Information systems Essay Example for Free

Information systems Essay None -Course objectives Information is perhaps the most important of all business resources, and the ability to manage it effectively on a global level is a essential organizational capability. Information systems are the tools that firms use to manage information, and it is critical for managers to understand how to use them. This course introduces you to key information systems concepts, issues and questions that will help you to accomplish this. The focus of the course is managerial little prior knowledge of  information systems is required, and you certainly won’t be doing any programming! It is assumed that you already possess the basic computer skills needed to use various office suite products (word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, etc. ), or will acquire these skills independently of this course. The objective of the course is to provide a basic knowledge set that will allow you to understand the most common information systems issues that exist in today’s organizations, to ask critical questions, and participate in IT decision making. P a g e | 2 Organization of the Course Pedagogy  This course relies on a diversity of teaching media, including lectures, readings, and case discussions. Inclass discussions are important and quality class participation is expected from each student. It is your responsibility to read the appropriate material before class. Unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor, no late assignments will be accepted. Assigned Reading There is a readings package for this course that contains required articles and cases. As well we have an open source text: John Gallaugher, â€Å"Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology†, Flat World,Version1. 1, 2011. Go to this website to access the text: http://www. flatworldstudents. com/course? cid=453963bid=38086. You can read it online for free. If you pay $29 or thereabouts you can download an e-reader version or a pdf. A printed text is $40 and a color text is $60. We cover a large volume of material in this course. When preparing for class, you should review the overheads, carefully read the assigned articles and cases and try to identify what you believe are key points or issues. Always ask yourself the following question â€Å"As a manager, what issues does this raise for me? † Evaluation of Student Performance. The course grading scheme for Master’s level courses at Schulich uses a 9-value grade-point system. The possible course letter grades for a course (and the corresponding grade points awarded for each grade are: A+ 9 grade points A 8 A7 B+ 6 B 5 B4 C+ 3 C 2 C1 F 0 (Students are reminded that they must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 4. 2 to remain in good standing and continue in the program, and a minimum of 4. 4 to qualify for their degree. Schulich grading guidelines mandate a section grade point average [‘GPA’] of between 4. 7 and 6. 1 for core courses and a section GPA of between 5. 2 and 6. 2 for electives. ) Where instructors use numerical or percentage grades, Schulich grading policy does not require a preset translation of percentages into specific letter grades P a g e | 3 Participation 20 % Individual Assignment 30 % Group Assignment 50% In class Five pages maximum, handed in at the beginning of session 4 Presentation 20%, session 6 Peer evaluation 5%, session 6 Final report 25%, No later than 1 day after final session Participation (20%) Good class participation by all class members is necessary in order to get the most out of the cases and readings. You are encouraged to take advantage of this gathering of your peers to improve your communication skills and obtain feedback on your views in a relatively low-risk environment. Attendance is not participation. Your attendance is expected for the full duration of the class. If you miss more than two classes, you have failed the course. If you feel that you have to miss a class or any part of a class please inform the instructor before the class so that you will not be called upon in class and so that the instructor can advise you on how to keep up with the rest of the class. I expect that you will: a) Be prepared for class. b) Be on time for class. c) Keep me informed. Do not suffer in silence. Let the instructor know if you are having problems. Let it be known if you cannot attend class. With only six sessions, you do not want to miss anything. d) Come to class with a readable name card. This is important for monitoring your participation. Identify all your work completely with student number and name. Both of these actions will help the instructor to get to know you as an individual. In-class participation will be graded on quality not quantity. Timely and regular attendance, comments and questions that demonstrate knowledge of the topic and intellectual acuity can enhance your participation grade. Be respectful of other’s desire to participate, so be brief and relevant. Individual assignment (30%) The course includes an individual assignment, worth 30%. The total length of the individual assignment is 5 pages maximum, including all materials, except an optional cover page, and a reference list (if required). I will provide details on this assignment in the first class. Group Assignment (50%) You will be placed into groups. Each group will be required to perform an analysis of a business problem that deals with IT issues. Details of the group assignment will be provided in session 1. The group assignment includes three deliverables: 1. Final Report Final report (25%) – each group will submit a final report due no later than 1 day following the final class session. The report will be no longer than 20 pages, including all components, except for a title page and references. The following sections are required: Executive Summary (1page only), Introduction, Summary, and Conclusions. Other sections are up to you P a g e | 4 2. Management presentation Management presentation (20%) – each group will deliver a 10 minute presentation during the final class session. No extra time will be allowed. Maximum 10 slides. Please provide me with a copy of the presentation slides the evening before the final class session by 6 p. m. at the latest. 