OMIS 640
Management of IS Technology
Fall 2013
Nancy L. Russo, Ph.D.
Professor of Information Systems
Department of Operations Management & Information Systems
Northern Illinois University
Phone: 815 753 6370
Fax: 815 753 7460
E-mail: nrusso@niu.edu
Office hours:
Tuesday and Thursday: 1:15-3:15 and 5:15-6:15 and by appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The discussions, lectures, assignments and reading materials in this course are designed
to contribute to an understanding of:
 the importance of fit between information technology (IT) and the
organization and the IT governance structure
 the value of information as an organizational resource
 using IT to acquire and sustain competitive advantage
 global, environmental and ethical issues relating to information technology
Case studies from a variety of organizations’ experiences with information technology
will be examined in order to distill lessons that can be applied to future IT strategy
decisions.
TEXTBOOK & OTHER READINGS
Rather than a textbook we will use a set of chapters and cases from Harvard Business
School Press. These are available at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/20410096 .
Other readings will be posted on Blackboard or distributed in class.
Recommended text: The 9 1/2 Secrets of a Great IT Organization: Don't Do IT
Yourself by Paul M. Ingevaldson. (Available at Amazon.com.)
OMIS 640
GRADING
Exam 1
Exam 2
Technology Paper & Presentation (group)
Case Assessments (paper or quiz) & SAP Assignment
Participation and class activities
(including unannounced quizzes)
25%
25%
25%
15%
10%
The course grade will be based on the total weighted score earned by the student throughout the
semester. Do not use Blackboard’s total%! To create your own formula, use the following:
Class grade = .25*Ex1 + .25*Ex2 + .25*TechPaper + .15*(overall case grade) + .1*PartGrade
A
B
C
D
F
89.5 – 100%
79.5 – 89.4%
69.5 – 79.4%
59.5 – 69.4%
Less than 59.5%
CLASS POLICIES
You are expected to attend every class. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to obtain
lecture notes, assignments, and handouts from your colleagues. All late assignments are subject
to penalty (typically 10% point reduction per day). All graded work for this course is to be
done individually unless specifically described as a group assignment.
Cheating occurs when a student submits work for grade that is not his/her own, when two or more
students work together on an individual assignment, or when a student receives credit on a group
assignment when he/she has not contributed to the group effort. If a team member does not
participate on a particular group assignment, his/her name should be excluded from the submitted
assignment. A student observing the potential for cheating to occur beyond his/her control should
report this potential to the instructor to avoid penalty. Cheating on an assignment will result in a
lower grade for that assignment. Cheating on an exam will result in a failing grade for the course.
Plagiarism is cheating. Quoting from the NIU Graduate Catalog, “Students are guilty of
plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources
[including the Internet] without identifying and acknowledging those sources or if they
paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them.”
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please
contact me as soon as possible.
Individual Assessment of Case Analysis
Several cases will be used for class discussion. You are expected to have thoroughly read
the case prior to the class session in which it will be discussed. For each case there will
be a graded component. For the iPremier, Harley Davidson, and Molson cases a written
case analysis will be turned in. For the other cases, in-class quizzes will be given. If you
miss class on the day of a quiz, you will receive a score of zero on that quiz. In
calculating course grades, the lowest quiz or case grade will be dropped.
SAP Assignment
A demonstration of basic SAP functionality will be provided and each student will
complete one homework assignment using this information. To complete the assignment
the SAP GUI must be downloaded and installed. (It will be available on Blackboard.)
Technology Paper & Presentation
The class will brainstorm to identify technology topics of interest. For each topic, the
group will do research to provide the information necessary to write a 10-15 page paper.
The paper should (1) describe the technology in detail, (2) discuss the potential benefits
and risks of the technology for a business organization considering its adoption, including
the implications of the technology for globalization and any ethical issues imposed by the
technology, and (3) make a recommendation. All group members must participate in the
20-minute presentation of the topic. The presentation should be designed to creatively
communicate the subject matter.
Participation
Class participation grades will be assigned after each class session (not including midterm and final exam days). A score of 0 indicates that the student was absent. A score of
1 indicates that the student attended, but did not contribute to the discussion. A score of
2 indicates that the student contributed to the discussion. Very rarely a score of 3 will be
assigned when the quality of the contribution is deemed to be outstanding. Other graded
assessments of in-class activities may also be included in the participation grade.
Exams
There will be two exams for the course. The first exam will contain questions regarding
the concepts and cases from the first half of the class. The second exam will include
questions from concepts and cases in the second half of the class plus a targeted analysis
of the Quantium case that is included in the course packet from Harvard Business School
Press. The case should be read prior to the exam. Exam questions will focus on
applying class concepts to different organizations/scenarios, including those discussed in
the cases used in class. Students will be allowed to refer to the cases during the exams,
but no other notes or reference materials may be used.
This information is provided as an overview of course requirements.
More detailed information will be provided during the term.
OMIS 640 Class Schedule
(Updated 29 August 2013)
Routinely check Blackboard for the most up-to-date course information.
Session
Topics
Reading or Case to be Discussed or
Assignment Due or Class Exercise
 “IT Doesn’t Matter”
8/29
IT & Competitive Advantage
9/5
Hardware, Software, &
Communications Technology

CareGroup Case quiz
9/12
"The 9 ½ Secrets …"
Paul Ingevaldson, guest lecturer

Readings in book or on Blackboard
9/19
IT Security & Risk Management

TJX Case quiz
9/26
Systems Development :
SDLC & Beyond

iPremier Company: DoS Attack
10/3
IT Sourcing

London Ambulance Service quiz
10/10
Enterprise Systems

Harley-Davidson Motor Company:
10/17
Exam 1
10/24
Information Management &
Business Intelligence
10/31
Web 2.0 and Social Media
IT & Innovation

11/7
Globalization

Yahoo! in China quiz
11/14
Ethical & Social Issues

Green IT Matters at Wipro Ltd. quiz
11/21
SAP Demonstration

SAP GUI installed
12/5
IT Governance

SAP Assignment Due
12/12
Exam 2

Read Quantium Case in advance
(Written Case Analysis)
(Written Case Analysis)


Analytics vs. Reporting
Big Data: Harnessing a GameChanging Asset
Molson Canada
(Written Case Analysis)