BMIS 2411

Information Systems

AT-A-

GLANCE

GENERAL INFORMATION

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Goals
Learning

   Objectives

Materials

DETAILED SYLLABUS

Grading
Assignments
Schedule

UPDATES

Updates

BMIS 2411 Information Systems

Fall Semester 2007

* cross-listed with BA ACC 2411, course 15639

** cross-listed with BA ACC 2411, course 15681

Last updated November 06, 2007 07:59 PM

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Professor: Dennis Galletta

                   232 Mervis Hall

                   phone 648-1699

                   e-mail galletta@katz.pitt.edu

Secretary: None

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Goals

Why Do I Have to Take This Course?

A common question among students (from majors other than MIS) is: "Why do I have to take this course?" Common reasons used for asking that question often fit into one or more of the following: (1) I already know Microsoft Office and the Internet, (2) I do not want to develop systems, or (3) I already have to take strategy. Why is this course just more strategy?

Harvard professors in MIS justify the topic by demonstrating the huge investments the corporate world has made in IT.  The US Department of Commerce tells us that US investments in corporate IT per full-time employee have tripled from 1987 to 2004, reaching $5,134, and that annual investments in IT nearly match those made in "plant" (23%).Refer to the graphs below:

Source for both charts: Andrew McAfee: "Managing in the Information Age: Course Overview, April, 2005.

Data source for both charts: US Bureau of Economic Analysis Tangible Wealth Survey

The difficulty is that it took many years to show any "bottom line" benefits from such expenditures. Once the benefits were found, there was a large amount of variance, suggesting that investing in IT is not a reliable source of return on investment.

Why is it not a reliable source of return? It is likely that just throwing money at technology (purchase of the technology) is unreliable. The key is management of the technology. There are many different activities, ranging from forecasting to analysis to communication. Those activities start from determining the need and ending with deployment and evaluation. Each activity is a link in the overall chain, only as strong as its weakest link.

Common Sense is Not Enough

Given the complexity and number of ways to go wrong, common sense is not enough. There are few equations and few comprehensive analyses in this field, but many decision points. This course will help you better understand what to do when you encounter those decision points. If these decisions were based on common sense, only the large, lucrative investments would be seen, not the large, costly failures that occur from time to time.

A Remarkable Decade

It would be an understatement to say that the last decade has been confusing for the study of information systems. That period began with frantic investment and hype over the Internet and electronic commerce. In 2000, the Internet "bust" and the threat of outsourcing to offshore firms has led many away from the field in the last six years. Computer-related majors are down 50% to 70% in the US and Australia, but meanwhile, most projections show continued growth in hiring for the next few years. Nice opportunity?

The downturn and Internet "bust" are quite odd given that Internet sites have continued to climb rapidly. According to Zakon's site, displaying internet growth semi-annually, in January of 2000, at the peak of the hype, there were nearly 72.5 million hosts (addresses that were registered for access). When Zakon updates his site soon with the new statistics, he will find that as of July, 2007, we are getting close to 490 million hosts, representing annual growth since the "bust" of about 30%. Who is going to develop these and other new systems over the next decades?

Beyond IT personnel, users have also become much more aware of IT over the last decade. One visible sign is the widespread use of personal computers at work, which have been called "the hallmark of the workplace in postindustrial American" (Hipple & Kosanovich, 2003). Even four years ago, at least 80% of all managers had access to a PC, and after dropping agriculture and construction, about 81% of all employees had access to a PC. It is undoubtedly higher now.

Education in IT, in fact, the 1985 version of this course, used to involve programming and tools such as spreadsheet development and statistical analysis. Over the years, at this school as well as many, many others, the tool focus has diminished and the strategic dimension has increased. This version of the course still involves one tool: Microsoft Access. However, the focus is limited to about an hour of class time.

A High-Level View

The new strategic focus of this course points to decisions that executives need to make about information technology. This "view from 30,000 feet" is intended to emphasize millions of dollars rather than day-to-day decisions. Strategic frameworks and analytical processes win out over programming and the use of tools. We focus on competitive advantage and the potential to shape a marketplace.

We did not invent this approach; the world has evolved and teaching materials have matured. The reasoning is that you are likely to become involved in technology decisions almost immediately in your career. As a team or committee member you will see very familiar issues and you will remember that common sense will not be enough. You, and others who have a similar background, will contribute valuable points of view that others using only their common sense will not be able to contribute. You might save the organization millions of dollars at each opportunity.

Learning Objectives

Materials

Computer: 
On days that you do bring along your laptop, please do not distract other students with it by catching up on your e-mail or doing casual browsing during class. Constantly-open laptops could result in lower course participation scores!

Name Tag: Please use name tags, assuming I do not know your name. Lack of a name-tag will result in lower course participation scores.

Text:
Pearlson, Keri E. and Saunders, Carol S. Managing & Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach (3rd ed.), 2006, Wiley. ISBN 0-471-71538-7.

Article:
Carr, Nicholas "IT Doesn't Matter,"  Harvard Business Review, May, 2003 (available using the instructions here.

Cases (dates in parentheses--if two, then date written/date revised):

Where are the 9 Harvard cases? They are available on the Harvard Business School's publications Web site under course c10698. The electronic versions of the 9 cases can be purchased and printed instantly and cost about $36 (before any taxes or other charges).  Here is the address:

Please do not e-mail me your case answers and other items due! Please use Blackboard. Please SUBMIT, don't just ADD, your items.

Academic Honesty: It is expected that all assignments will be your own original work, not copied and pasted from any source (friends, web sites, etc.).  Failure to cite a source and mark quoted material is a serious violation of academic integrity, no matter how small the assignment, and could result in a failing grade in this course and/or the MBA program.

Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

DETAILED SYLLABUS

Assignments

Cases: Questions to answer for each case will be provided at least two weeks before each case is due. Please submit your answers through Blackboard.  Please do not use e-mail. Some cases do not involve hand-ins; but your participation will still count. Case submissions are due no later than the start of your class session.

Innovation Project and Presentations: Your group should come up with an idea for turning an idea into a technological reality in an organization. The project is described in detail at this link.