, which outlines a go-forward systems approach for the next decade and beyond. Include financial (cost to implement) and Return on Investment (ROI) data.
3. Documentation 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, no later than Tuesday, 16 December. You are encouraged to submit a rough draft for feedback sometime during the first week of December.
4. You will give a Powerpoint presentation on your findings the afternoon of Saturday, 20 December. If there is not sufficient time for all presentations on Saturday, some students will present on Sunday. This should not be regarded as being in conflict with taking the final exam Sunday afternoon, as all students are expected to be ready for the presentations on Saturday. If you cannot be present that day, contact the instructor to arrange an alternate time for your presentation.
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. Your “Participation” for the missed class should come in the form of postings to the Webboard.
If you must miss an exam, you are responsible for making arrangements with the instructor, in advance if possible.
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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 1 Nov: Introduction; Discussion of the roles of information systems in organizations.
Foundations of Information Systems (Ch. 1)
PM Sat 1 Nov: Basics – Computer Hardware, Networks
Computer Hardware (Ch. 13)
Telecommunications and Networks(Ch. 4)
AM Sun 2 Nov: Basics – Computer Software, Application Software
Computer Software (Ch. 14)
PM Sun 2 Nov: Basics – Data Management, Literature Searching
Data Resource Management (Ch. 3)
Assignment of MBA chapters to be presented on Saturday, 15 Nov, will be posted to the Webboard by noon on Wednesday, 5 Nov.
Project proposal due via email by Monday, 10 Nov.
Post MBA mini-papers to the Webboard by noon Friday 14 November. Note that only Word or pdf documents will be acceptable as attachments.
AM Sat 15 Nov: Fundamentals of Organizations, Public and Private
Student Presentations of Topics from the Portable MBA
PM Sat 15 Nov: Organizations’ Uses of Information Systems/IT
Introduction to E-business Systems (Ch. 5)
Enterprise E-business Systems (Ch. 6)
Electronic Commerce Systems (Ch. 7)
AM Sun 16 Nov: Impact of Advances in IT on the Organization
Developing Business/IT Strategies (Ch. 9)
MBA Chapter 9 – Innovation & Technology Management
PM Sun 16 Nov: Question time; Midterm Exam (comprehensive)
Rough draft of Organization Analysis Paper encouraged during the week of 8 December
AM Sat 6 Dec: Information Systems in Support of Functional Areas
Decision Support Systems (Ch. 8)
Developing Business/IT Solutions (Ch. 10);
Enterprise and Global Management of IT (Ch. 12)
PM Sat 6 Dec: Use of IT to gain Competitive Advantage
Competing with IT (Ch. 2)
MBA Chapter 13 – Strategy: Defining and Developing Competitive Advantage
Comps questions presentations
AM Sun 7 Dec: Value Added Concept in Evaluation of Info. Systems
Competing with IT (Ch. 2)
Enterprise E-business Systems (Ch. 6)
PM Sun 7 Dec: Networks, Issues of Privacy and Security
Security and Ethical Challenges (Ch. 11)
Comps questions presentations
Final version of paper due via email by Tuesday, 16 December.
AM Sat 20 Dec: Ethical Issues
Security and Ethical Challenges (Ch. 11)
PM Sat 20 Dec: Student Presentations;
AM Sun 21 Dec: Discussions of Case Studies – Bringing it All Together,
Review and Course Wrap-up.
PM Sun 21 Dec: Final Exam
(Comprehensive, with heavier emphasis on material since the Mid-term)
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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
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Faculty Bio:
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Dr. Dean earned the BA in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University, and the MS and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She has worked at various times as a programmer, programmer/analyst, systems analyst, and project manager in the areas of medical information systems, small business support, and life insurance. Since 1975, she has been involved in teaching and curriculum development in computing, most recently at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. She has served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. She serves on the Regional Board of the CCSC Southeastern Conference. Her areas of interest include curriculum development, database management systems, programming languages, security, and operating systems.
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