Professor: Roger Alan Pick
Office: Bloch 237
Phone: +1 (816) 235-2336
FAX: +1 (816) 235-6506
E-Mail: pick@acm.org (Please send e-mail as plain text; do not send attachments without making prior arrangements.)

Hours: 5:30 - 6:30 p. m. Monday, 11 a. m. - noon Wednesday, by drop-in and by appointment

Textbooks:

• There is no required textbook. There is a required packet of cases that you can purchase during class. We strongly prefer if you could pay using a check made payable to "UMKC." This procedure allows us to bypass bookstore markups and bookstore mistakes. Details will be announced.
• Many articles will be required. In most cases, these articles are available in full-text databases in the Miller Nichols Library, posted on Blackboard, or on the web at no additional cost to the student. Otherwise, the articles will be handed out.

Overview: We will survey a variety of topics concerning information technology management in the twenty-first century. There is a bias towards addressing issues that concern senior executives at large firms. Nearly all of our case studies come from actual administrative situations. Instructional techniques will include lectures, case discussions, and a limited amount of small group work.

General Objectives:

• Understand the technological, economic, ethical, political, social, legal, and environmental issues faced by MIS leadership
• See case studies of a number of MIS processes in a variety of organizational settings
• Be able to evaluate the riskiness of an information technology project
• Be able to evaluate the economics of an information technology project
• Understand how IS can enable new organizational processes and business models
• Observe the many roles information technology can have in the global enterprise

Specific Objectives (note: this list is still being revised; we will discuss this list again prior to each exam.:

• Read a case study and evaluate the general economic health of an organization
• Classify the strategy of an organizational unit
• Locate a firm on the IS Strategic Grid
• Classify the riskiness of a project from low to high
• Recognize risks in an IT operation
• Evaluate a vendor's proposal
• Compare a vendor's proposal against an alternative proposal
• List ways in which an IT organization can be organized with respect to centralization and decentralization
• Evaluate the extent to which an IT organization is aligned with the goals of the larger organization
• List the components of the cost of ownership of a proposed system or technology
• Discuss the IT implications of Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPPA laws.
• List ways in which managing an international IT project or operation is more difficult than one confined to a single country.
• Determine whether or not an IT organization is a candidate for off-shoring or domestic outsourcing

Prerequisite: This should not be your first computer course. We require at least one prior course in computer science or in information systems.

ADA: If you have any questions about a disability or desire accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act, please contact the Office of Disabled Student Services at 235-1083.

Attendance: You are responsible for everything covered or handed out in class. The easiest way to meet this responsibility is to come to class every time.

Class Cancellation: Although I do not anticipate the necessity of this, it is possible that it may be necessary to cancel class due to inclement weather. This class will meet if UMKC is open; conversely, if UMKC is closed, this class is canceled. Students who are unable to attend class during bad weather when the class has not been canceled should send email or call and leave a message on the professor's voice mail system indicating this. If class is canceled due to any reason, all activities scheduled for the canceled session will take place during the next class meeting including exams. Furthermore, all course plans will be pushed back by one week, and we will have our second exam during finals week.

Grading: One half of your grade will come from two exams. One quarter will come from an evaluation of your contribution to in-class case discussions. One quarter of the grade will be an evaluation of a term paper due during finals week.

Exams: There will be two open-book and open-note essay exams. Essay examinations will be graded based upon both the answer and the amount of reasoning and facts given to support the answer. You are expected to do each exam on your own without assistance from anyone. Use of e-mail, chat, or similar facilities during an exam will result in a zero grade for the exam. Each exam will be comprehensive.

Cases: There will be twelve case discussions. Most are based upon actual busines situations; Preparing for these case discussion is crucial to your success in this class. The individual class participation grade is based upon the case studies. After each case discussion, I will note who was present, who spoke at all, and will subjectively judge whose participation was excellent. Students who never participate in class should not be surprised to learn that their class participation grade will seriously lower their overall grade in this course. If you are unsure how to begin participating, you can get started by looking at the financial situation of the firm (when the case provides the data), at the competitive situation of the firm (when the case provides the data), at the firm's website (when the case is not fictional), and at the discussion questions given in the course schedule below. The lowest two class participation grades will be dropped. I plan on posting the discussion grades on the Blackboard site.

Makeups: The fact that two class participation grade will be dropped takes into account the likelihood that over the course of a semester illness or a business trip will force you to miss class a time or two. If you miss one case discussion, figure that will be one grade that will get dropped. If you miss two or more, I will allow you to turn in written thoughtful responses to the preliminary case questions as well as your overall analysis of the case; this will substitute for your being absent only.

