Management Information Systems
SAMPLE
Course Outline and Assignments
Week 1.Introduction to Management Information Systems
Background Reading: MUIS Introduction
Case:
To be handed out in class
Optional Readings :
“Learning Information Systems with Cases” (an Internet-based paper at this
site: http://www.umanitoba.ca/isworld/caselrn.html)
Keen, “Introduction to Every Manager’s Guide to IT”
Week 2. The Information Systems Strategy Triangle
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 1
Study Questions:
1. Why is it important for the three points of the triangle to be in balance?
What would happen if they were not in balance?
2. Describe the business strategy, organizational strategy and IS strategy of
an organization with which you are familiar. Highlight how the 3 strategies
are in balance.
Week 3. Organizational Impacts of Information Systems
Case:
Mrs. Fields Cookies (HBS Case)
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 2
Study Questions:
1. Describe and evaluate the organizational structure, management control
systems, and information technology of MFC.
2. Given their goals and the environment in which they compete, have Debbi
and Randy made coherent choices about their organization structure, control
systems, information resources, and people? Be ready to support your
opinion.
NOTE: Student teams will be asked to sign up for a technology topic immediately following this
class.
.Information Technology and the Virtual Organization
Case:
Verifone: The Transaction Automation Company
Reading:
Two Cheers for the Virtual Office (Sloan Management Review article)
Study Questions:
1. What are the key elements of Verifone's structure and strategy?
2. What role does the MIS department play at Verifone? What do you
think of Will Pape's daily information summary?
3. Has the virtual office arrangement been a success at Verifone? Which
management principles were the most critical to the success?
Week 4. Information Technology and the Design of Work
Case:
Otis Elevators: Managing the Service Force (HBS Case)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 3
Study Questions:
1. How should field workers be managed? What role should a
personal portable technology (hand-held terminal, 2-way radio, or other)
play?
2. Which configuration (Boston, Glendale, or Dallas) do you think best
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meets the needs of Otis? of the field force? Why?
3. How would you implement these changes in organization, technology,
and work methods?
Week 5. IT Architecture and Business Success
Case:
State Street Boston Corporation: Leading with IT (HBS Case)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 6
Management by Maxim: How Business and IT Managers Can Create IT
Infrastructures
Study Questions:
1. Describe State Street Boston's business. What do they need to do well
to be successful? What competitors might challenge them in the future?
2. What are the key aspects of the State Street IT architecture? How do
they contribute to or detract from the firm's success?
3. How would you evaluate Sexton's handling of the GHI project?
Week 6. Managing Information and Knowledge
Case:
Knowledge Management at Andersen Consulting (HBS Case)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 9
Building Successful Knowledge Management Projects
Known Evils: Common Pitfalls of Knowledge Management
Study Questions:
1. Why does Andersen Consulting think it is important to manage
knowledge?
2. If you were an Andersen Consultant, what strengths and weaknesses do
you think you would find with the Knowledge Exchange?
3. What directions do you think Andersen should take in the future with
knowledge management and the Knowledge Exchange?
Week 7. Strategic Use of the Information Resource
Case:
Federal Express: The Role of Information Technology in Customer Service
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 4
Developing Long-Term Competitiveness through IT Assets (Sloan Mgt Rev
article)
Study Questions:
1. What is the strategy of FedEx and how is IT used to achieve this strategy?
2. How does IT support the customer service function at Federal Express?
How should IT support FedEx’s customers?
3. What should Jones’ role be in supporting the FedEx business strategy?
Week 8. Business Process Transformation
Case:
Capital Holding Corporation: Direct Response Group (HBS Case)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 5
Don't Automate, Obliterate (HBR Article)
Study Questions:
1. What kinds of obstacles should managers expect to face as they
undertake an organization-wide business transformation initiative?
2. Describe the process that DRG management has taken to reengineering.
What recommendations do you have for DRG management as they
implement their initiatives?
3. What is the role of information systems in reengineering? Can an
organization reengineer without considering their IT systems?
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Week 9. Internet and Global Corporations
Case:
Air Products Internet Strategy (HBS Case Study)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 7
Study Questions:
1. Do you agree with Pete Mather that the intranet isn't necessarily the
best overall internal communications vehicle for Air Products?
2. Is Air Products' MIS group the right function to implement the intranet?
3. If you were McMakin, where would you take the Internet strategy?
Week 10.Building an E-Business
Guest Speaker:
(Bring in a speaker from a local company--either a dot com, an internet
infrastructure organization, or other group with major e-business initiatives)
Reading:
Please surf the web for answers to the questions below.
Study Questions:
1. What capabilities, if any, are still lacking for electronic commerce to
succeed?
2. What business opportunities do you see on the network? How might a
large company compete in the Internet market? a small company?
3. In your opinion, what will be the biggest single change experienced by
companies who are just now beginning to use electronic commerce?
4. What was the most interesting thing you found while “surfing” the
network? Please bring the address to class (it begins with
“http://...”).
NOTE: Your Web Page must be done by this class and e-mailed to your TA.
Week 11. Managing the Information System Resources
Case Study:
General Motors (from CD Rom)
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 8
Eight Imperatives for the New IT Organization
Study Questions:
1. What should be the goals of IS&S?
2. What capabilities does the IS&S organization need to support GM now
and in the future?
3. Has Ralph set up his organization appropriately? What would you advise
him to do differently?
