1. business and industrial
2. business operations
3. human resources

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & MANAGEMENT
MGT 3061, SECTION YB – SPRING 2015
THURSDAYS, 1800-2050 | Room: S6013A
INSTRUCTOR
Blake Kanewischer, BMgt, MBA, I.S.P., ITCP, PMP
[email protected]
(403) 705-9017 (work) • (403) 620-4553 (cell) – please text first
OFFICE HOURS
By appointment or 2100 – 2200 Thursdays.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required Textbook:
Bidgoli, H. (2014) MIS4, Boston: Course Technology
ISBN 978-1-133-58930-3
(Order through bookstore.uleth.ca)
Required Software:
Top Hat software
(runs on smartphones, tablets, laptops, or SMS-based cell phones)
(Ordering instructions provided in-class)
You are also required to read beyond the textbook, since your awareness of information systems as a strategic asset will
be enhanced by reading general business publications (e.g., Fortune, BusinessWeek, Report on Business, or Harvard
Business Review), as well as information systems publications, such as Baseline magazine (www.baselinemag.com),
InformationWeek (www.informationweek.com), IT World Canada (www.itworldcanada.com), or CIO Insight
(www.cioinsight.com).
Building the discipline of reading widely will serve you well in your future endeavours. This includes scanning
information from social media and mainstream media and particularly information outside your field of expertise.
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PREREQUISITES/ CO-REQUISITES/EQUIVALENTS
None.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A clear understanding of, and breadth of knowledge regarding, both the theoretical principles and concepts of
Information Systems (IS), and the ability to apply these concepts and frameworks to today’s managerial challenges. An
understanding of the role of IS in managing organizations, and in helping organizations achieve greater effectiveness.
Conceptual models and practical applications of IS in organizations are featured. An introduction to business processes
and how Information Technology (IT) enables businesses to function more effectively (University Calgary, 2014/15).
By the end of this course, you will have the information necessary to be an informed consumer of information systems
in the corporate environment. You will understand the components of information systems, how they can be used and
managed in a corporate environment, and have an appreciation for the challenges and promise of information systems.
This course is not designed to make you a programmer, systems analyst, or network engineer—rather, it is designed to
help you interact with your IS colleagues in your current and future roles as a team member, leader, and manager.
I teach the course from the perspective that IS is fundamentally a discipline which supports and enables business
outcomes. The “language” of IS will be used throughout the course, but is not the focus—understanding IS and its
relationship to business is the focus. The course material is not intrinsically difficult, but, given its breadth, requires
focused and dedicated learning.
This course will use “blended” learning techniques. Students will be responsible for learning the material in advance of
class using some or all of the resources provided by the instructor. The instructor will use class time to develop a deeper
understanding of the material, moving students towards higher levels of knowledge application, synthesis, and
evaluation. This offers you, the learner, the ability to revisit concepts that you struggled with at your leisure, rather than
being limited to “one and done” learning opportunities.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, students will demonstrate:
• Familiarity with common IS acronyms, terminology, and concepts;
• An understanding of core business concepts underlying IS value propositions;
• A basic understanding of key applications and systems found in many organizations;
• An ability to read and understand key IS analysis and development deliverables;
• The ability to read and critically evaluate business articles from an IS perspective;
• The ability to communicate complex business and IS concepts in oral and written form; and
• The ability to conduct academic research and present findings.
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METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
ASSIGNMENT
Active participation in electronic
learning community
(Best 10 of 13)
Weekly Quizzes
(Best 12 of 15)
IS-Enabled Firms Paper Proposal
IS-Enabled Firms Paper
Class Participation
Total
VALUE
DUE DATE
20%
Weekly from Week 1
40%
Weekly from Week 2
+ 3 unannounced in-class quizzes
February 12, 2015
April 9, 2015
Weekly
5%
25%
10%
100%
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
1. Active participation in electronic learning community - The instructor will post two items per week on a blog
(http://201501mgt3061yb.wordpress.com/). Each blog post will have discussion questions associated with it.
You are required to engage with at least one blog post per week, by making at least one substantive comment
within six days of the post going live. For greater clarity, so long as at least one substantive comment has been
made during a week, a minimum mark of 50% will be assigned for that week.
