MIS 404: BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
COURSE SYLLABUS
The Field of Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management:
The burgeoning field of business analytics (often called business intelligence) is the latest
battlefield for corporations seeking to gain competitive advantage, or simply to survive in a
fiercely competitive business environment. The focus is on collecting data in real-time about a
firm’s many business processes (such as filling orders, hiring employees or purchasing
supplies) and keeping track of exactly how the firm is performing in these areas. Managers can
react quickly to rapidly changing circumstances as the need arises. This is the field of
descriptive analytics. The most sophisticated firms are attempting to go beyond this and
determine the effects of potential changes in their business processes. This is the field of
predictive analytics. It allows firms to anticipate customer needs, create opportunities and beat
their competition.
Business analytics requires excellence in three fields. Vast amounts of data need to be
collected, stored, accessed and disseminated, as transactions occur throughout the enterprise.
This activity constitutes part of what is covered in information technology management. The
data has then to be appropriately analyzed and presented to managers to aid in their decisionmaking, which is the field of data analysis and statistics. Moreover, the firm’s business
processes
must be carefully analyzed and optimized for maximum efficiency and effectiveness, which is
the field of management science. The intersection of these areas of study constitutes the field
of business analytics. It is the use of computers to analyze complex information about an
organization and its competitors as inputs for business planning and decision making. The
objective is to create timelier and higher quality input to the decision process.
Amazon.com is a good example of how business analytics is used at an enterprise level. The
company collects vast quantities of data about its customers as transactions occur, i.e.
purchases take place. This data is stored in data warehouses and forms the basis for a
multitude of analytical tasks. Amazon is known for performing extensive statistical analysis on
users’ reactions to new features that they are contemplating. They also hired a professor of
management science, one of the world’s leading authorities on optimization analytics, to head up their
global supply chain. His team is building sophisticated supply chain systems to optimize the constant
flow of products from suppliers and to customers.
Knowledge management encompasses business intelligence/business analytics, but is a much
broader field. It focuses on the management of the intellectual capital of the firm, which is
exceedingly important considering that advanced economies are essentially knowledge-based.
Knowledge management leverages both tacit knowledge (knowledge within employees’ heads)
as well as explicit knowledge (knowledge that is codified, stored and accessible). Knowledge
sharing is particular important for the former, whereas techniques such as data mining and
management dashboards are used for the latter.
Textbook: There is no text book. Readings from journals and other sources will be used, which
can be accessed through the library or the Internet.
Prerequisites: MIS 235 and MIS 245.
Course Objectives
This course requires extensive research, reading, writing and discussion. You are required
to accomplish independent research on topics related to knowledge management and business
intelligence. You are also required to read and think as informed readers and to respond to
issues or problems raised in an analytical and creative manner. You will research and present
an appropriate topic to the class, as well as research and write a report investigating a
developing knowledge management issue or trend tailored to your personal interests.
The objectives of MIS 404 are to:
 provide an opportunity for you to contribute to the design of this high level course based
on your own interests;
 sharpen your research, analytical, critical thinking, synthesis and communication skills;
 enhance your ability to teach/explain knowledge management topics to others;
 examine current topics of interest in the field of knowledge management;
 provide a sense of how knowledge management is likely to affect your professional
(and personal) future and,
 fulfill the requirements of a liberal education course.
MIS 404 is designed to be a survey course in topics related to the field of knowledge
management and business intelligence. All of us come into this course with a wide variety of
academic, personal and work experiences. We all bring something a little different into this
learning environment. The key is to find an effective way to tap into this reservoir of knowledge
so we can learn from each other.
The course is delivered incorporating a student-driven learning pedagogy. This means
students will partially design the course, learn course material, and teach what they learn to
each other. It is your course. You will help design it by deciding what topics you will cover, as
well as how they will be delivered. My role, in addition to being your personal mentor and
learning partner, is to facilitate, coordinate, and be an active participant in the learning process.
