CS330
Management Information Systems
Spring 2015
Ahmed Ataullah
University of Waterloo
1
Who?
• Instructor:
– Ahmed Ataullah (aataulla at uwaterloo dot ca)
– About me:
• Did my undergrad, masters and PhD at Waterloo
• Specialized in Information Systems, worked as a consultant
for some time, forgone MBA instead of technical career
• TAs
– Also really great people that will be grading
assignments/midterms
2
Course Setup
• 1. Piazza
– Marks, Slides, Communications etc.
– Should get an email today inviting you to signup!
• 2. UW-Learn
– For grades only!
• 3. School of Computer Science Website
– http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs330
– Only for prospective students– stick to Piazza as
this will not get updated
– Google: cs330 waterloo
3
Textbook and Lectures
• Textbook (listed on website) is not required – but recommended
– Should read if you’re interested – I will refer to case studies that are
interesting and useful for learning
– Google/Wiki the technical terms and examples I mention in class
• Focus on the slides especially the terms in bold
• COME TO CLASS!!!
– Slides are brief summarizations of topics
– I will emphasize stuff that is important to know in real life and for a higher
grade
• Statistics show students who come to class get higher grades
• Above point has no impact on participation component of the grade
– Class “participation” is MANDATORY in this course
4
Grading
• Assignments (22.5% + 2.5% flex grade)
– 3 individual assignments (5%, 7.5% and 10%)
– Additional 2.5% (flex) will be allocated towards your best assignment
result
• Midterm (25%)
• Final Exam (50%)
• Class Participation
• Exams are closed-book and you must pass the combined
exam portion to pass the course
• You must “participate” in class to pass the course – details
later
• How to do well in this class?
– Come to class and take notes!
– Pay special attention when I say “this is going to be on the exam”
5
Specifics of Grading
• A1: Two page written report
• A2: Short answer questions + tiny written
component
• A3: Short answer questions only
• Midterm: 60 Multiple Choice Questions
• Final: 50 Multiple Choice Questions + 50 Short
answer questions
• Writing skills conschunk of your grade
6
Re-grading Policy
• Grades posted online on UW-Learn
– It is your responsibility to verify that the posted grade corresponds
to the grade actually received and to notify the TA of any error
ASAP
• ONLY written re-grading request should be
submitted within 14 days after graded assignment
is returned
– TA will decide on the marking issue
– if you are unsatisfied with his/her remarking put in an
another written request for me to examine the
disagreement with what the TAs said to your original
remark request
• Hard deadlines
– No late submission
– For unforeseen events (such as documented medical
emergencies) please contact me as soon as practical.
7
Class participation
• You must participate in class in order to pass the
course
– Yes you read that correctly!
• There are no iClickers for this offering
• “How do I get the participation credit?”
Option (a) Learn more: Ask at least two questions in
class or Piazza during the term and check your name
off on the class list that I bring to class
Option (b) Convince me otherwise: Explain to me why
you should be given the full participation credit
Option (c) Too cool for class participation eh?: Get a
weighted 85% or more on the assignments
8
Communications
• Try to get your question answered in class or
immediately after class (except for when I have to
go teach the other section)
• Use PIAZZA
• E-mail and any other messages (if for some
reason you cant use Piazza):
– Start your email as follows: “Hi, I am taking CS330 this
term and … ”
– Put CS330 in as the first word in your subject (e.g
“CS330 A1 Clarification” – Otherwise spam filters
might not catch it
• Sorry no twitter, facebook, instragram, whatsapp
etc. – myspace is okay though!
9
Why NOT to take this course
• Bird course!
– Maybe, depends. Are you tech savvy? Are you genuinely
interested in how computers continue to reshape our society
and workplaces?
• CS330 is NOT entirely a “management” course
– Unfortunately we will go into technical details…but just enough
to make you a “smart manager”
– No programming 
– Applications of the technical concepts will be emphasized
rather than their inner workings
• “I need to know/take this course for controlling all the
techies after I graduate and get an senior executive position
and a large multinational conglomerate”
– True statement for the wrong reason
10
Why take this course?
• Information Systems impact and often dictate the
activities of our daily lives
– In our lifetime this influence is only going to increase
• Understanding information systems is essential
for your success
– As an individual
– As a professional
– As a citizen of the future world of technology
• Bird course?
11
Corporate and consumer technology is
your friend/enemy
• Nortel? Nokia? Motorola? RIM?
• Kodak? Agfa? Fuji?
• Sony? RCA? – What happened?
