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Management Information Systems

SAMPLE

Course Outline and Assignments

Week 1.Introduction to Management Information Systems

Background Reading: MUIS IntroductionCase: To be handed out in class

Optional Readings : Learning Information Systems with Cases (an Internet-based paper at thissite: http://www.umanitoba.ca/isworld/caselrn.html

)

Keen, Introduction to Every Managers Guide to IT

Week 2. The Information Systems Strategy Triangle

Readings: MUIS Chapter 1Study Questions: 1. Why is it important for the three points of the triangle to be in balance?

What would happen if they were not in balance?2. Describe the business strategy, organizational strategy and IS strategy ofan organization with which you are familiar. Highlight how the 3 strategies

are in balance.

Week 3. Organizational Impacts of Information SystemsCase: Mrs. Fields Cookies (HBS Case)

Readings: MUIS Chapter 2Study Questions: 1. Describe and evaluate the organizational structure, management control

systems, and information technology of MFC.2. Given their goals and the environment in which they compete, have

Debbi and Randy made coherent choices about their organization structure,control systems, information resources, and people? Be ready to supportyour opinion.

NOTE: Student teams will be asked to sign up for a technology topic immediately following this

class.

.Information Technology and the Virtual Organization

Case: Verifone: The Transaction Automation CompanyReading: Two Cheers for the Virtual Office (Sloan Management Review article)

Study Questions: 1. What are the key elements of Verifone's structure and strategy?2. What role does the MIS department play at Verifone? What do you

think of Will Pape's daily information summary?

3. Has the virtual office arrangement been a success at Verifone? Whichmanagement principles were the most critical to the success?

Week 4. Information Technology and the Design of Work

Case: Otis Elevators: Managing the Service Force (HBS Case)Reading: MUIS Chapter 3

Study Questions: 1. How should field workers be managed? What role should apersonal portable technology (hand-held terminal, 2-way radio, or other)

play?2. Which configuration (Boston, Glendale, or Dallas) do you think best

meets the needs of Otis? of the field force? Why?

3. How would you implement these changes in organization, technology,

BA 190D-MIS Core Course- Professor Pearlson- syllabus Page 1
http://www.umanitoba.ca/isworld/caselrn.htmlhttp://www.umanitoba.ca/isworld/caselrn.html

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and work methods?

Week 5. IT Architecture and Business Success

Case: State Street Boston Corporation: Leading with IT (HBS Case)Reading: MUIS Chapter 6

Management by Maxim: How Business and IT Managers Can Create ITInfrastructures

Study Questions: 1. Describe State Street Boston's business. What do they need to do wellto be successful? What competitors might challenge them in the future?

2. What are the key aspects of the State Street IT architecture? How do

they contribute to or detract from the firm's success?3. How would you evaluate Sexton's handling of the GHI project?

Week 6. Managing Information and Knowledge

Case: Knowledge Management at Andersen Consulting (HBS Case)Reading: MUIS Chapter 9

Building Successful Knowledge Management ProjectsKnown Evils: Common Pitfalls of Knowledge Management

Study Questions: 1. Why does Andersen Consulting think it is important to manageknowledge?

2. If you were an Andersen Consultant, what strengths and weaknesses doyou think you would find with the Knowledge Exchange?

3. What directions do you think Andersen should take in the future with

knowledge management and the Knowledge Exchange?

Week 7. Strategic Use of the Information Resource

Case: Federal Express: The Role of Information Technology in Customer ServiceReading: MUIS Chapter 4

Developing Long-Term Competitiveness through IT Assets (Sloan Mgt Revarticle)

Study Questions: 1. What is the strategy of FedEx and how is IT used to achieve this strategy?2. How does IT support the customer service function at Federal Express?

How should IT support FedExs customers?3. What should Jones role be in supporting the FedEx business strategy?

Week 8. Business Process TransformationCase: Capital Holding Corporation: Direct Response Group (HBS Case)Reading: MUIS Chapter 5

Don't uto!ate" #$literate (HBR rticle)Stud% &uestions: hat *inds o+ o$stacles should !anagers e,pect to +aceas the% underta*e an organi-ation./ide $usiness trans+or!ation initiati0e12 Descri$e the process that DRG !anage!ent has ta*en to reengineeringhat reco!!endations do %ou ha0e +or DRG !anage!ent as the% i!ple!enttheir initiati0es13 hat is the role o+ in+or!ation s%ste!s in reengineering1 Can anorgani-ation reengineer /ithout considering their I4 s%ste!s1

Week 9. Internet and Global Corporations

Case: Air Products Internet Strategy (HBS Case Study)

Reading: MUIS Chapter 7Study Questions: 1. Do you agree with Pete Mather that the intranet isn't necessarily the

best overall internal communications vehicle for Air Products?


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2. Is Air Products' MIS group the right function to implement the intranet?3. If you were McMakin, where would you take the Internet strategy?

Week 10.Building an E-BusinessGuest Speaker: (Bring in a speaker from a local company--either a dot com, an internet

infrastructure organization, or other group with major e-business initiatives)

Reading: Please surf the web for answers to the questions below.Study Questions: 1. What capabilities, if any, are still lacking for electronic commerce tosucceed?

2. What business opportunities do you see on the network? How might alarge company compete in the Internet market? a small company?

3. In your opinion, what will be the biggest single change experienced by

companies who are just now beginning to use electroniccommerce?

4. What was the most interesting thing you found while surfing thenetwork? Please bring the address to class (it begins with

http://...).

NOTE: Your Web Page must be done by this class and e-mailed to your TA.