Note: The readings prescribed by the instructor will serve to provide a common base of required
knowledge about knowledge management, tools and technology. You will be expected to
master this material in addition to exploring and discussing research topics of your choice which
are tailored to your interests. This common knowledge will form the basis of your written exams
along with the content of student presentations.
Course Requirement Details
Exams
Projects
Other
Test One
Test Two
Final Exam
10%
10%
10%
Class Presentation
Software Projects (2) 20%
Term Paper
15%
Participation* 20%
15%
* Participation includes your contribution to discussions based on class lectures by the instructor
as well as student presentations. Quality will be preferred over quantity, but a demonstration
that you have read the material will be highly valued. If you miss class, you obviously will lose
class participation points.
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Quizzes/Exams: These will be based on the readings and student assigned homework. The
quizzes will consist of multiple choice questions or crossword puzzles. The final exam will be
more conventional.
Homework: Each student will choose appropriate readings and homework assignments that
complement his/her presentation. The topic should reflect the interests of the presenter and
presumably the rest of the class. It should be tied to the subject matter the class is covering at
the time, and the emphasis should be on value added to the class’ knowledge. The readings
must be posted on the Blackboard course site by Friday evening for Tuesday classes and
Monday evening for Thursday classes. The penalty for being late is 3% of the final grade per
day. About ¼ of the quiz questions will be based on these readings.
A set of carefully designed questions should accompany the readings. These questions will be
the basis for about ¼ of the quizzes.
The presenting student should carefully design activities to engage the audience and interact
with students in the class to reinforce the material being presented. These activities should
preferably be interwoven into the class presentations to avoid long stretches of lectures.
Student responses to questions asked of them will count towards class participation scores
Class contribution: You must be here in order to contribute to the class. I expect everyone to
be an active member in class discussions. Your contribution will be evaluated more on quality
than quantity, including the homework design and responses.
Grading: Grades for the course will be based on your relative standing in class, with a loose
correlation with the standard grades for As, Bs, Cs and Ds (90+, 80+, 70+, 60+, respectively).
Final total scores for the class will be rank ordered and clusters of scores will be assigned
grades starting from the top cluster and proceeding downwards. There will be fewer A grades
than B grades, and if all goes well, not many C grades and even fewer Ds.
Assignments: The following assignments have been carefully crafted to meet the objectives of
this course. Details are provided in separate documents.
 1 class presentation in which students will lead a discussion of their topic and readings
assigned to the class.
 1 research term paper which will be done individually.
 2 software projects (using knowledge management software)
Written Work and Oral Presentations
You must effectively communicate the technical material of this class to a non-technical
audience. Use professional language when leading discussions. Unprofessional speech is
overly casual ("you know"), unspecific ("like"), and uses slang ("sucks"). You should be clear,
well organized, speak distinctly, and maintain good eye contact with the audience. Practice any
presentations so that you are confident using both the equipment and application packages.
I expect you to meet the writing standards commonly used in business and representative
of graduating Miami business students (e.g., correct spelling, subject/verb agreement, complete
sentences). Be clear but concise - don't make me guess what you are trying to say or wade
through a lot of fluff to get to the point. Type all written assignments using: 1" margins (top,
bottom, left, and right), no type smaller than 12 point, double spaced. Use an appropriate cover
sheet and cover for your report so that it has a professional, business-like look. Your name
should be on the top cover.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Class
1
Topic
(may change depending on
circumstances)
Course Introduction
2
Business Analytics
3
Business Intelligence in Continental
Airlines
Tom Davenport “Competing on Analytics”.
Harvard Business Review. 2006.
Book Excerpt “The Numerati” by Stephen
Baker
Knowledge Management & Business
Intelligence
Ron-Anderson Lehman, et al. “Continental
Airline”. 2006.
Claudia Imhoff .“Enterprise Business
Intelligence”. 2006.
4
Assigned Reading
Charles P. Seeley and Thomas H. Davenport
“KM meets Business Intelligence” KM
Review.2006. 8:6.
