Course Description:

This is a course about managing information systems.  You will learn what information systems are, how they affect organizations and employees, and how they can be used to make organizations more efficient.  For business organizations better efficiency means improved competitiveness.  Information systems are essential for creating efficient organizations, managing global corporations, and providing useful products and services to customers.  This course is an introduction to management information systems.  (From the preface of the course text)

Some of the topics discussed in the course include the following:

• managing the digital firm
• information systems, organizations, management, and strategy
• electronic commerce and electronic business
• managing hardware and software assets
• managing data resources
• telecommunications and networks
• the internet
• knowledge work and artificial intelligence
• enhancing management decision making
• information systems security and control
• ethical and social impact of information systems

Textbook:

The following textbook is required for the course:

Management Information Systems - 

Managing the Digital Firm,  Seventh Edition

by Kenneth C. Laudon & Jane P. Laudon

Prentice Hall, 2000

Required References:

The online edition of the New York Times has excellent coverage of technology news, much of it  computer and information system related.  The service requires a subscription but it is free.  Please visit the New York Times Web page at  www.nytimes.com and subscribe.  
 

There are many other excellent computer technology news sources and a compiled list will be presented in class.

Objectives:

        After successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:

• evaluate the role of information systems in today's business environment,
• define an information system from both a technical and business perspective,
• distinguish between computer literacy and information system literacy,
• explain how information systems are transforming organizations and management,
• assess the relationship between the digital firm, electronic commerce, electronic business, and internet technology,
• analyze the role played by the six major types of information systems in organizations and their relationship to each other,
• describe the types of information systems supporting the major functional areas of a business,
• explain how enterprise systems and industrial networks create new efficiencies for businesses,
• contrast the classical and contemporary models of managerial activities and roles,
• describe how managers make decisions in organizations,
• explain how internet technology has transformed organizations and business models,
• evaluate the principal electronic payment systems,
• identify the hardware components in a typical computer system and their role in processing information,
• compare the capabilities of mainframes, midrange computers, microcomputers, workstations, servers, and supercomputers,
• analyze important issues in managing hardware technology assets,
• describe the major types of software,
• describe contemporary approaches to software development,
• describe how a database management system organizes information,
• describe the basic components of a telecommunication system,
• describe how the internet works and identify its major capabilities,
• evaluate the benefits the internet offers organizations, and
• demonstrate how building new systems can produce organizational change.

For more objectives see the list of goals preceding each chapter in the text book.

Grades:

        Grades for this course will be based on:
 

        and will be assigned as follows:
 

Study Groups:

Each student will be assigned to a study group consisting of two to four students.  The group assignments will be made by the instructor.  Each student is expected to participate in joint group projects.

Projects/Case Studies/Homework:

A number of projects will be assigned. Some are intended for group work and some will be individual efforts. Some project assignments will come from the Review Questions, Group Project, and  Case Study sections found at the end of the chapters.

News Article Reports:

Each week each student will report on a computer technology related article that he or she gleaned from the internet.  A list of online computer technology news sources will be distributed in class.

Term Paper:

Each student will conduct  research on an assigned topic and a short (four-to-five page) report will be submitted as one of your writing assignments.

Exams:

Four exams are scheduled.

The exams will consist of a variety of questions:  multiple choice, matching, definition, acronyms, brief explanations, compare and distinguish, thought-provoking and problem-solving type questions, and so on.  Essays and case studies are possible on the exam, as well.  

Participation:

Participation involves responding to questions from the instructor and fellow students, contributing to in-class discussions, and aiding in the search for in-class solutions to case studies and other assigned problems.  Everyone is expected to contribute.

Tentative Schedule:
 
 

Week	Topic	Reading Assignment
1 21 & 23 January	Introductions Managing the Digital Firm Information Systems in the Enterprise	Chapter 1 Chapter 2
2 28 & 30 January	Information Systems, Organizations, Management, and Strategy The Digital Firm: Electronic Commerce and Electronic Business	Chapter 3     Chapter 4
3   4 & 6 February	Test #1 (Tuesday 1st Hour) Managing Hardware Assets Managing Software Assets	Chapter 5 Chapter 6
4 11 & 13 February	Managing Data Resources Telecommunications and Networks	Chapter 7   Chapter 8
5 18 & 20 February	Test #2 (Tuesday 1st Hour)   The Internet  Redesigning the Organization with Information Systems	Chapter 9   Chapter 10
6 25 & 27 February	Understanding the Business Value of Systems and Managing Change Knowledge Work and AI	Chapter 11     Chapter 12
7 4 & 6 March	Test #3 (Tuesday 1st Hour) Enhancing Management Decision Making Information Systems Security and Control	Chapter 13     Chapter 14
8  11 & 13 March	Ethical and Social Impact of Information Systems Managing International Information Systems Test #4 (Thursday, last class)	Chapter 15  Chapter 16

Biography of Instructor:

Kerry Painter earned his BA degree in Chinese-Vietnamese Language Studies from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Before attending the University of Hawaii, he studied electrical engineering at Clemson University, attended the 47-week North Vietnamese language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and worked as a linguist for the Army Security Agency in both Vietnam and Korea.

For six years after college graduation he worked in radio news as a reporter, writer, announcer, news director, and manager in Hawaii, Texas, and Delaware.  He earned an MS degree in Technical and Science Communication and an MS in Computer Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Kerry did doctoral studies at Drexel and has taught a variety of computer science and mathematics courses at Drexel University, Penn State University,  Elizabethtown College, and Swarthmore College, all in Pennsylvania.  He joined The University of Maryland European Division in January 1989 and has taught  at SHAPE in Belgium, Soesterberg Air Base and AFCENT in Holland, Aviano Air Base in Italy, and at several German locations:  Augsburg, Bad Kreuznach,  Bamberg, Baumholder,  Berlin,  Geilenkirchen, Giebelstadt, Hahn, Hanau, Heidelberg, Kapaun (Vogelweh - Kaiserslautern), Kitzingen, Mannheim, Ramstein, Schweinfurt, Spangdahlem,  Wiesbaden, and Wuerzburg.
 
 

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