Course Syllabus and Course Policies
Allen S. Lee,
Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
CONTENTS
The objectives of this MBA course on information technology (IT) are:
This elective course is conducted as a graduate-level seminar. Interest, motivation, and participation are assumed and required. A prerequisite for the course is IS 812. A strong technical background as a systems professional is not an adequate substitute for IS 812. The focus of the course is on how to manage the different aspects of information technology (IT). The topics are:
The course takes a heavily case-oriented managerial perspective, which will be useful to both the general manager (who needs to be an intelligent consumer of IT services) and the manager specializing in IT operations (who needs to be an efficient and effective provider of IT services). The course will not take the perspective of a computer programmer, systems analyst, or computer scientist. This is not a course in technology. This is a course in the management of technology.
CLASS FORMAT
Every Wednesday, beginning at 6 P.M., the class will meet for two sessions. Each session will last about 1 hour and 15 minutes. There will be a break between the two sessions. Class will end between 8:40 P.M. and 9 P.M. The first session will be a class discussion on the case study (usually from the end of the assigned chapter); the focus will on the specifics of the case. The second session will be a class discussion on the reading material in the assigned chapter; the focus will be on drawing general lessons from the case - lessons that have implications and ramifications for all companies, not just the one in the case. You are expected to be fully prepared to contribute to the discussions. A list of study questions will be supplied weekly.
At 10:00 A.M. every Wednesday, the day of class, a typed and grammatical paper will be due. Of course, you may submit the paper earlier. Please turn in a copy of your paper in any one of the following ways: deposited in my mailbox in 302 Lindner; slipped under the door to my office in 331 Lindner; FAXed to 556-4891 (with a cover sheet addressed to Allen S. Lee); or e-mailed to Allen.Lee@uc.edu. The paper will be a one-page answer (maximum, two pages) to one of the assigned study/discussion questions. I will assign different questions to different students to answer in their one-page papers; this will help ensure that the class, as a whole, will be prepared to pursue an in-depth discussion on all aspects of the case and the assigned chapter in the textbook. The questions will usually cover not only specifics of the case itself, but also general principles from previous classes. The purpose of the weekly papers is NOT for you to produce a masterpiece, but your paper must be thoughtful and written with care. The purpose is simply to encourage you to process the material seriously in preparation for a productive class discussion. The grade for a paper will depend, in part, on its display of evidence that this processing has taken place.
I will grade the papers, provide feedback on them, and return them to you on the same day that the papers are due, at the beginning of class. Hence, with my having read your papers and with your having read my feedback, the stage will be set for a good class discussion, whether the discussion revolves around the assigned questions or on new issues.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
One third of your grade for the course will depend on your class participation. I will provide a manila file folder to you, in which you should keep a brief log of the meaningful contributions that you make to the weekly class discussions. There is no need to record, verbatim, the comments you voice in class. Instead, your log just needs to contain sufficient reminders, highlights, and any other forms of evidence in order to justify the participation grade that you will believe you deserve.
Starting in the third or fourth week of the course, I might ask you to suggest, every week, what overall class participation grade you believe you will have earned, so far, for the course. There will be some guidelines in your file folder. I will collect the file folders at the end of every class and redistribute them at the beginning of every class. I will also return your weekly papers to you in the file folders.
GRADES
There will be no exams, but there will be a final paper. The topic of the final paper, to be announced in the second to last week of classes, will build on the study questions assigned during the quarter. My purpose is to encourage you to keep up with the readings; to contribute to and to listen to others during class discussions; and to accumulate (and write down) the lessons and general principles that you learn.
The "baseline grade" from which I will determine your grade for the course will depend on the one-page papers (one third of the course grade), overall class participation (one third), and the final paper (one third). Attendance is required. Because two evening sessions represent a significant portion of the course (20 percent), being absent for two or more evening classes will result in a lower grade.
OFFICE HOURS
Knock on my door. If I am busy, we will schedule an appointment for a different time. Evening appointments are available. To make sure that I can see you, call to arrange a time. No appointments are available on Wednesdays
Virtual office hours are available by electronic mail. Visit me at Allen.Lee@uc.edu. Using e-mail, I communicate regularly with students who send mail not only from UC vax and UC unix, but also from CompuServe, America Online, and the companies where they work. Because e-mail communication is asynchronous, it can sometimes be more convenient than telephone calls or in-person meetings. E-mail is a good supplement to face-to-face meetings.