A substantive comment implies that there has been active and considered engagement with the material
presented, along with prior comments (if any) from your classmates. Applications to your personal or
professional context make it more likely that the comment is considered substantive, as will appropriate and
considered application of course materials and ideas.
The instructor will track and grade all comments, with the support of peer moderators, and select the best 10 of
13 weeks’ worth of grades for application to the course. For further information on the grading scheme
associated with this activity, please refer to the course website on Moodle.
2. Weekly Quizzes – Students are responsible for completing a short, time-limited, quiz on the material they’re
learning each week. The quiz will be available on Moodle one week prior to the class in which we cover that
material, and will close at 16:00 the day of the class in which we cover the material.
There will also be three unannounced in-class quizzes of approximately 20 questions each. These scores will
also be used in determining your grade for this component. The top 12 of 15 results will determine your grade.
Students who do not complete a quiz will receive a grade of zero for the quiz. The instructor reserves the right to
amend this policy in documented exceptional circumstances.
3. IS-Enabled Firms– The “IS-Enabled Firms” project (due April 9, 2015) will have individual students identify an
incumbent business which is being challenged by an IS-driven business (e.g., amazon.ca has challenged
traditional bookstores). You will be asked to describe the incumbent business, its IS-driven challenger, and
propose suggestions for how the incumbent may be able to effectively compete with a challenger using an ISdriven business model. This project will culminate with a formal academic paper.
A brief proposal (due February 12, 2015) describing the companies and industry selected is required, and must
have the instructor’s concurrence to proceed. Further information will be available in the rubric for the proposal
and assignment.
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4. Class Participation – In order to benefit fully from the blended learning model we’re using, students must be
present and actively participating in class. Top Hat and Moodle will be used to make class time interactive and
relevant. A balance of attendance and participation marks will be used—50% attendance, with an expectation of
attendance at 12 classes, and 50% participation.
5. General Expectations - The instructor’s expectation is that assignments will be fully compliant with spelling,
grammar, and format requirements, hence there are no specific marks assigned to spelling, grammar, and
formatting. The instructor will deduct one mark for each unique spelling, grammatical, or formatting error in a
paper, presentation, or briefing from the overall mark for the assignment, to a maximum of 10% of the marks at
stake for a given assignment. If you require assistance with effective writing, consult the University’s Effective
Writing Centre: http://www.uleth.ca/artsci/academic-writing/resources
6. Assignment Submission & Late Penalties – The Personal Learning Objectives assignment and the IS-Enabled
Firms assignment must be submitted in hard copy by the start of class on the date due. Assignments that are
late will have one half-letter grade deducted per day or portion thereof late, to a maximum of three days late
(i.e., a B paper submitted 42 hours late will become a C+ paper, and one submitted 49 hours late will become a C
paper).
GRADING SCHEME
Percent Mark
Letter Grade
Percent Mark
Letter Grade
95-100
A+
90-94
A
86-89
A-
82-85
B+
78-81
B
74-77
B-
70-73
C+
66-69
C
62-65
C-
58-61
D+
50-57
D
0-49
F
COURSE POLICIES
1. Prerequisites. It is the responsibility of students to check the prerequisites for courses before registration. If
students are found to be registered in a course for which they do not have the prerequisites and they have not
received prior permission from the appropriate program chair, they can be de-registered. If this occurs after the
drop/add date, tuition will not be refunded.
2. Mid-term Examinations and Quizzes. Alternative arrangements for writing a missed midterm examination or quiz
may be made at the discretion of the instructor. Deferrals may only be granted in extenuating circumstances beyond
the student’s control.
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3. Conduct of Examinations: The instructor may articulate regulations for late entry to and early exit from the
examination room. Instructors may also prescribe or restrict materials that may be used during the exam. No
material aids including such items as: mobile phones, computers, or other digital devices, may be brought into the
examination site without prior approval from the instructor. Please see additional examination policies in the
2014/2015 University Calendar, page 85-86.
4. Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism: Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will
automatically result in a zero grade for the submission. Any student caught plagiarizing may also be subject to
additional University sanctions. The University of Lethbridge subscribes to an electronic plagiarism detection service.
Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagiarism checking.
5. Student Conduct: The University’s policies are described in the calendar and all students are expected to read,
familiarize, and comply with them. Special care should be taken to understand the Student Discipline Policy for
academic and non-academic offenses as listed in part 4, sections 4 through 8 of the 2014/2015 Academic Calendar.
Students will respect the basic standards of intellectual integrity, including, but not limited to, refraining from
plagiarism, cheating or duplicating someone else’s work. In addition, students are expected to take an active role in
encouraging other members of the academic community to refrain from academic dishonesty, and are asked to
advise the instructor if they are aware of any such violations. This provision applies to any work submitted as a
group project.
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS
“Blended Learning” Expectations – The course is premised on the idea that you are capable of learning the concepts
and ideas associated with management information systems. The instructor will act as a guide, facilitator, and coach to
deepen and increase your understanding of the materials through a series of classroom activities, which may involve
team learning activities, videos, impromptu presentations, and/or mini-case studies (without limiting the generality of
these activities). To this end, please endeavour to attend all classes and participate to the fullest extent in activities.
Online resources will be provided by the instructor via Moodle. You are not required to access these resources except as
otherwise specified on Moodle; however, these resources are likely to enhance your learning experience, and the
instructor strongly suggests you engage with at least some of these resources.
In the spirit of mutual learning and inquiry, the instructor welcomes your feedback on the conduct of the course or the
material being covered at any time during the course.
Use of Electronic Devices. You may use electronic devices during class at your discretion, except during guest lectures,
and your fellow classmates’ presentations. Be aware that use of electronic devices must not interfere with other
students’ learning—if you choose to allow it to interfere with your learning, the instructor has no quarrel with that.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
Below is a tentative outline. Recognizing that teaching excellence requires a degree of flexibility and
responsiveness to both students' needs and emergent circumstances, adjustments to the course outline may
sometimes be necessary, provided that no student is disadvantaged by the change.
DATE
TOPIC
PRE-CLASS READING
Wk 1 • Jan 8/15
Introduction to Course / Instructor
N/A
Wk 2 • Jan 15/15
Computers: The Machines Behind Computing
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Jan 15)
Chapter 2
Online Resources
Wk 3 • Jan 22/15
Information Systems: An Overview
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Jan 22)
Chapter 1
Chapter 8 section 8.1a
Online Resources
Wk 4 • Jan 29/15
Data Communication: Delivering Information Anywhere and
Anytime
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Jan 29)
Chapter 6
(except 6.3d / 6.5)
Online Resources
Wk 5 • Feb 5/15
The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Feb 5)
Chapter 7
Online Resources
Wk 6 • Feb 12/15
Protecting Information Resources
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Feb 12)
IS-Enabled Firms Proposal due
Chapter 5
Online Resources
Wk 7 • Feb 19/15
NO CLASS – READING WEEK
N/A
Wk 8 • Feb 26/15
Personal, Legal, Ethical, and Organizational Issues of
Information Systems
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Feb 26)
Chapter 4
Online Resources
Wk 9 • Mar 5/15
Database Systems, Data Warehouses, and Data Marts
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Mar 5)
Chapter 3
Online Resources
Wk 10 • Mar 12/15
Building Successful Information Systems
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Mar 12)
Chapter 10
Online Resources
Wk 11 • Mar 19/15
E-Commerce
Global Information Systems
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Mar 19)
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Online Resources
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DATE
TOPIC
PRE-CLASS READING
Wk 12 • Mar 26/15
Enterprise Systems
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Mar 26)
Chapter 11
Online Resources
Wk 13 • Apr 2/15
Management Support Systems
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Apr 2)
Chapter 12
Online Resources
Wk 14 • Apr 9/15
Intelligent Information Systems
Emerging Trends, Technologies, and Applications
QUIZ (via Moodle – due by 16:00 Apr 9)
IS-Enabled Firms Paper due
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Online Resources
Wk 16 • Apr 23/15
NO FINAL EXAM SCHEDULED IN THIS COURSE
N/A
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