Computer Applications in Management

CAPP-340(3)

Text: Preview: Senn: ToC, Preface; Cram: Intro., Preface, ToC.
Phil's Place: Study: Course Syllabus and supporting documents. See also, Greeting Letter;

Turn In & Participate:

Practice basic protocols. Complete Week 1 Assignments. Survey Library resources.
Confirm books have arrived and access to software that will perform multiple regression analysis.
Explore Internet Resources.
Explore the UMUC Databases/sources and other web sites for information about and examples of Computer Applications in Management.
Get acquainted with fellow learners; post a bio-sketch to share with others
Complete the WebTycho tutorial and a review of my general and specific course guidance.

Begin with the end in mind. We set out this term to explore the use of computers in management and get some "hands on" experience as well. The Senn text, while still very good through 1997, misses out the past three-plus years of fascinating and dramatic developments. So throughout the course - starting this week - we need to update the information in Senn.

What better way than to take the Appendix and identify key events in Information Technology from 1997 to the present. That will be one of your assignments. Another is to take some of the end of chapter exercises and investigate either the issue or the company. This too we shall do.

Information - and efforts to exchange information - predate human existence. The Information Age uses a new tool that changes many of the "rules of the game" for information exchange - and hence for management. But people are still at the heart of what we do. Your people and their minds and skills are the true source of competitive advantage in your firm or activity. IT can help them be more efficient - with luck, even make a few more effective. But neither is guaranteed.

Because of Chapters 6 and 7 lay out nicely the structure of spreadsheets and databases that I want you to implement in your term projects, I ask you to jump over chapter 2-5, saving them until next time. This week, look next to chapters 6 and 7 so you can see where you are headed. Our term projects will be formal and structured, not the informal, poorly documented ones that most of us are used to.

Note that I need your Term Project topics for both the Spreadsheet and Database projects halfway through this period. You should post your proposal to the WebTycho conference on this subject as early as possible. Selection is first come- first served. The formal proposal is to follow by the last day of this study period.

Cram's text is practical as I have mentioned elsewhere. Unit A covers the creation of standard business documents. Work through all the exercises including the end of chapter work. If, after reading the projects, you see you know and can implement all the skills, then, pass on to the next project. I do not want any "practice bleeding", but you must be able to "do" the work and explain it to someone else, not just have a vague awareness of how it is done.

You will be using MS Word for some of your reports later in the course, so it is a good place to start. Besides, Unit E covers Integration of Word, Excel and Access, so I do not want to tempt fate by skipping Unit A. Please complete all the exercises at the end of each unit. You will see one of more, perhaps in a slightly varied form, on an exam.

Unit B gets you into using Excel for what it does best - calculating. Excel is an beautiful planning tool - we can play "what if?"

Your MS Office CD-ROM may still retain many templates and examples which you did not put on your hard drive during installation. Go back and take a look, particularly if you used the default installation. Upload all the templates and examples. You can use any of them as a starting point for your term projects or work on the exercises in Cram's book.

Topics:

What Information Age? Principles of IT IT Careers Key Events in IT history Spreadsheet Functions Problem Solving using Spreadsheets Business Graphics Developing a Personal S/sheet Application Personal Database Systems Developing Database Applications

MS Word Résumé Business Cards Formal Letter MS Excel Budgeting Data Analysis Planning Activities

Assigned problems from the end of Senn's chapters.
Selected exercises from Cram's text.
Key IT events, 1998-2001.
Turn in your course project topics and proposals.
Turn in your journal installment.
One article/web site to share with the class

Group Work:

Lead Students will share responses to my questions by the end of Week 2. Others will then comment and add there own perspective. Discussion will continue through Week 3.

We step back to Chapters 2-4 and take a closer look at both hardware and software. If you have never looked at the inside of your computer, take the cover off (if it is not too troublesome). You may want to have a friend help you. Do not touch anything inside the computer, but look for the components discussed in the text. You might also like to review your CAPP 100A Labs. (They are on the UMUC lab computers if you do not have the book or CD-ROM.)

Software turns a piece of machinery into a management tool. So next we preview software. Notice the use of diagrams and graphics to help capture the components of a system. We will discuss diagramming more leading up to your second deadline date for your term projects. (See also Senn, Chapter 12.)

We cannot escape a chapter on the Internet and World Wide Web. You know a lot about those topics, but I suspect Senn's approach will add value to your knowledge base. Notice the variety of tools used in the Photo Essay on Tripod. You should use some of those in your project development as well.

Senn's Chapter 4 is essential to understanding some of the weaknesses as well as strengths of computers as a tool in management. It is detailed and perhaps a little too "techie" for some, but it is vital that you study and understand this chapter. Computer managers that you work with learn something about management. If you know nothing about the inner most workings of a computer, they will have a jump on you.

Cram takes you right into linking the Excel and Word in Unit C. Make sure you capture the skills for making charts as well as linking data and charts from Excel to Word. Unit D moves very quickly through Access. Make use of on-line helps. Make sure you carefully distinguish between the various views in Access. There are many details omitted in the discussion. Locate outside sources that will augment your knowledge of Access when you need it.

