Overview Understanding information systems is central to managing in an information age. To understand the totality of this subject in a five-week course, is impossible but we will do the best we can. Two approaches to studying information systems are technical and managerial. Although we will cover technical aspects of information systems, we will take a managerial rather than a technical frame of reference. Beyond the objectives of the program, an excessive focus on the technical aspects of information systems misses the point when considered against issues regarding their impact. The world of information systems is changing so rapidly that ten years from now you will view today as you now view life before the Internet.
We will focus on how information systems are changing the way we work and the way business functions. This theme will be repeated over and over. Hopefully, the issues we discuss will provide you with the foundation to better understand issues related to information systems -- regardless of whether you know little about them or whether you work with them every day. Beyond discussing issues related to the technologies, we also will focus on how the technologies are changing the nature of organizations and the nature of work.
Specifically, we will focus on some key information systems issues and trends, including:
Because of the course focus on Financial Services, we will orient readings and projects toward this sector. In the course we will use the textbook:
Fundamentals of Information Systems (4th ed.) by Stair and Reynolds (Course technology)
Objectives Given the above introduction, our overall objective is better understand information systems, and specifically to better understand:
Evaluation About half of the course grade will be based on individual work and about half will be based on team exercises. The breakdown is as follows:
45% -- Individual Assignments (3)
10% -- Issue Discussions (see below)
15% -- Group Case Paper (see below and for dates, see the assignment page)
15% -- Group Course Project
15% -- Class Attendance and Participation
Individual Assignments Each week the individual assignment will be to read a Harvard Business Review article and to write a paper on it responding to a posed question. The posed questions appear on the “Assignments” web page for the night in question and for the article in question. The article for Class 1 will be due at class 1, and so forth. Because class 4 would be scheduled for Thanksgiving, the paper for the fourth class can be handed in at class 5. Four assignments will be given but you need do only three. If you do all four, you will receive the three highest grades. Each student may submit a paper one-week late, once during the semester. After that there will be a 5-point penalty (out of 50 points) for each week that the paper is submitted late. The three grading criteria for the answers are the level of detail, the insight in the analysis, and writing and presentation. This latter category includes citing external sources – higher grades (i.e. A- and above general require some outside sources and also tend to be longer than the 3 page double spaced minimum. Longer papers are not always better but all other things equal, longer papers (e.g. 5 pages) indicate the student has delved more deeply into the issue. The source papers should be included in the course-pack but they also can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate link on the assignments page.
Group Issues Discussion In the issues discussion, you will present an argument for each side (pro and con) of an arguable issue. In the discussion, your will support each argument with evidence from the readings and from other articles that appear in newspapers, trade magazines, or journals. The discussion will be verbal with no PowerPoint presentations. The deliverable, beside the discussion itself, is a list of references.
Group Case Paper Your group will submit a 6-8 page paper (with references) that focuses on information systems issues a specific company or issue in financial services. The deliverable will be a paper that addresses these questions:
The case write-up will be due on the last class.
Course Project Since the course focuses more on managerial, social, and ethical issues, the project will focus on issues not discussed in class. I see several potential directions:
The relationship between software and management -- e.g. how enterprise resource planning software affects organizations; issues regarding information systems and outsourcing; issues in international information systems (privacy, global databases, culture); or economic evaluation of information systems. You also may explore an in-depth analysis of a technical issue and its impact: For example: the impact of multimedia on education; the impact of the Internet on work; e-commerce related topics such as architecture issues, channel conflict, and intellectual property; issues related to information security or privacy of information; how information-based products will change in the coming years. Or you can do an in-depth analysis of a specific technology.
The criteria are broad: The topic must be intellectually challenging and fun for you to pursue. The project itself will be a class presentation on the fifth night of class. No associated write-up is required, although you may include copies of the slides used in the presentation. A list of references supporting your work is required and will be factored into the project grade. This should include an annotated bibliography (for more details, see http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm#what). Although you may use examples from your employer to support the topic, the project is not an "information systems at the ABC company" type of project.
Class Participation The class participation grade will include participation in class discussions regarding the lectures, the cases at the beginning of class, and team exercises. A student who attends class but does not participate in class discussions can expect to receive an 80 of 100 (on a 100 point scale) as an attendance and participation grade. More engagement and participation will result in higher grades.
Attendance Policy Each missed class lowers your attendance and class participation grade by one-fifth because you can't participate if you are not there. Up to one class may be made up by submitting an extra class paper for a grade. There will be no attendance penalties for nights where the instructor reschedules classes.