INFO 640: Information Systems and Knowledge Management School of Business Virginia Commonwealth University Spring 2003: Tuesday 7.00 to 9.40 PM

INFO 640: Information Systems and Knowledge Management

School of Business

Virginia Commonwealth University





Spring 2003: Tuesday 7.00 to 9.40 PM

Course syllabus and policies







Professor: Gurpreet Dhillon, PhD

Telephone: (804) 828 3183

Email: gdhillo
n@vcu.edu

Office hours: Tuesday 4
-
5.20 PM; Thursday 4 to 5.20 PM or
by appointment



Course objectives

The

Information Systems and Knowledge Management

course aims to
provide an overview of contemporary


information systems (IS) and
information technology
(IT) issues. This will help in providing a
managerially oriented frame of reference when dealing with
information technology. Hence this is not a course in technology,
but a course in the
management of

technology.


The objectives of this graduate course ar
e two fold:

a) to develop a managerially oriented understanding of IT issues.
Such an understanding will be useful in analyzing issues
concerning IT operations and strategic planning. This will form
the basis for developing an understanding of essential to
ols and
knowledge that managers must posses when leading and managing
IS/IT projects.

b) apply and refine the understanding gained through weekly
discussion of case studies and 'hot topics'.


It is my hope that on completion of this course you should be
ab
le to (a) participate in developing a plan for information
systems development; assess information technology systems as
competitive tools; use methods for strategic analysis; and assist
in establishing an information technology policy; (b) analyze an
orga
nization's structure and determine the role for information
systems in that organization; explain how decisions are made in
an organization and the contribution made by formal and informal
information systems; decide on the information needs and
priorities

of management in an organization; (c) identify and
evaluate the effect of change management issues in information
systems planning for an organization.

The INFO 640 course is conducted as a graduate
-
level seminar.
Interest, motivation, and participation a
re assumed and required.
A strong technical background as a systems professional is not an
adequate substitute for this course. The focus of the course is
on

how to manage

the different aspects of
information technology

(IT)
. Some of the representative top
ics to be covered in this
course are: The challenge of IS technology; Manageable IT trends;
Effects of IT on competition; Electronic commerce; Information,
organization and control; IT architecture; Organizing and leading
the IT function; IT operations; IT

management processes; Managing
the IT resources; Transnational IT issues; The IT business.

Class format

This course relies heavily on case studies to bring home key
IS/IT management principles. It needs to be reiterated here that
this is not a course in t
echnology, but a is a course in the
management of technology.



The class meets once a week on Tuesday evenings between 7.00 and
9.45 PM in room BUNS 5163. Discussion sessions and lectures will
focus on drawing general lessons from the case studies and 'ho
t
topics' (lessons having ramifications for all companies, not just
one case). You are expected to lead the discussions. A list of
study questions will be supplied.



Grades

My aim is to encourage you to keep up with the readings; to
contribute to and to l
isten to others during class discussions;
and to accumulate (and write down) the lessons and general
principles that you learn. I am confident that the case studies
and the lectures will prove beneficial in accomplishing this aim.
Since each seminar sessio
n represents a significant portion of
the course, being absent for three of more classes will result in
a lower course work grade.



Components (click on relevant links for various course activity
guidelines):


Component

Marks

Case Study


-

Consultant point of view

(group
activity); Report and presentation


200

-


Manager point of view

(group activity);
Critique of report

100


Papers


-

Research paper usually involving a case
desc
ription

300


Final


-

Take home exam

300


Class participation

100


Total

1000



Note: For team projects, the contribution of each member in the
group will be assessed. At the end of the course, each group
member will individually assess the contributi
on of his or her
group members.


Note 2: If you miss more than three classes, you will not be
eligible for the top grade. If you are otherwise getting an A
grade, more than two absences will result in your grade being
lowered to A
-
; if your grade is A
-

it

will result in a B+; a B+
in a B and so on.


Grading Scale:


90% through 100%

A

80% through 89%

B

70% through 79%

C

60% through 69%

D

Below 60%


F

NOTE: +/
-

grades may be assigned



Office hours

It is best to email me to fix a meeting. I will h
owever be in the
office at least one and half hour before the start of the class.
Other than those times, you are welcome to come and see me. Knock
on my door. If I am busy, we will schedule an appointment for a
different time.