• In the next 30 years you will work for companies
and live in a world that will drastically be changed
by technology
– So many fail to predict technological future
– In CS330 you can learn to avoid making some serious
mistakes. Or at least be aware of the risks!
– So pay attention and come to class 
12
Sample Questions in Exams
• What is computer security? What is the difference between virus, worm
and Trojan horse?
• What is the difference between firewall, anti-malware, anti-spyware,
anti-virus?
• Who owns the user generated content? (Management)
• What is LTE, RFID, Bluetooth, 802.11?
• What do you need for your IT infrastructure? (Management)
• Why don’t we prefer storing data in database instead of files? Can you
name a few benefits of using database?
• What is a data warehouse anyway?
• How much does it cost to have an IT infrastructure? How long does it
last?
• How is online banking secure?
• Can the police search my work computer without a warrant? What
about my boss?
• Is my phone better/faster than my friend’s phone?
• What is cloud computing?
• How does a management information system improve performance?13
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
• For one thing you have to!
• But more importantly it enhances your learning
experience
• You have varying backgrounds and I may have
expectations of “general computer knowledge” that
may be false:
– Which courses you took impacts this
– Did you grow up with access to a computer at home?
– Is your exposure to aspects of computing different from
your peers?
– Can you solve most of your computer problems your self?
Do you Google for technical support or ask your friend?
14
CS330: A one slide summary
• An MIS course offered by the computer science
department
– Technical concepts will be discussed and be
explained at a relatively high level
– Their applications and impact will be examined
– Broader picture will be emphasized
• Why? To be a productive [employee/manager]
you must understand CS concepts
• So yes an “easy” CS course but still a CS course!
15
How will CS330 operate
• I will talk and talk and talk…
– Slow/fast? You can dictate the pace
• Sometimes we will watch videos pertinent to
the discussion at hand
• Can/will take a 5 minute break during some
long and/or boring lecture topics
16
Other formalities
• Students are expected to know what academic
dishonesty means:
– Read the course webpage and University Policies
• If you have special needs please contact me or
the OPD at your earliest
17
Questions?
18
What is a Management
Information System (MIS)?
Raise your hand if you have
(n)ever used one
Picture source: http://www.cardiomyopathy.org/index.php?id=281
19
Definitions (The M in MIS)
• M: Management
– Does not always mean people in suits sitting in a office
– Operational vs Executive Management
– Users of a system can “self-manage” it
• Manage: The dictionary definition
– direct, control, organize, monitor, run, fix, improve,
responsible for, can be blamed for, benefit from…
• In order to manage one must
– understand (not just superficially)
20
Definitions (The I in MIS)
• I: Information
– Distinguish between information and data
• Things that are derived from information
– Knowledge, procedures, best practices, decisions
• In order to be informed one must
– Continuously collect, analyze, and learn from the
information presented
21
Definitions (The S in MIS)
• S: System
– Any organized method that is identifiable
• Aspects of a system
– Reliability, Reliability, Manageability, Upgradability, Scalability…
• A system does not need to be computerized or have
anything to do with computers
– but in our daily lives how many “systems” have no interaction
with computers?
– Example: Birth records for our grandparents were all paper
based…were they ever entered in a computer system?
• Have MISs always existed? Certainly not in the way shape
or form they do exist today
22
So who here has used an MIS?
• Raise your hand if you still think you have
never used an MIS!
• Bottom Line: an MIS = IS with a well defined
meaning given to the M
• Remember: Information Systems have been
there for a very long time, computing
technology only emerged in the past 75 years
23
Functions of an information system
• Every computer system has 3 + 2 major components
• Input, Processing and Output
• …Storage and Networking (could be collapsed in the above
two but often considered inseparable from the notion of
computing)
VERY IMPORTANT SLIDE:
<WILL BE IN ONE OF THE TESTS >
24
Class Exercise / Sample Question
• University of Waterloo QUEST system
• Who is the management/users of the system
– Students, Faculty, Administration, etc.
• For each of these “managers”, what information are
they managing?
–…
• What aspects of a good system does the QUEST system
provide?
–…
• What are the inputs, outputs, processing, storage and
networking aspects of QUEST?
25
What a non computer based
QUEST system would look like
•
Source: The daily mail (UK) website
26
The Two Sides of MIS
Technical Aspect
Behavioral/organizational Aspect
27
Course Outline / Schedule
SEE PIAZZA / COURSE WEBSITE
28
Other (M) Information Systems you
have interacted with
• ATM machine – hooks into the “Bank’s system”
• Do you have a driver’s license, social insurance number,
health card etc?