Topics:

Computer Hardware - a Detailed Look Computer Software - Makes Hardware "Sing" Information, People, Procedures Intro. to Systems IT in Practice WWW and the Internet The CPU and Memory Inside the System Processing Sequence Processor Speed

MS Excel Linked Invoice and Letter Survey Results Price List MS Access Inventory Profiles Store of Information

Assigned problems from the end of Senn's chapters.
Selected exercises from Cram's text.
Turn-in your course project outlines and system overviews.
One article/web site to share with the class

Lead Students will share responses to my questions by the end of Week 4. Others will then comment and add there own perspective. Discussion will continue through Week 5.

Senn leads us into the realm of nonvolatile storage - hard and floppy disks, flash cards and the like. He then explores a wide variety of input and output devices. Please share your experiences in the conferences set up for this purpose in WT.

Then, to round out the first half of the course, Senn gets to the "good stuff" - multimedia. How do people learn? Many learn best by complementing text with graphics, diagrams, pictures, sounds, animation, video, etc. Senn does a very good job of exploring this area, but there is more we can add with just a little Web searching.

Note the techniques Cram demonstrates in Unit E on Integration of Word, Excel and Access. She introduces new facts to database creation, links the programs to extract and use just a portion of the information in the files, but to very good effect. Her focus is on using each tool for what it is best at. Good lessons here.

Post your spreadsheet projects in the WT conference created for that purpose. This will allow others to learn from you and you from them.

Topics:

Secondary Storage and I/O Storage Devices Input Devices Output Devices Multimedia Presentations Authoring Digitizing

MS Word, Excel & Access Integration Job Search Database Company Profile Catalogue

Texts: Study: Senn: Chapters 5, 8; Cram: Unit E; MS Integration Projects.

Assigned problems from the end of Senn's chapters.
Selected exercises from Cram's text.
Turn-in your spreadsheet project draft.
Turn in your journal installment.
One article/web site to share with the class

Lead Students will share responses to my questions. Others will then comment and add there own perspective.

Review for the Midterm Exam (Senn: Ch. 1-7, Appendix; Cram: Units A-D)

Midterm will be posted on WebTycho in the study group area.
Complete and turn in midterm by deadline.
Turn in your journal installment.

None

We return refreshed, I hope. I will assign each of you a spreadsheet project (in draft) to review and critique. Post your critiques as a response to the original project posting in WT.

In Chapter 9, Senn uses his discussion of Single-User systems to showcase the application of the traditional problem solving method as applied to the purchase of a personal computer. If you have recently made a PC purchase - or a thinking about it, this could be a particularly valuable part of the book for you. Everyone needs to take a careful look at this problem solving cycle and apply it to their own situation.

In the next chapter, Senn focuses on networks and how they function to expand the reach of people in your organization. One way to do more with less - and do it faster - is to use the power of networks. If you have little knowledge in this area, pay close attention to Senn's excellent summary chapter. (Yes, he hides the details so you will not miss the main points.)

Cram offers a unit on Powerpoint. I know a number of you will be familiar with Powerpoint, but I wanted to cover it nonetheless because the discussion may be very useful for others. Creating a good presentation is much more than knowing "how to" in Powerpoint; but when you are confident of the Powerpoint method, you can focus on content much more.

Single-User Systems What are they? How are they developed? Multiuser & Networked Systems Principles Network Service Applications Network Types & Hardware Network Operations Systems Network Architecture

MS Powerpoint - Graphics Training Presentation Web Page Lecture Presentation

Texts: Study: Senn: Chapters 9-10; Cram: Unit F; Powerpoint Projects.

Assigned problems from the end of Senn's chapters.
Selected exercises from Cram's text.
Turn-in your spreadsheet project critique.
Turn-in your database project draft.
Turn in your journal installment.
One article/web site to share with the class

Lead Students will share responses to my questions by the end of Week 8. Others will then comment and add there own perspective. Discussion will continue through Week 9.

We are ready to address two very important chapters - important to managers because many of us experience the power of networked systems every day in our worksites. Senn explains shared and distributed data networks in Chapter 11.

In Chapter 12, Senn reviews the process of developing shared system software from needs analysis to implementation. Spend some time here for it will help you on the job. This chapter also introduces several system flowcharting techniques that we have discussed earlier in the course.

Cram pulls together all the programs she has covered so far in Unit G in which she discusses three presentations.

Topics:

Shared & Distributed Data Principles of Data Sharing Distributed Databases Shared Database Structures Client-Server Computing People & Procedures Developing Shared IT Applications Open Shared Systems Origin of a Systems Project System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) System Analyst's Tools & Techniques Computer Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) IT Development Personnel

MS Office Integration Sales Presentation Career Options Presentation Class Party Presentation

Assigned problems from the end of Senn's chapters.
Selected exercises from Cram's text.
Turn-in your database project critique.
Turn-in your spreadsheet project final version.
Turn in your journal installment.
One article/web site to share with the class

Lead Students will share responses to my questions by the end of Week 10. Others will then comment and add there own perspective. Discussion will continue through Week 11.