3. Peer evaluation Peer evaluation (5%) – you will be asked to evaluate the performance of your fellow group members. I will hand out a form for this in week 6. Academic Honesty Academic honesty is fundamental to the integrity of university education and degree programs. The Schulich School will investigate and will act to enforce academic honesty policies where apparent violations occur. Students should familiarize themselves with York University’s policy on academic honesty. It is printed in full in your student handbook and can also viewed on-line on the Schulich website, clicking through as indicated: MBA/IMBA. Schulich website ‘Programs’ ‘Master’s Degree’ ‘Learn More’ ‘Academic Policy’ While academic dishonesty can take many forms, there are several forms of which students should be highly aware because they are the ones that are most likely to occur in the context of a specific course. [1] Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the presentation of information, ideas, or analysis generated by other people as being your own. It includes direct quotations as well a substantive paraphrases where the course of that information or idea is not clearly identified to the reader. Students should be careful to present their written work in a way that makes it completely clear in each and every cases where a quotation, a paraphrase, or an analysis is based on the work of other people. (This includes information from all sources, including websites. ) [2] Cheating. Cheating is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in an evaluation. Examples of such violations include (but are not limited to) consulting prohibited materials during an examination or copying from another student. [3] Failure to follow limitations on collaborative work with other students in preparing academic assignments. Each class differs in the mix of assignments and group-versus-individual preparation that is allowed. The instructor will make clear the extent of collaboration among students that is acceptable among students on various pieces of assigned work. Students should abide by those limitations and, if they are unsure about whether a certain level or form of collaboration would be acceptable, to clarify that question with the instructor in advance. [4] Aiding and abetting. A student is guilty of violating academic honesty expectations if he/she acts in a way that enables another student to engage in academic dishonesty. If a student knows (or should reasonably expect) that an action would enable another student to cheat or plagiarize, that student’s action constitutes an academic honesty violation. Illustrative examples include making your exam paper easily visible to others in the same exam or providing your own working or finished documents for an ‘individual assignment’ to another student (even if that other student said that he/she just wanted to ‘get an idea of how to approach the assignment’ or ‘to check whether they had done theirs correctly’). [5] Use of academic work in more than one course. Generally, academic work done for every course is ‘new’ work, done for that course only. If a student wishes to use some or all of the academic work done for an assigned task in one course in another course, the student must get explicit, prior permission from both instructors so that they agree that the scope and nature of the overlapping use of that work is such that it can fairly be counted toward both courses. P a g e | 5 Schedule of Topics and Readings The following list of lecture topics and readings indicate the material to be read, reviewed and/or prepared for the various class sessions. If any changes in this schedule become necessary, notifications will be posted in the course CMD, and where such changes need to be announced between class sessions, an email will be sent to students’ Lotus Notes email accounts, notifying them of the change. Date Topic(s) Session 1 Key question: What is an information system and why is it Feb 27 important? IS Ch 1, Lecture: Introduction to management information systems and enterprise Ch 5 Ch technology management 10 Lecture: Technology fundamentals Reading: A conversation about information technology 1. In your experience, does this conversation ring true? 2. Why are many business managers frustrated with organizational IT? 3. Why are many IT managers frustrated with ‘the business side’? 4. What can be done to improve relations between the two sides? Activity: A group discussion of Open versus Closed systems models. Session 2 Key question: How can you use information systems to get the Mar 5 most out of organizations? IS Ch 11 Lecture: Organizational information systems Enterprise systems Case: Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO Activity: Information structures organizational effectiveness Session 3 How can you manage the balance between security and privacy, Mar 12 openness and access? IS Ch 6, Ch 12, Ch 13 Lecture: IS ethics, privacy, computer crime, and security Case: ChoicePoint (A) 1. What is your appraisal of ChoicePoint’s business model? 2. How legitimate are the concerns voiced by the industry critics? 3. In Derek Smith’s position, what internal changes, if any, would you make to address the issues discussed in the case? 4. In Derek Smith’s position, what would you recommend to the U. S. Congress regarding regulation of the personal data industry? Discussion: Information security vs privacy P a g e | 6 Session 4 Key question: How can you use information systems for a Mar 19 sustainable competitive advantage? IS Ch 2, Lecture: IS for competitive advantage IS Planning and project Ch 7 Ch management 8 Reading: Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference Case: MDCM Inc. 1. Could MDCM fulfill Horizon 2000 without a strong focus on transforming IT? Why or why not? 2. Define MDCM’s overall corporate strategy and business goals, and match these with the company’s high-level IT objectives. Present your findings in a report to the senior management team. *Individual assignment due Session 5 Mar 26 IS Ch 9 Ch 14 Key question: How to effectively manage information systems in a changing global environment? Lecture: IS development and Global IT outsourcing Reading: Outsourcing: From Cost Management to Innovation and Business Value Case: Future Vision Digital Services 1. As Blake Randolph, what would you do to deal with the immediate problem? 2. Does the blame reside with Gregoire for being difficult to manage, or with Randolph, for not being able to manage Gregoire? 3. Would you use Gregoire on another project? Why or why not? 4. If you answered yes to Q3, would you change the way you manage Gregoire? How? Session 6 Apr 2 Apr 3 Group presentations Final reports due.