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BUS206: Management Information Systems
Covers the various components of business information systems, with particular emphasis on the means by which information is transmitted, the software that displays the information, and the systems that manage the data that businesses use every day.
BUS303: Strategic Information Technology
BUS206 introduced you to the subject of Management Information Systems (MIS). The focus of that initial course was on the nuts and bolts of information systems: how they work, how you create them, how to secure them, and so on. This course is developed to help you understand how information technology can be used as part of an organization's overall strategy.
Business Information Systems: Design an App for That, v. 1.0 By: Raymond Frost, Jacqueline Pike, Lauren Kenyo and Sarah Pels
Students in introductory Management Information Systems (MIS) courses often ask what a career in MIS looks like. Lacking a clear vision, they make their own assumptions. Often they assume the career involves programming with little human interaction. That MIS is a technical field could not be further from the truth. MIS job descriptions typically require candidates to be able to collaborate, communicate, analyze needs and gather requirements. They also list the need for excellent written and communication skills. In other words, MIS workers are constantly interacting with other people both inside and outside the organization. They are coming up with creative solutions to business problems.
Business Information Systems by Frost, Pike, Kenyo and Pels is designed to help students get a feel for what a career in MIS would be like. The authors' students report that they learn more about information systems from their internships than from their IS courses. Consequently, they designed a book that looks very much like an internship--an introduction to the field followed by a substantial project.
The authors begin Unit 1 by introducing the information systems landscape. The unit kicks off with a discussion of all the usual suspects: the information systems triangle, the systems development life cycle, transaction systems (ERP, SCM, CRM), collaboration systems, and business intelligence systems. Other aspects of the landscape such as usability, outsourcing, database concepts and so forth are introduced throughout a chapter in unit 2 where they fit in naturally with the flow of the project.
Unit 2 is the substantial project which runs over a number of chapters. Students will plan, build, and develop a proposal for an iPhone application. They will develop a very realistic mockup. They also build a website to help market and support the app. Students are engaged because the project is fun and feels real. However, they are simultaneously learning business concepts and MIS skills. With Designing Information Systems, even as freshmen, you can give your students an experience that emulates MIS in operation.
Business Information Systems: Design an App for That by Frost, Pike, Kenyo and Pels is a text that will help students learn Information Systems by doing Management Information Systems. Request a desk copy or examine the book online now to see how this text might work in your course or department.
Business Processes and Information Technology
Business Processes and Information Technology prepares students to effectively use, manage, and participate in the development of information technology applications in support of common business processes. The text focuses on the interconnections among an organization's management, business processes, information systems, and information technology. An emphasis is given throughout the text to the governance, control, and security of business processes and information systems, especially underlying financial information systems. After studying this text, a student will walk away with an understanding of the foundation tools and knowledge required for the analysis, design, and control of IT-driven business processes using current and emergent technologies.
Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology, v. 1.2 by John Gallaugher
Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V1.2 is intended for use in undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Management Information Systems and Information Technology.
Version 1.2 of John's book retains the same structure and theory of version 1.1, but refreshes key statistics, examples, and brings case material up to date (vital when covering firms that move as fast as Facebook, Google, and Netflix). Adopting version 1.2 guarantees your students will have the most current text on the market, drawing real and applicable lessons from material that will keep your class offerings current and accessible.
One of BusinessWeek’s "Professors of the Year", John Gallaugher of Boston College, brings you a brand new Management Information Systems textbook that teaches students how he or she will experience IS from a Managers perspective first hand through interesting coverage and bleeding-edge cases.
Get involved with John's community by visiting and subscribing to his blog, The Week In Geek, where courseware, technology and strategy intersect and joining his Ning IT Community site where you can get more resources to teach Information Systems.
Shockingly, at a time when technology regularly appears on the cover of every major business publication, students find IS among the least appealing of management disciplines.
The teaching approach in Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V 1.2 can change this. The text offers a proven approach that has garnered student praise, increased IS enrollment, and engaged students to think deeper and more practically about the space where business and technology meet. Every topic is related to specific business examples, so students gain an immediate appreciation of its importance. Rather than lead with technical topics, the book starts with strategic thinking, focusing on big-picture issues that have confounded experts but will engage students. And while chapters introduce concepts, cases on approachable, exciting firms across industries further challenge students to apply what they've learned, asking questions like:
Why was NetFlix able to repel Blockbuster and WalMart? How did Harrah's Casino's become twice as profitable as comparably-sized Caesar's, enabling the former to acquire the latter? How does Spain's fashion giant Zara, a firm that shuns the sort of offshore manufacturing used by every other popular clothing chain, offer cheap fashions that fly off the shelves, all while achieving growth rates and profit margins that put Gap to shame? Why do technology markets often evolve into winner-take-all or winner take-most scenarios? And how can managers compete when these dynamics are present? Why is Google more profitable than Disney? How much is Facebook really worth
The Information Systems course and discipline have never seemed more relevant, more interesting, and more exciting. Gallaugher's textbook can help teachers make students understand why.
Information Systems for Business and Beyond by David T. Bourgeois, Ph.D.
Information Systems for Business and Beyond introduces the concept of information systems, their use in business, and the larger impact they are having on our world.
Information Systems Open Textbook by Richard T. Watson
Students need to understand systems and the systems concept, and they need to understand the role of ICT in enabling systems. Students will learn the characteristics of good systems (e.g., intuitive, likable, error-resistant, fast, flexible, and the like). Knowing the characteristics of good systems will permit students to demand well designed systems and to suggest how existing systems should be changed. Students need to understand the affordances, directions, and limits of hardware, software, and networks in both personal and organizational dimensions. They also need to appreciate that, as technical capabilities change and new ones arise, more opportunities to apply ICT for efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation are afforded. They need to understand the process for developing and implementing new or improved systems and the activities of IS professionals in this process.
Information Sytems for Business and Beyond By David T. Bourgeois, Ph.D.
“This book is written as an introductory text, meant for those with little or no experience with computers or information systems. While sometimes the descriptions can get a little bit technical, every effort has been made to convey the information essential to understanding a topic while not getting bogged down in detailed terminology or esoteric discussions. . . . At the end of each chapter, there is a set of study questions and exercises (except for chapter 1, which only offers study questions). The study questions can be assigned to help focus students’ reading on the learning objectives. The exercises are meant to be a more in-depth, experiential way for students to learn chapter topics. It is recommended that you review any exercise before assigning it, adding any detail needed (such as length, due date) to complete the assignment.”
