UMKC Bloch Business School

BIS 558 "Management and Economics of Computers"

Course Syllabus for Fall, 2002

Mondays at 7:00 - 9:45 P. M. in Bloch 4

Click on this text to move directly to revised assignment and topic schedule.

Associate 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.)

Hours: Monday, Wednesday 9:30 - 10:45 am. and by appointment

Textbooks:

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. All but two of our case studies come from actual administrative situations. Instructional techniques will include lectures and case discussions.

Prerequisite: MIS 502 or equivalent.

Objectives:

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.

Grading: Three quarters of your grade will come from three exams (25% each). One quarter will come from an evaluation of your contribution to in-class case discussions.

Exams: There will be three open-book and open-note essay exams based upon cases. 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 are twelve cases. 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.

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 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.

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

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.

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://bloch.umkc.edu/classes/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 judgement. 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.
Date Activities/Topics/Assignments
8/26 Course Introduction. Review of strategic information systems material from BIS 502. Overview of economics of information technology. Hand out syllabus. Read textbook chapters one, two, and three. Read literature review only (through page 6) of paper by Hitt and Brynjolfsson available online at http://ebusiness.mit.edu/erik/cp.pdf.
9/9 Lecture on project risks and IT failure. Read Mark Keil et al, "A framework for identifying software project risks," Communications of the ACM 41, 11 (November, 1998) 76-83; (available in ACM Digital Library). Discuss H E Butt Case (What is HEB's competitive position? What is Efficient Consumer Response? What have been HEB's system innovations in the past decade? What technology challenges do they face in the future? Evaluate their initiatives in supply chain management; is there more they could do?) Read textbook chapter four.
9/16 Lecture on IT leadership, role of CIO. Death march lecture on IT issues and themes, IT operations, security, and disaster recovery. Read Gilbert et al, "The Role of the CIO: Enduring MIS Issues," J. Computer Information Systems, Fall, 1999, to be handed out in class. Discuss BAE Automated Systems Case (Assess the riskiness of this project. List every decision described in the case which delayed the project. List every event described in the case which delayed the project. Who's at fault? Do some outside research to find out how the problem was solved.) Read chapters 5, 6 of textbook.
9/23 Lecture on issues in managing IT globally. Lecture on IT operational metrics. Lecture on IT financial metrics. Lecture on additive utility models. Discuss iPremier Case (note: this case is fictional). (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?) Read textbook chapters 7 and 8.
9/30 Lecture on ERP software. Discuss an exercise in project evaluation (as if it were a case; to be handed out).
10/7 Exam! You must bring your textbook and cases to the exam.
10/14 Lecture on knowledge management. Lecture on change management. Discuss Harley-Davidson Case (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.) Read "Change Management Primer" to be handed out. Read chapter 9.
10/21 Lecture on E-Commerce. Discuss World Bank Case (What are the challenges of implementing a knowledge management system?) Read chapter 10.
10/28 Lecture on options in organizing MIS function. Lecture on roles of users versus managers versus IT function. Discuss Skandia Case (Evaluate the financial performance of AFS and Skandia. How has AFS grown from a marginal division of Skandia to a powerhouse of growth and profitability? What are the strengths and vulnerabilities of the AFS business model? How do you evaluate AFS's concept of intellectual capital?) Read Pick and Krantz, "Is Data Processing a Shepherd or a Servant?" J. Systems Management 40, 10, to be handed out in class.
11/4 Lecture on privacy and other social issues. Discuss Cisco Case (What is the difference between back office IT and front office IT? What are the components of IT strategy identified in the case? How do IT investments support the strategy? What were the benefits achieved by using IT at Cisco? Is Pete a typical CIO?) Read Peter Swire & Lauren Steinfeld, "Security and privacy after September 11: the health care example," Proceedings of the 12th annual conference on computers, freedom, and privacy, 2002, San Francisco, CA (available in ACM Digital Library).
11/11 Exam! You must bring your textbook and cases to the exam.
11/18 Lecture on intellectual property: copyright, patents, and trade secrets. Discussion of Waco Case (fictional case to be handed out and read during class) (What are the benefits of a location tracking system such as that described in the case? What should T and S do next? What policies or guidelines would you suggest for governing the storage of and access to location data collected by the system?) Read Drew Clark, "How copyright became controversial," Proceedings of the 12th annual conference on computers, freedom, and privacy, 2002, San Francisco, CA (available in ACM Digital Library).
11/25 Lecture on IT outsourcing. Discuss Compuserve Case (Who should own an algorithm? Who should own software? What is intellectual property? Should software developers be compensated for their efforts? Research Linus Torvalds and Linux. Research the Apache project or the GNU project. Do these represent a better model?) Read Rudy Hirschheim & Mary Lacity, "The myths and realities of information technology insourcing," Communications of the ACM 43, 2 (February, 2000) 99-107. (available in ACM Digital Library). Read Kichan Nam et al, "A two-level investigation of information systems outsourcing," Communications of the ACM 39, 7 (July, 1996) 36-44. (available in ACM Digital Library).
12/2 We will have a discussion (as if it were a business case) of a public policy issue: Is it wise to automate elections? Some readings on this topic will be handed out one week in advance. You should also take a look at a website on Electronic Voting. Discuss Agrico Case (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.) Read chapter 12.
12/9 Exam! You must bring your textbook and cases to the exam.
Monday, December 16 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Course wrapup; return exams; announce final grades


The latest version of this syllabus will be located online at http://bloch.umkc.edu/classes/pickr/bis558/. This file was last updated on August 29, 2002.

Besides this syllabus, this course is conducted under the regulations of UMKC as described in the current catalog and by the regulations of the Business Administration Division. In case of conflict among these three documents, the UMKC catalog dominates. In case of conflict between this document and the BA Division, this syllabus will apply.