MBA 8120 - Spring 2007

Introduction to Information Systems

Online via vClass & WebCT Vista

The first session of these classes meets in person

J. Mack Robinson College of Business Administration

Georgia State University

This syllabus is tentative and will change. 

                              Carl Stucke, Ph.D. (www.cis.gsu.edu/~cstucke)

Email Address:        cstucke@gsu.edu (email is the best and the quickest way to reach me)

Course Website:      Course materials may be found in WebCT Vista          

Phone:                    404-651-3836 office (email is the best and the quickest way to reach me)

Office:                     Room 906, 35 Broad Street (RCB Building)

Office Hours:           Online and in person by appointment via email cstucke@gsu.edu

Business organizations have become increasingly dependent upon information technology. What a firm will be able to do in five years will be greatly influenced by what its information technology can do.  This has important implications for managers who must understand the capabilities and limitations of information technology as it applies to their company’s operations.

This course is designed to help managers understand the challenges, opportunities and risks involved in information technology management. It examines the issues involved in acquiring information systems that support and maintain business operations in an efficient, effective, and ethical manner.  By the end of the course, students should be able to understand the strategic and support role of information technology and various approaches to acquiring and deploying information systems.

·        Understand how information systems can provide business value.

·        Assess the ethical, privacy, and security trade-offs involved in the use of information systems.

·        Understand the various types of systems that are used in connection with business processes.

·        Analyze the various ways in which information systems can be acquired – the “make vs. buy” decision.

·        Evaluate emerging trends in information technology.

• Understand the role of information technology in business processes
• Identify the factors involved in digital firms and virtual organizations

• Identify models for understanding information technology as strategic asset
• Understand how information systems can support different business strategies

• Analyze the potential contributions of information systems to achieve corporate strategic objectives.
• Identify the different frameworks and models that can be used to assess strategic information systems
• Understand the role of databases within the organization.
• Identify methods to analyze and use the data within databases to make better decisions within the organization. 

• Define information security
• Identify security context
• Explain how information security fits into business risk management
• Describe current threats and mitigation practices
• Identify different types of attacks
• Understand risk management and business process continuity
• Evaluate tradeoffs in business recovery plans

• Identify ethical, privacy, and social issues involved in the introduction of new technology
• Understand intellectual property, copyright, and patent issues related to software development
• Identify the societal impacts of information systems on business and social activities

• Describe the systems development life cycle
• Apply project management principles to information systems projects
• Understand the user’s role in the development and implementation of information systems  
• Identify generic system conversion strategies

• Understand tradeoffs involved in inhouse versus outsourced development
• Identify criteria for selection of vendors

• Describe the trade-offs with insourcing, outsourcing, and offshore development.

• Understand the continuing role of information systems in business organizations and trends
• Identify generic mistakes in systems development
• Understand evolving IT architectures

Cases and readings are either posted in WebCT Vista or in the course packet that will be available at the print shop at 6 Decatur Street (404-523-2679).   

Case analyses should be 4-5 pages (single or 1.5 line spaced and 12 pt font).  Correct spelling and grammar are expected and will be part of the grade.   The case write-up should focus on the questions provided for the case, and your answers should draw upon the material presented in class.  If asked for an opinion, you should support it with background justification based on the course content.   Case write-ups can be written individually or in a group of three or four people.

Students will work either individually or on teams of three or four people to produce (1) a research paper, (2) a new case description, or (3) a web design document.  Teams will provide a project proposal to the instructor, and then will implement the project in a paper, design document, or software artifact. 

A Team's Session Materials should cover a topic not in our course content (but that you think should be included) or a much better (broader and/or deeper and/or easier to understand) presentation on a topic that we do cover. If your choice is a topic we do cover, then you should present it during the class when that topic is discussed (an example would be outsourcing). If it is a topic we are not scheduled to cover, then class 8 is appropriate (even if it is not a project).  Each group/team of three/four should select one of the session topics (use WebCT to post your selection so others will know that the topic is taken)

Your session materials should be PowerPoint that you present in class and a 5-6 page write-up of the notes from your slides with appropriate context and transition (and references… J).