You can email me at
gdhillon@vcu.edu
.



Reading materials

There is no prescribed text book for this course. At the
beginning of the class I will give the URL for my web site. My
web site would be a repository of lecture handouts, case studies
a
nd slides. For some papers/cases, students will have to use the
VCU library to procure the reading materials. Yet in other cases
the students may be required to purchase copyrighted case
studies. Specific instructions will be provided.


Those of you who ar
e more inclined to use books, I would suggest
the following: Applegate, L et al (1999) Corporate Information
Systems Management: Text and cases. Irwin McGraw Hill (ISBN: 0
-
07
-
290283
-
3)


This syllabus is to be treated as a guide, not a contract. I
reserve t
he right to modify/change it if it seems to be in the
best interest of the class. In case any changes are made,
students will be notified promptly.





INFO 640 Schedule (tentative) and lecture material
-

Spring 03

Wk 1

Jan 14

Lecture

Organizations as i
nformation handling systems.


[
Lecture note 1
]

[
Slides
]

Lecture

Challenges in introducing and managing IS/IT in modern day organizations.


[
Lecture note 1
] [
Lecture note 2
] [
Slides
]


Wk 2

Jan 21

Lecture

IT planning and strategy: conventional organizations


[
Lecture note 1
] [
Lecture note 2
] [
Slides
]

Case

Case0
:
Introducing IT to Partners Financial Services
.
Questions
.


Sample case analysis


Wk 3

J
an 28

Case

Case1
:
Clark County Department of Family and Youth Se
rvices case study
.

Question
. Consultants: A and E Managers: C and G; Group to present: A

Slides for case discussion


Wk 4

Feb 4

Case

IT planning and strategy:
infonet

organizations

Case2
:
Evolution of Ernie case study
. Questions appear in the conclusions.

Consultants: B and F Managers: D and H; Group to present: F

Case

Case3
:
Mondex
. Questions Consultants: C and G Managers: A and E Group

to present: C


Wk 5

Feb 11

Lecture

Assessing information needs and designing IT systems and


IS

Project management



[
L
ecture note 1
] [Slides]


Exercise


Wk 6

Feb 18

Case

Case4
: Nevada DMV case study. Consultants: D and H Managers: B and F;

Group to present: H

Case

Case5
:
The Spa Select
case study

Consultants: I and M Managers: K and O;


Group to present: I



Wk 7

Feb 25

Case

Case6
: California DMV case study. Consultants: J and N Managers: L and P;

Group to present: N

Case

Cas
e7
:
Food and Beverage Inventory

Management case study

Consultants:

K and O Managers: I and M
Group to present: K


Wk 8

Mar 4

Lecture

Managing IT operations
–

considering outsourcing as an option



[
Lecture note 1
]

[Slides]


Lecture

IT Competencies needed in an emerging firm. Lecture by Greg Orr of

Worlddoc Inc. [Lecture note]


Wk 9

Mar 11

Spring Break

Wk 10

Mar 18

Case

Case8
: Xerox outsourcing case study. Questions Consultants: L
and P

Managers: J and N; Group to present: P

Case


Case9
: John Brown Engineering. Consultants: Q and U Managers: S and W

Group to present: Q


Wk 11

Mar 25

Lecture

IT and ethics

Lecture

Social responsibility in the information age.


[
Lecture note 1
] [Slides]


Wk 12

Apr 1

Case

Case10
: The INSLAW Affair. Consultants: R and V Managers: T a
nd X

Group to present: V

Case

Case11
: THERAC
-
25 accidents case study Consultants: S and W

Managers: Q and U Group to present: S


Wk 13

Apr 8

Lecture

Issues in managing IS integrity and security.



[
Lecture note 1
] [Slides]


Wk 14

Apr 15

Case

Case12
:
Barings Bank case study
. Questions


Consultants: T and X


Managers: R and V Group to present: X


Wk 15

Apr 22

TBA

Wk 16

Apr 29

Lecture: So what can IS do for me?