The Role of the CIO
Guest Speaker:
Study Questions:
<invite a CIO from a local company to speak about what they do>
1. What is a CIO? What background should a person holding this job have?
What type of person do you what as the CIO of your business?
2. What business skills should a CIO have? What technical skills should
this he/she have?
3. What functions would you expect the IS organization of the <Name of
Company your Guest represents> Corporation to provide?
Week 12. Developing IS Systems
Case:
Rock Solid (on CD Rom)
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 10
Study Questions:
1. What is the typical way an information system is developed? How does
SDLC assist in that process?
2. How were the systems at Rock Solid developed?
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3. What recommendations would make to them to change their develoment
processes?
The Role of the General Manager in IS Development
Case:
The IT System that Couldn't Deliver
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 10
Study Questions:
1. What tasks are needed in an IS development project?
2. What is the role of the IS professional in developing system? What is the
role of the general manager?
3. Why didn't this system deliver? Which of the expert commentary do you
think best describes the situation? Why?
Week 13. Ethical Use of Information Systems
Case::
IRS (HBS Case)
Reading:
MUIS Chapter 11
Study Questions:
1. How did the collections process change in the move from COF to ACS?
2. How should Tim Brown proceed? How should he implement the option
he chooses?
3. Is the electronic monitoring feature of the ACS system an invasion of
employee privacy? When is computer monitoring appropriate?
What safeguards can be enacted to preserve individual rights to
privacy
Where do you draw the line?
Readings:
MUIS Chapter 11
Study Questions:
1. Where do you personally draw the line between what is ethical use and
unethical use of information? Give an example on each side of that line
2. As a manager in an organization, what steps can you take to insure those
who work for you do not violate the moral and ethical boundaries of
information use?
Week 14. Summary, Presentations, and Exam
Choosing A Topic for the Technology Update Short Seminar Series
Technology in this field changes so rapidly that systems available today are predicted to be outdated within 2-3 years. With
such a short life-time, it is important to both know about the current systems and to learn how to research and evaluate those
technologies not yet available. In this course, you will be exposed to a set of emerging technology topics which are just making
their way into the business arena today. Courtesy of your classmates, you will be treated to a brief introduction to several
topics, and given references for further study. In turn, you will research one topic and provide a summary for your classmates.
Below is a list of possible technology topics to be covered in this class. Please sign up as a study group for a particular topic.
Only one group may do a topic, so it is in your best interest to identify several choices, in case your first choice is already taken.
You may design your own topic, but you must have approval of the instructor. The sign up session will begin after the second
class period and end at 5:00 pm on January 23, and we will post the group assignments along with the date of delivery of these
seminars by the third class period. Seminars begin with the 4th class.
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Your seminar should only be 15 minutes long. That is not a lot of time, so please try to pick out 2 or 3 main points to get
across, and use the handout and the question/answer period to bring out other points. When designing the seminar, keep your
class mates in mind...they are the audience (not the instructor or the TAs). Remember: The goal of these seminars is to
introduce your classmates to the topic, not to make them technology experts.
The Topics:
1. What is new in document management systems?
2. What is Object Orientation?
3. What are the latest developments in cellular, radio, and
other wireless networking technologies?
4. Carry it with you: the latest in portable and handheld
computers.
5. PCs meet TV: Intercast and its competition.
6. Client-Server architecture: The latest server trends.
7. Why move to Windows/Office 97?
8. What is “Lotus Notes” and what competes with it?
9. How to store lots of information: Data Warehousing.
10. What are the challenges in multimedia?
11. Real smart computers: Parallel Processing systems.
12. What is the state of Voice Recognition
13. Making systems quickly: CASE Tools
14. RISC versus CISC technology and chips of tomorrow
15. Satellite technologies: GIS versus GPS.
16. Enterprise Information Systems: What is a SAP?
17. Working from home: to ISDN or not to ISDN?
18. What’s up at Apple: The latest Mac technology
19. Is Java just a cup of hot coffee (and what about ActiveX)?
20. Unix and other operating systems
The Deliverables:
The Seminar. This is the fun part. I particularly don’t call this a “presentation” or “lecture”, because you are encouraged to
think beyond a “we talk and you listen” format. You have about 15 minutes to get your ideas across. Have fun. Be clever.
Pick your points carefully. The goal is to leave your class mates with enough understanding of your topic so if they are asked
about it in an interview, it won’t be the first time they have heard the term. You might cover an explanation of the
topic/concept, a key vendor or two, the history/current state of the technology, managerial issues surrounding the topic, key
buzz words associated with your topic, and/or examples of the technology and its use. Plan what you want to get across, then
plan how to best get it across.
The Handout. Prepare a 1-2 page handout and bring enough copies to class for each classmate and for the teaching staff (5
copies). This document should include all those things you wanted to include in the seminar but didn’t have time to cover.
Give examples of vendors, implementations and uses of the technology. Explain why this is an important technology to know
about. More interesting handouts in the past have included comparison tables, charts and pictures. Your handout must
include a definition of your topic, an example of some real business using the technology, and at least two complete references
for future research. Be sure if you directly quote a source or web page that you clearly indicate the attribution in your
document.
The Exam Questions. Please give me at least 10 possible questions on your topic that are suitable for an exam. These
questions can be multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, true/false and/or matching. I will read over them and use one
or more in the exam for your section (this is a good way to make sure you cover the important issues in your seminar and/or
handout, too!). These questions are due when you deliver your seminar.
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