Week 11. Managing the Information System ResourcesCase Study: General Motors (from CD Rom)

Readings: MUIS Chapter 8Eight Imperatives for the New IT Organization

Stud% &uestions: hat should $e the goals o+ ISS12 hat capa$ilities does the ISS organi-ation need to support GM no/

and in the +uture13 Has Ralph set up his organi-ation appropriatel%1 hat /ould %ou ad0ise

hi! to do di++erentl%1

The Role of the CIO

Guest Speaker: Study Questions: 1. What is a CIO? What background should a person holding this job have?

What type of person do you what as the CIO of your business?

2. What business skills should a CIO have? What technical skills shouldthis he/she have?

3. What functions would you expect the IS organization of the Corporation to provide?

Week 12. Developing IS Systems

Case: Rock Solid (on CD Rom)

Readings: MUIS Chapter 10Study Questions: 1. What is the typical way an information system is developed? How does

SDLC assist in that process?

2. How were the systems at Rock Solid developed?3. What recommendations would make to them to change their develoment

processes?

The Role of the General Manager in IS Development

Case: The IT System that Couldn't Deliver


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Readings: MUIS Chapter 10Study Questions: 1. What tasks are needed in an IS development project?

2. What is the role of the IS professional in developing system? What is therole of the general manager?

3. Why didn't this system deliver? Which of the expert commentary do youthink best describes the situation? Why?

Week 13. Ethical Use of Information Systems

Case:: IRS (HBS Case)

Reading: MUIS Chapter

Stud% &uestions: Ho/ did the collections process change in the !o0e +ro! C#6 to CS12 Ho/ should 4i! Bro/n proceed1 Ho/ should he i!ple!ent the option he

chooses13 Is the electronic !onitoring +eature o+ the CS s%ste! an in0asion o+

e!plo%ee pri0ac%1 hen is co!puter !onitoring appropriate1 hatsa+eguards can $e enacted to preser0e indi0idual rights to pri0ac%

Where do you draw the line?

Readings: MUIS Chapter 11Study Questions: 1. Where do you personally draw the line between what is ethical use and

unethical use of information? Give an example on each side of that line2. As a manager in an organization, what steps can you take to insure thosewho work for you do not violate the moral and ethical boundaries of

information use?

Week 14. Summary, Presentations, and Exam

Choosing A Topic for the Technology Update Short Seminar Series

Technology in this field changes so rapidly that systems available today are predicted to be outdated within 2-3 years. Withsuch a short life-time, it is important to both know about the current systems and to learn how to research and evaluate thosetechnologies not yet available. In this course, you will be exposed to a set of emerging technology topics which are just

making their way into the business arena today. Courtesy of your classmates, you will be treated to a brief introduction toseveral topics, and given references for further study. In turn, you will research one topic and provide a summary for your

classmates.

Below is a list of possible technology topics to be covered in this class. Please sign up as a study group for a particular topic

Only one group may do a topic, so it is in your best interest to identify several choices, in case your first choice is alreadytaken. You may design your own topic, but you must have approval of the instructor. The sign up session will begin after th

second class period and end at 5:00 pm on January 23, and we will post the group assignments along with the date of deliveof these seminars by the third class period. Seminars begin with the 4th class.

Your seminar should only be 15 minutes long. That is not a lot of time, so please try to pick out 2 or 3 main points to getacross, and use the handout and the question/answer period to bring out other points. When designing the seminar, keep yo

class mates in mind...they are the audience (not the instructor or the TAs). Remember: The goal of these seminars is to

introduce your classmates to the topic, not to make them technology experts.

The Topics:

1. What is new in document management systems? 11. Real smart computers: Parallel Processing systems.


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2. What is Object Orientation?3. What are the latest developments in cellular, radio, and

other wireless networking technologies?4. Carry it with you: the latest in portable and handheldcomputers.

5. PCs meet TV: Intercast and its competition.6. Client-Server architecture: The latest server trends.

7. Why move to Windows/Office 97?8. What is Lotus Notes and what competes with it?

9. How to store lots of information: Data Warehousing.10. What are the challenges in multimedia?

12. What is the state of Voice Recognition13. Making systems quickly: CASE Tools

14. RISC versus CISC technology and chips of tomorrow15. Satellite technologies: GIS versus GPS.16. Enterprise Information Systems: What is a SAP?

17. Working from home: to ISDN or not to ISDN?18. Whats up at Apple: The latest Mac technology

19. Is Java just a cup of hot coffee (and what aboutActiveX)?

20. Unix and other operating systems

The Deliverables:

The Seminar. This is the fun part. I particularly dont call this a presentation or lecture, because you are encouraged t

think beyond a we talk and you listen format. You have about 15 minutes to get your ideas across. Have fun. Be clever.Pick your points carefully. The goal is to leave your class mates with enough understanding of your topic so if they are aske

about it in an interview, it wont be the first time they have heard the term. You might cover an explanation of thetopic/concept, a key vendor or two, the history/current state of the technology, managerial issues surrounding the topic, key

buzz words associated with your topic, and/or examples of the technology and its use. Plan what you want to get across, theplan how to best get it across.

The Handout. Prepare a 1-2 page handout and bring enough copies to class for each classmate and for the teaching staff (5copies). This document should include all those things you wanted to include in the seminar but didnt have time to cover.

Give examples of vendors, implementations and uses of the technology. Explain why this is an important technology to kno

about. More interesting handouts in the past have included comparison tables, charts and pictures. Your handout must

includea definition of your topic, an example of some real business using the technology, and at least two complete referen

for future research. Be sure if you directly quote a source or web page that you clearly indicate the attribution in yourdocument.

The Exam Questions. Please give me at least 10 possible questions on your topic that are suitable for an exam. Thesequestions can be multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, true/false and/or matching. I will read over them and use o

or more in the exam for your section (this is a good way to make sure you cover the important issues in your seminar and/orhandout, too!). These questions are due when you deliver your seminar.


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