Course Information MIS 7650: Information Systems in the Global Enterprise Fall 2014 Online Executive MBA Course description This course focuses on assisting future chief executive officers and board members to decide how they want information technology and innovation managed in their organizations. This will involve understanding the roles that that information systems (IS) along with chief information officers and chief technology officers can play in organizations. This will also involve exploring the key resource management issues of information systems strategy, sourcing and governance. Students will be encouraged to examine the internal, external, and strategic planning issues involved in IS resource management such as the management of IS professionals, strategic project management, acquisition methods for hardware/software, information technology (IT) unit organizational structure, technology planning processes, and strategic control and global management of IS resources. Students will also learn to evaluate the performance of senior IS managers in relation to their role as designers, facilitators, and change agents in managing both the development and implementation of computer based information systems as well as technology innovations. Textbook Management Information Systems 10e, James A. O Brien and George M. Marakas, McGraw-Hill Irwin. Additional readings will be assigned throughout the semester. Technical Requirements Course Goals If students do not have the following software, all of the FCBE computer labs have the following tools available: Microsoft Project Professional Microsoft Office Adobe Acrobat Reader Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Be able to analyze business problems and propose strategic technology solutions; 2. Have an understanding of various IT management frameworks useful for analyzing strategic business problems; 3. Understand organizational frameworks useful for structuring the IT management function in corporations; 4. Understand how the latest ideas pertaining to business management such as knowledge management, outsourcing, innovation, etc. are impacting information systems management; 5. Understand both the strategic and day-to-day challenges facing the C- Page 1 of 6
MIS 7650 Course Information Page 2 of 6 level IT management function; 6. Have an appreciation of the impact of IT in organizations while understanding its enormous potential to facilitate competitive advantage; 7. Appreciate how strategic information systems management is evolving in the current business environment. 8. Appreciate a few current streams of information systems management research and their impact on practice emba Learning Outcomes for the Fogelman College of Business and Economics Goal 1: Graduates will be effective leaders. Assess and support the learning and development of others. Organize and lead a team to collective group accomplishment. Goal 2: Graduates will be good communicators. Prepare an executive summary in an appropriate structure. Organize an effective presentation. Goal 3: Graduates will be critical thinkers and problem solvers. Develop an effective strategy for solving business problems Implement a strategy to create an effective solution to business problems. Effectively evaluate potential solutions to business problems. Goal 4: Graduates will be knowledgeable about the strategic role that technology plays in the global environment. Illustrate how current and emerging technologies can be applied to achieve organizational strategic goals. Demonstrate proficiency while adapting to and managing changes brought about by evolving and emerging technologies. Goal 5: Graduates will be knowledgeable about the implications of ethical and multicultural issues in the global business environment. Synthesize and analyze the implications of Globalization for the functional areas. Apply ethical decision frameworks to business problems. Course Instructor Information Name Robin S. Poston, Ph.D. Course Instructor Biography Dr. Poston is the Papasan Family Professorship for Exemplary Leadership and Ron Hart Emerging Leader Professor, and Associate Professor, Interim Department Chair for MIS, PhD Coordinator of MIS of the Department of Management Information Systems, Fogelman College of Business & Economics at The University of Memphis. Dr. Poston s research focuses on understanding how individuals use information in decision support systems, web-based knowledge management applications, internet-based dissemination of information, and managing projects. She has published articles in MIS
MIS 7650 Course Information Page 3 of 6 Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Information Systems Management, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, and in international conference proceedings. Dr. Poston has over 15 years of work experience in information systems, and she continues to consult with several Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Today, she works with local and international organizations to conduct projects and educational programs. Dr. Poston received her bachelor s degree in Computer Science from The University of Pennsylvania (1987) and Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from Michigan State University (2003). Contact Information Office Location: FCBE Administration Building 309/300 Phone: (901) 678-5739; email: rposton@memphis.edu Office Hours: By Appointment Course Deliverables & Exams Downloadable or found on the ecourseware site for this class: Lectures Text and other assigned readings Online discussions Exams Grading & Due Dates Grades for this course will be assigned on the deliverables associated with the various course activities. Activities in this course are graded according to the level of critical thinking employed in creating your deliverable. Due dates for the deliverables are listed in the Course Schedule below. Don't wait until the last minute; technology can be unpredictable, and just like a consulting firm delivering final products by contracted deadlines, it is your responsibility to get things in on time. Course grades will be assigned based on weekly online class participation in discussions, the strategic technology management project, technology innovation exercise, and the exams required for the course. Please see below. Grading Policy: Grade Component Total Points Exam 1 50 Exam 2 50 Final Exam 50 Strategic Tech Mgmt Project 15 Technology Innovation Exercise 15 Discussions Online 20 Final Average Grade 181 or above A 161 to 180 B 141 to 160 C 121 to 140 D below 120 F