Don Allen Price “The Dawn of a new ERA”
DM Review. 2006.
5
Knowledge Management & Business
Intelligence
6
Knowledge Management (cont.)
7
The Balanced Scorecard
8
The Balanced Scorecard–SAP example
9
Dashboards and Scorecards
Meridith Levinson “The ABCs of KM”
“What is Knowledge Management” World
Bank. 1998.
Yongsun Paik and David Y. Choi. “The
Shortcomings of a
Standardized Global Knowledge
Management System: The Case
Study of Accenture”. Academy of
Management Executive. 2005. 19:2.
Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. “The
Balanced Scorecard Measures That Drive
Performance”. Harvard Business Review.
1992
Nick Milton. “Filtering an Organization’s
Critical Knowledge”. KM Review. 2007. 10:1.
Hugh J. Watson. “Dashboards and
Scorecards”. Business Intelligence Journal.
11:1
4
10
Performance Measurement software
11
QUIZ 1
12
Expert Systems
13
Expert Systems (cont.)
14
Expert Systems (cont.)
15
Decision Trees
16
Decision Trees (cont.)
17
Decision Trees (cont.)
18
Business Intelligence
19
Business Intelligence software
20
QUIZ 2
21
Data Warehousing
22
Data Warehousing (cont.)
23
Data Warehousing (cont.)
24
Data Warehousing (cont.)
25
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
26
27
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
(cont.)
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
(cont.)
*** THANKSGIVING BREAK ***
28
Supporting Knowledge Work
29
Supporting Knowledge Work (cont.)
30
The Challenges Ahead
31
The Challenges Ahead (cont.)
Chapter 12 Section 1 Laudon & Laudon text
Chapter 12 Section 2 Laudon & Laudon text
Chapter 12 Sections 3 and 4 Laudon &
Laudon text
Tutorial 1 from website
http://decisiontrees.net/node/16
Tutorials 2-7 from site above
Hugh J. Watson. “Recent Developments in
Data Warehousing”. CAIS, 2002.
Gary Loveman. “Diamonds in the Data Mine”.
Harvard Business Review. 2003.
Two Crows Corporation. “Introduction to Data
Mining and Knowledge Discovery”. 2005
The Future of Work. Business Week, 2007.
*** FINAL EXAM ***
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MIS 404: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE ASSIGNMENT #2
This assignment requires you to enact a scenario which is very common in industry. You’re
currently posted in the credit scoring department of a major financial institution. Your boss
attends a seminar on Knowledge Management and learns about the wondrous capabilities of
Expert Systems. He sat through a presentation describing Exsys’ CORVID expert system and
how it could be used to guide junior loan officers by harnessing the expertise of the company’s
best loan officers. He was also told that the application is quite easy to develop (you’ve heard
that before).
Upon returning to the office, he asks you to create an expert system using the CORVID
package, after interviewing and observing the top performing loan officers. You tabulate their
decisions in a table shown below. You then download the CORVID evaluation system and
develop the expert system as directed.
case number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
loan purpose
frivolous
frivolous
frivolous
frivolous
frivolous
frivolous
necessity
necessity
necessity
necessity
necessity
necessity
luxury
luxury
luxury
luxury
luxury
luxury
ability to repay
good
good
good
bad
bad
bad
good
good
good
bad
bad
bad
good
good
good
bad
bad
bad
past payment record
good
slow
poor
good
slow
poor
good
slow
poor
good
slow
poor
good
slow
poor
good
slow
poor
loan officer's
decision
GRANT
GRANT
DENY
DENY
DENY
DENY
GRANT
GRANT
GRANT
GRANT
GRANT
DENY
GRANT
GRANT
DENY
DENY
DENY
DENY
NOTE: Your boss would expect you to only ask questions of a policy-making nature if one
should arise. You obviously should not be asking him how to log on your system, how to
download, and so on. Fortunately for you, Exsys has an excellent tutorial on how to set up a
system using CORVID which you should download.
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