For the case write-ups, these should be turned in prior to class discussion of the case. Presenting your write-up is a strong participation plus but does not satisfy the session materials component.

Class participation grades will be earned by participation in case discussions and answering questions during class concerning the assigned readings.

The courses in the mini-mester structure are slightly too short to fulfill board of regents requirements concerning student/faculty contact hours. To make up for the shortfall in hours, students are required to attend at least one session of the guest lecture series. See RCB Speakers Schedule.  A one-paragraph write up of the speaker’s talk should be submitted along with the form that will be given at the lecture. The form will cover you for two classes. If you take more than two classes then you have to attend multiple talks. Sessions will include an address of approximately 60 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of Q&A, and concluding with a 45 minute networking session with refreshments provided. Speaker details are to be determined.  If you cannot attend any of the lectures then you can interview an IT professional to substitute for your MBA 8120 requirement. Or, you may view a listed webcast.  See Speaker Alternates (Webcasts).  In these cases you have to submit a one page, single-spaced report.

See mba_8120Spring2007StuckeSchedule.htm .

Prerequisites are strictly enforced.  Students failing to complete a prerequisites with a grade of “C-” or higher will be administratively withdrawn from the course in which they are in violation with a loss of tuition fees. 

Student work submitted in fulfillment of course requirements and any student activity recorded is deemed to be granted in the public domain (copyright-free) for the purposes of use as instructional or research material or for examples of student work in future courses.

Students are expected to attend all classes and group meetings, except when precluded by emergencies, religious holidays or bona fide extenuating circumstances.

Students who, for non-academic reasons beyond their control, are unable to meet the full requirements of the course should notify the instructor. Incompletes may be given if a student has ONE AND ONLY ONE outstanding assignment.

A “W” grade will be assigned if a student withdraws before mid-semester while maintaining a passing grade. Withdrawals after the mid-semester date will result in a grade of “WF”.  Refer to GSU catalog or Registrar’s office for details.

Spirited class participation is encouraged and informed discussion in class is expected.  This requires completing readings and assignments before class.

Unless specifically stated by the instructor, all exams and assignments are to be completed by the student alone. 

Within group collaboration is allowed on project work.  Collaboration between project groups will be considered cheating unless specifically allowed by an instructor.

Work copied from the Internet without a proper reference will be considered plagiarism and is subject to disciplinary action as delineated in the Student Handbook.

Any non-authorized collaboration will be considered cheating and the student(s) involved will have an Academic Dishonesty charge completed by the instructor and placed on file in the Dean’s office and the CIS Department.  All instructors regardless of the type of assignment will apply this Academic Dishonesty policy equally to all students.  See excerpt from the Student Handbook below:

(Abstracted from GSU’s Student Handbook Student Code of Conduct “Policy on Academic Honesty and Procedures for Resolving Matters of Academic Honesty” - http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam/academichonesty.html)

As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The University assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts. Both the ideals of scholarship and the need for fairness require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit. They also require that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable or unethical conduct related to their academic work.

Students are expected to discuss with faculty the expectations regarding course assignments and standards of conduct.  Here are some examples and definitions that clarify the standards by which academic honesty and academically honorable conduct are judged at GSU.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else. The submission of research or completed papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the faculty member. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Any work, in whole or part, taken from the internet or other computer based resource without properly referencing the source (for example, the URL) is considered plagiarism. A complete reference is required in order that all parties may locate and view the original source. Finally, there may be forms of plagiarism that are unique to an individual discipline or course, examples of which should be provided in advance by the faculty member. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility.

Cheating on Examinations. Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or “crib sheets” during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member), or sharing information with another student during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member). Other examples include intentionally allowing another student to view one’s own examination and collaboration before or after an examination if such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the faculty member.

Unauthorized Collaboration. Submission for academic credit of a work product, or a part thereof, represented as its being one’s own effort, which has been developed in substantial collaboration with assistance from another person or source, or computer honesty. It is also a violation of academic honesty knowingly to provide such assistance. Collaborative work specifically authorized by a faculty member is allowed.