MIS 7650 Course Information Page 4 of 6 Weekly Online Class Participation in Discussions: On a weekly basis, book chapters/lecture topics are assigned below. Students are expected to keep up with the readings and lectures and contribute to related-online discussions and activities. Additional readings may be assigned through the discussion portion of this course from time-to-time to bolster learning of a lecture topic (see schedule below) and all materials are located in the ecourseware system for easy access. When contributing to discussions think about 1. What you learned from the various readings, i.e., what was the main message delivered, 2. How does this lesson apply to your job and industry, and 3. What should a CIO do about this? Also, you are expected to comment on another person s post in a meaningful way. And NOTE that Discussions close Sunday at midnight of the week they are assigned. Thus, you have a week to read the material, post a comment and comment on another person s post. Technology Innovation Case: This project will be performed by working in your groups to understand innovation that happens in the context of new technology use and diffusion throughout a business. The idea will be to understand the nature and level of technology innovation as well as the strategic management role of gaining user buy-in in global organizations. The point of the exercise is for you to think about how innovation affects business users across country boundaries and cultural chasms. The team will put together a presentation including accompanying notes outlining their findings. Background: Just prior to rolling out a new technology innovation worldwide, one of the final steps is user acceptance testing (UAT). The purpose of UAT is to gather input from actual system users, those who have deep experience with the business processes and will be using the system to complete related tasks. Actual users bring knowledge of process flows and work systems and are able to test how the system meets all that is required of it, including undocumented inherent requirements, and where potential problems may surface. UAT is a critical phase of testing that typically occurs after the system is built and before the software is released. Modern business systems are more complex and decentralized than ever before making UAT more complicated to perform. The global nature of commerce continues to push business systems deployments well beyond traditional geographic boundaries. The global nature of such deployments has created new challenges for the execution of UAT and the effective participation of geographically-dispersed actual system users. What is the future of global UAT? How do UAT events facilitate user adoption, user experience, user acceptance, and the usability of new technologies being rolled out? And how will this work 3-5 years in the future as we become more global in business locales? Gathers input from technology visionaries, your own research, and explore the best approaches for facilitating UAT in innovative and advanced ways.
MIS 7650 Course Information Page 5 of 6 Strategic Technology Management (Mgmt) Interview Project: This project will be performed by working in your groups and will involve interviewing the CIO/CTO of a local business organization to put together about a 10-page project report outlining the following: organizational structure of the IT management function; roles of the IT management sub-functions; organizational processes used for IT planning and control; general size and breakdown of IT budget (if available); strategic and day-to-day challenges facing IT management; relationship between IT and functional (business unit) managers; and other managerial aspects of the IT management role in the organization that are interesting to your group. Exam 1, Exam 2 and Final Exam: There will be three exams during the semester. The format of the exams will be mainly multiple choice with short essays. Exam content will focus on all aspects of the material covered to the date of the exam. The multiple choice on the final exam is not comprehensive, but the essays may require knowledge from any topic covered in the class. Academic Misconduct The University of Memphis has clear codes regarding cheating and classroom misconduct. Students are urged to refer to the Student Handbook section on academic misconduct for a discussion of these codes. Plagiarism is a form of misconduct. To ensure full credit for your work, make sure that all work is in your own words and cite your sources where references to external materials are deemed important. Semester Schedule This is subject to change Week Start Date ecourseware Module Lecture Topic / Activity Due Online Sunday midnight end of week Date Due at Midnight Aug 25 Course Overview Module 1 Introduction to the course Read the Syllabus Ch. 1 Foundation of IS in Business Ch. 2 Competing with IT Discussion Mod 1 Aug 31 Sept 1 Module 2 Ch. 3 Computer Hardware Discussion Mod 2 Sept 7 Sept 8 Module 3 Ch. 4 Computer Software Discussion Mod 3 Sept 14 Sept 15 Module 4 Exam 1 Chapters 1-4 Open Thurs noon-sun Sept 21 Sept 22 Module 5 Ch. 5 Data Resource Management Discussion Mod 5 Sept 28 Sept 29 Module 6 Ch. 6 Telecommunications and Networks Ch. 7 e-business Systems Discussion Mod 6 Oct 5 Oct 6 Module 7 Ch. 8 Enterprise Business Systems Discussion Mod 7 Oct 12 Oct 13 Module 8 Ch. 9 e-commerce Systems Technology Innovation Cases Oct 19 Oct 20 Module 9 Exam 2 Chapters 5-9 Open Thurs noon-sun Oct 26 Oct 27 Module 10 Ch. 10 Supporting Decision Making Feedback Survey Nov 2 Nov 3 Module 11 Ch. 11 Developing Business/IT Strategies Discussion Mod 11 Nov 9
MIS 7650 Course Information Page 6 of 6 Nov 10 Module 12 Ch. 12 Developing Business/IT Solutions Ch. 13 Security and Ethical Challenges Discussion Mod 12 Nov 16 Nov 17 Module 13 Ch. 14 Enterprise and Global Management of IT Nov 24 Thanksgiving Break Nov 29 None Course Wrap Up and Exam Preparation Strategic Technology Management Interview Project Nov 23 Dec 1 Module 14 Final Exam Chapters 10-14 Open Thurs noon-sun Dec 7 Disability Reasonable and appropriate accommodations will be provided to students with disabilities who present a memo from Disability Resources for Students (DRS).