On Effort: Just as is the case with salary determination in most workplaces, grades in this class will be determined by your performance rather than by your effort or needs.

Cooperation: No form of cooperation during exams is allowed. You may not claim others' work as your own. If academic dishonesty is detected, you will receive a zero on the exam, and your case will be referred to the Vice Provost for investigation and possible disciplinary action. Please note that the term paper in this class must be submitted via Blackboard, and it will be automatically scanned for similarities to others' work, both published and unpublished. If you use someone else's words, be sure to place them in quotes and cite the source.

Incomplete: I am permitted to give incomplete grades to students who have been unable to complete the work of the course because of illness or serious reasons beyond their control. This work must be completed within one calendar year to avoid the incomplete grade lapsing to an F. You should bring up problems in advance when you can do so.

Administrative Note: Keep every graded paper returned to you until you receive your final grade report from the university.

ON-CAMPUS COMPUTER ACCOUNT: If you do not already have a UMKC lab / e-mail account, you are required to obtain a userid. You will need this in order to use UMKC Library databases from off-campus. Please do this during the first two weeks of classes.

M of IS Emphasis: For information & announcements about the Management of Information Systems emphasis area within the UMKC MBA degree, visit the file located at http://p.faculty.umkc.edu/pickr/mismba.htm.

Finally, all aspects of this class will be handled logically, sensibly, and with understanding of your situation. This syllabus will not be followed blindly in defiance of common sense; exceptions can and will be made according to good judgment. If there is a change in course policy, it will be announced and explained in class and the online version of this syllabus will be amended.

Lecture outlines will be posted on the Blackboard site. This will typically happen a few minutes before class.