• You have “accounts” with many organizations
• Every website you login to including facebook (personal
information management)
• Every grocery store purchase or online purchase
• Literally everywhere your life you play the part of an agent
in an MIS
– Can you identify the M, the I and the S in each of these
systems?
– Can you identify Input, output, processing, storage and
networking aspects of these systems?
29
Issues to Consider
• Most textbooks consider MIS = Management
Information Systems
– Information Systems for (business) Manager(s)
• MIS can also mean Management of Information
Systems
– Once these complex systems are built they need to be
maintained, upgraded, improved etc.
• How do we develop these large systems?
– Design, implement and integrate
• How to manage?
– Training, new business practice
– Dealing with bad customers, bad employees, people who
just don’t “understand the system”
30
But why do I care as a Manager?
• Headstrong managers destroy businesses
• If you don’t understand technology and
information system infrastructure you may get
duped into making bad decisions
– “Our old network system is slow, we need to upgrade
to optical fiber right now!” – your IT manager
– “Research departments budget on exploring new
information storage systems has been exhausted. We
need more funding to examine cloud storage” – Head
of Research
31
Why?
• You must know “enough” about technology
–
–
–
–
–
–
To tell techies confidently when they are mistaken
To recognize when you are mistaken
To examine alternatives and argue intelligently in their favor
To gain the respect of techies and non techies alike
To make better decisions for your organization
To know what can be done tomorrow with upcoming
technology and plan for it today [Assignment 1]
• All of the above involve learning computer science
concepts
• Remember: Hundreds of businesses being run by
much smarter people than you and I failed because of
the above simple mistakes
32
Facebook – yes it is an MIS
• MIS for businesses can basically be your simple
tools used differently
• Warning: No one will ever use the terms MIS or
IS other than in a business context
• My grandmother will never say to me:
– “Im using the facebook technology and information
system architecture as an audio-visual content
management system”
• Businesses will say: We use facebook and twitter
as a vital tool in our business identity and brand
management systems as well as a marketing tool
• https://www.facebook.com/barackobama
33
Example: From Data to Information
Sales Data
Information
Item
Number
Item
Name
Customer
Name
Address
Quantity
Price
Store
Number
Date
133
Mouse
Kate
123
Waterloo
2
10
2
07/01/2010
019
CPU
Michael
222
Toronto
6
101
3
09/11/2011
111
Keyboard
Liam
90 Guelph
5
50
2
03/09/2010
019
CPU
Neo
34
Windsor
3
101
6
02/19/2011
……
But why should I care? Because its
your JOB as a Manager!
34
Benefits of Information Systems
Competitive
advantage
Survival
•
•
•
•
Operational excellence
New products, services, and business models
Customer and supplier intimacy
Improved decision making
• New technologies might bring in substitutes for
“old” goods/services
• New legislation in information gathering and
reporting
35
Case Study: Damned if you do, damned if
you don’t!
• A successful architectural design firm adopts a new
system to store their designs and blueprints
• The new system requires all designs to be drawn by
AutoCAD
• Many senior architects refuse to learn and use
AutoCAD
• If you are the manager, what would you do?
– Fire them all and hire new ones? Congratulations you’ve
destroyed your business
– Better: Convince the staff. Incentivize the change…
– Why implement an MIS if you’re minting tons of cash?
– But you have to embrace the future don’t you?
– Don’t get left behind but don’t try to outrun yourself
either!
36
Wal-Mart vs. Its Competitors
Wal-Mart spends 16.6% of sales revenue for overhead
• While Sears spends 24.9% (industry average in retail is 20.7%)
Wal-Mart brings in more than $32 in sale per square foot
• While Target brings in $26 per square foot (industry average in retail is
$14 per square foot)
37
Example: Color on a web site
• If you are in charge of developing a web site
for a wedding catering company, what color
scheme would you suggest? Why?
Picture source: User-Centered Website Development - A Human-Computer Interaction Approach, by Daniel D. McCracken and Rosalee J. Wolfe
38
Disciplines in Each Side
39
A Sociotechnical Perspective on IS
Figure 1-11
40
Case Study: Virtual Management at
Accenture (Textbook)
• What are the advantages of working in a virtual environment
like the one created by Accenture? What are the disadvantages?
• Would you like to work at a company like Accenture? Why or
why not? Explain your answer.
• What kinds of companies could benefit from being run virtually
like Accenture? Could all companies be run virtually like
Accenture?
41