Office: 331 Lindner Hall. Mailing address: University of Cincinnati, Mail Location 211, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0211. Telephone and voice mail: 556-7195. FAX for the College of Business: 556-4891. Web site: http://www.cba.uc.edu/faculty/Leean/index. Internet e-mail address: Allen.Lee@uc.edu.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
The following textbook, which includes the cases, is required. It should be available for purchase at the UC Book Store and DuBois. Be sure to purchase the Third Edition, not the Fourth Edition.
Cash, J. I., McFarlan, F. W., McKenney, J. L., and Applegate, L. M., Corporate Information Systems Management: Text and Cases, Third Edition, Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1992. ISBN: 0-256-08705-9.
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First Session Second Session
Week 1 Introduction: Discussion, following in-class reading of
Jan. 3 What is the case study, "Agrico, Inc.-A Software
management of Dilemma," pages 538-546.
information
technology? Theme: What managerial problems and
managerial opportunities does information
technology present?
Week 2 Case study: Chapter 2: "Manageable Trends," pages 32-56.
Jan. 10 "Burlington
Northern: the Theme: What are six manageable trends in IT?
ARES Decision What practical lessons about them can be
(A)," pages drawn from the Burlington Northern case?
57-81.
Week 3 Case study: Chapter 4: "Interorganizational Systems,"
Jan. 17 "Baxter pages 151-161.
Healthcare
Corporation: ASAP Theme: What are interorganizational systems?
Express," pages What practical lessons about them can be
162-172. drawn from the Baxter Healthcare case?
Week 4 Case study: Chapter 5: "Organization and Control," pages
Jan. 24 "Mrs. Fields' 173-185. (Note that instead of the
Cookies," pages Fairfield Inn case study at the end of
117-131. chapter 5, the case study will be the one
from the end of chapter 3.)
Theme: What are some issues about the
relationship between organizational control
systems and IT? What practical lessons
about organization control systems and IT
can be drawn from the Mrs. Fields' Cookies
Inn case?
Week 5 Case study: Chapter 7: "IT Architectural Alternatives,"
Jan. 31 "Profiling at pages 259-284.
National Mutual
(A) and (B)," Theme: What is IT architecture? What
pages 285-307. practical lessons about IT architecture can
be drawn from the National Mutual case?
Week 6 Case study: Chapter 8: "IT Organizational Issues," pages
Feb. 7 "Air Products and 331-350.
Chemicals, Inc.:
MIS Theme: What are IT organizational issues?
Reorganization What practical lessons about them can be
(A)," pages drawn from the Air Products and Chemicals
351-363. case?
Week 7 Case study: Chapter 9: "IT Management Control," pages
Feb. 14 "Aerospace 364-385.
Technology
Manufacturing, Theme: What is IT management control? What
Inc.: Industry, practical lessons about IT management control
Company, and I/S can be drawn from the Aerospace Technology
Transitions," Manufacturing case?
pages 397-417.
Week 8 Case study: Chapter 11: "Operations Management," pages
Feb. 21 "Sears, Roebuck 469-498.
and Co.:
Outsourcing Theme: What are some issues about IT
within the operations management? What practical
Company (A)," lessons about IT operations management can be
pages 499-514. drawn from the Sears, Roebuck case?
Week 9 Case study: Chapter 11 (continued): "Operations
Feb. 28 "Eastman Kodak Management," pages 469-498.
Co.: Managing
Information Theme: What are some lessons about IT
Systems through operations management that emerge when we
Strategic compare and contrast the Sears, Roebuck case
Alliances," pages and the Eastman Kodak case?
515-537.
Week 10 Tentative: Tentative:
Mar. 6
Case study: Chapter 13: "IT Planning: A Contingent
"Child World, Focus," pages 619-641.
Inc.: Information
Technology Theme: What is IT planning? What lessons
Planning," pages about IT planning can be drawn from the Child
642-658. World case?"
Finals Week Final paper is
Mar. 13 due at 6 P.M.
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