Date	Topics	Read (Readings can be found at UMKC library, or they will be handed out.)	Cases with preliminary questions. Read each case prior to class.
8/21	Introductions. Course policies overview. Top information systems issues yesterday and today.	Gilbert et al, "The Role of the CIO: Enduring MIS Issues," J. Computer Information Systems, Fall, 1999, to be handed out in class. Gomolski, "The Top Five Issues for CIOs," ComputerWorld, January 26, 2004 to be handed out in class.
8/28	Economics of Information Technology: Issue 8: Role & Contribution of IS. Issue 9: IS Effectiveness & Productivity. CW 3: Project Prioritization	Handout by Pick on additive utility models; Jason Dedrick, Vijay Gurbaxani, Kenneth L. Kraemer, Information technology and economic performance: A critical review of the empirical evidence, ACM Computing Surveys 35, 1 (2003) pages 1-28 available from ACM Digital Library; Maris G. Martinsons, Valdis Martinsons, Viewpoint: Rethinking the value of IT, again, Communications of the ACM Volume 45, Number 7 (2002), Pages 25-26 available from ACM Digital Library; John Leslie King, Edward L. Schrems, Cost-Benefit Analysis in Information Systems Development and Operation, ACM Computing Surveys, Volume 10 , Issue 1 (March 1978) Pages: 19 - 34 available from ACM Digital Library.	"Agrico" What is Burdell's view of the situation? What is Rogers's view? How could their views of the same situation be so dissimilar? Advise Burdell over the next hour. Advise Burdell over the long term.
9/11	Issue 1: Aligning IS Organization with Enterprise.	Rajiv Sabherwal and Yolande E. Chan, Alignment Between Business and IS Strategies: A Study of Prospectors, Analyzers, and Defenders, Information Systems Research 12, 1 (2001), available in Extenza at Nichols Library.	Robert D. Austin, Selecting a Hosting Provider, Harvard Business School Case 9-601-171, 2001. You will be assigned to take the viewpoint of either WBC or IEC. What is the business situation of your assigned client company? How does that affect hosting requirements? What selection criteria do you recommend? Choose the best hosting provider. Justify your recommendation.
9/18	Issue 2: Competitive Advantage.	Gregory L Parsons, Information Technology: A New Competitive Weapon, Sloan Management Review. Cambridge: Fall 1983. Vol. 25, Iss. 1; pg. 3, 12 pgs, available from ABI/INFORM at Nichols Library.	Robert D. Austin, Deborah Sole, Mark Cotteleer, Harley-Davidson Motor Co.: Enterprise Software Selection, Harvard Business School Case 9-600-006, 1999. Describe Harley's processes for defining and selecting an enterprise-wide procurement package and the institutional changes introduced as part of this process. Evaluate the evaluation of the package and the implementation partner.
9/25	In-Class Exercise.	We will have a total of ten proposals to read. Everyone should read four proposals before class. Proposals will be handed out a week in advance.	Selecting a Web Site Designer
10/2	Issue 4: End User Computing	David, Schuff, & St. Louis, "Managing Your IT Total Cost of Ownership," Communications of the ACM 45, 1 (January 2002), pp 101- 106. This can be downloaded from the ACM Digital Library at the Miller Nichols Library.	Alison Berkley Wagonfeld, Andrew McAfee, F. Warren McFarlan, Enterprise IT at Cisco, Harvard Business School Case 9-605-015, 2004. What are the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding? Moving forward, what types of new projects should the IT organization support?
10/9	Issue 5: Strategic Planning. Issue 6: Organizational Learning.	Vincent S. Lai and Bo K. Wong, BUSINESS TYPES, E-STRATEGIES, AND PERFORMANCE, Communications of the ACM 48, 5 (2005), available from the ACM Digital Library at the Miller Nichols Library.	George Westerman, Mark Cotteleer, Tektronix, Inc.: Global ERP Implementation, Harvard Business School Case 699-043, 1999. What problems did Tektronix have with its IT infrastructure before they implemented an ERP system? What concrete steps did Tektronix take to manage the risks involved in such a large and difficult project? What are the pluses and minuses of implementing in phases rather than in one "big bang?" How did Tektronix approach the problem of the perceived need to customize? How successful was the Tektronix ERP project?
10/16	EXAM ONE	Read case before arriving to take exam.	Case to be handed out during class on October 9.
10/23	This will be the first of three lectures on various aspects of managing risk.	Read Keil et al, "A Framework for Identifying Software Project Risks," Communications of the ACM 41, 11, November 1998, pp 76 - 83 available in ACM Digital Library.	F. Warren McFarlan, Brian J. DeLacey , Enabling Business Strategy with IT at the World Bank, Harvard Business School Case 9-304-055, 2003. How well has the World Bank coped with the information revolution? What, if anything, surprised you in the case? What do you suggest Mohamed Muhsin do in the next several years?
10/30	Issue 12: Applications Portfolio and/or Issue 7: Information Architecture .	Read Jiang et al, "The impact of IS department organizational environments upon project team performances," Information and Management 40, 2003, 213-220 to be handed out in class. Additional reading to be announced.	F. Warren McFarlan, Robert D. Austin, CareGroup, Harvard Business School Case 9-303-097, 2003. How could the operational outage at CareGroup been prevented? Was the situation handled appropriately? Moving forward, what changes should they make?
11/6	Issue 13: Security and Control. CW 4: Security	Michael E. Whitman, ENEMY AT THE GATE: THREATS TO INFORMATION SECURITY, COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM August 2003/Vol. 46, No. 8 available in ACM Digital Library.	F. Warren McFarlan, Valerie Massoni, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. , Harvard Business School Case 9-304-019, 2003. How comfortable are you with the IT organization at RCCL? Do you agree with the post 9-11-2001 downsizing? Does the applications development portfolio look reasonable? Are there additional questions you want to ask concerning the application portfolio?
11/13	Issue 14: Multivendor Integration CW 2: IT Sourcing	Read Smith & McKeen, "IT Sourcing - How Far Can You Go?" Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Volume 14, 2004, pp. 508-520 (to be handed out in class).	Robert D. Austin, Larry Leibrock, Alan Murray, The iPremier Company: Denial of Service Attack (A), Harvard Business School Case 601-114, 2001. How well did the iPremier Company perform during the attack? If you were Bob Turley, what might you have done differently during the attack? Were the company's procedures deficient in responding to this attack? How might they have been better prepared? What should they do to prepare for another such attack? In the aftermath of the attack, what would you be worried about? Was the preoccupation with stock price appropriate? What actions would you recommend?)
11/27	Does IT Matter?	Read Carr, Nicholas G., IT Doesn't Matter, Harvard Business Review, 00178012, May2003, Vol. 81, Issue 5 available in Business Source Premier.	F. Warren McFarlan, Fred Young, Cathay Pacific: Doing More with Less, Harvard Business School Case 9-303-106, 2003. As of the end of 2002, what should be outsourced? What should be retained inhouse? Why?
12/4	EXAM TWO
12/11	FINALS WEEK	According to the final exam schedule, we meet 8:00 - 10:00 pm; this period will be used to announce exam results or as an available makeup day if something happens to cause class to be cancelled earlier in the semester.	term paper due

The latest version of this syllabus will be located online at http://p.faculty.umkc.edu/pickr/bis558/. This file was last updated on 285 August 2006.

Besides this syllabus, this course is conducted under the regulations of UMKC as described in the current catalog. In case of conflict among these two documents, the UMKC catalog dominates.