Information Technology Management / IMSC 500 Section 1901

Fall 2009
Administrative Information:
Class Duration:
Sept 28 to Dec 20, 2009
Day/Time:
Online
Location:
Online
Campus/ Instructor Phone:
(703) 941-0949 My extension is 131
Please contact me during office hours listed below only or leave a message with your name,
phone number and course id (egg IMSC500-1901) and I will return your call as soon as I can.

Instructor Contact Information:

Instructor:

Farzan Soroushi, Professor

Office Hour, Location:

(Mon, Fri 2:00---5:00 pm only Annandale campus

or by appointment)

E-mail:

fsoroushi.faculty@unva.edu

Important Email Protocol:

For all email contacts please make sure the subject

of your email is course Id and your name and last 4
digit of your student id (egg: IMSC500-190 Patel
0567). Emails with no subject will not be
responded.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL/Textbook
Title: Principles of Information Systems: A Managerial Approach 8Th edition
Author: Ralph M. Stair George Walter Reynolds
Publisher: Course Technology
ISBN-13: 9781423901150
ISBN-10: 1423901150

You ma also obtain the 7Th edition of this book

Principles of Information Systems: A Managerial Approach, 7th edition, Ralph M. Stair
and George W. Reynolds, Course Technology, ISBN 0-619-21561-5
Course Description
Understanding and effectively using information technology is important in today's competitive
environment. Students gain an understanding of information technology for management decision
making, including how to evaluate, manage, and use technology. Examines the information
requirements of an organization. Emphasizes the difference in the kinds of information needed at
operational, administrative, strategic, and organizational levels. Discusses planning and implementing a
comprehensive information systems and methods to measure its effectiveness.

II.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
a. Describe the use and processing of information for management decision
b. Describe how information systems technology impact management decisions
c. Explain how management is impacted by technology, architecture, and capabilities
of information systems
d. Analyze management information need for decision making
.
Learning Objectives
The purpose of this course is to prepare advanced management students to be effective exploiters of
computer/communications technologies now and in the future. The focus of this course is on the
opportunities and pitfalls provided by these technologies; the resources (computer and microelectronics,
networks, software, data and people) that organizations provide and alternative approaches to managing
them; and what the user-manager needs to know to make effective use of these technologies.
Information technology has been changing at a dizzying pace. Systems analysis and design has seen the
growth of various methods for analyzing and designing computer systems for business applications, as
well as the advent of a number of tools to assist people in the use of these methods. This course has a
system project orientation, explaining the process of analyzing and designing systems and the various
methods and tools that aid in developing, maintaining and managing information systems.

Teaching Method:
This course will be conducted via power point slides based on the text and supplemental materials and
individual assignments, and examination. You will access the course materials on the Moodle web page
to view the PowerPoint slides, complete the weekly textbook readings and assignments. The course has
been broken down into 11 weekly units. Each week runs from Monday to Sunday (11:59 PM ,EST).
Student comprehension of course content will be assessed through examinations, assignments.
Assignments will be conducted to enhance learning and exercise the techniques and considerations
presented in the course.

Tentative Class Calendar and Schedule of Due Dates

Course Schedule and Outline:

Week
1

Date

Textbook Reading
Lecture Topic

Assignment
Given

Assignment
Due

N/A

N/a

Ch 01: Introduction to Information

9/ 28 -10/ 4

Systems

Ch 02: Information Systems in

Organizations

10/5-10/11

Hardware: Input,
Processing, and Output

N/A

Ch 03:Hardware and I/O

3

10/12~10/18

Ch 04:System and Application

software
Ch 05: organizing Data and

10/19~10/25

Information
Ch 06: Telecommunications and
Networks

Assignment
One
Will be posted
10/25

Will be due No
later than 5:00
pm Sun 11/15

N/A

N/A

Exam will be
available at
7:00 pm Sat
11/2

No later than
5:00 pm Sun
11/8

Ch 7&8: The Internet, Intranets,

5

10/26~11/1

and Extranets
Electronic and Mobile Commerce

Electronic and Mobile Commerce

11/2~11/8

11/9~11/15

11/16~11/22

11/23~11/29

MIDTERM EXAM

Ch 09: ERP Systems

Ch 10: Information and Decision

Support Systems

Due: 11/15
Assignment
One

N/A

Assignment
Two
Will be posted
Sun 11/15

Will be due no
later than 5:-pm 12/13

Ch 11: Knowledge Management a

Ch 12: Information Systems,
Systems Development:

10
11

Ch 13: System Design,

11/30~12/6

12/7~12/13

implementation, maintenance

Ch 14: The personal and social

impacts of computers

N/A
DUE 12/13
Assignment Two
and
TERM PAPER

DUE
12

Exam will be
available at
7:00pm Sat
12/12

12/12~12/19 FINAL EXAM

No later than
7:00 pm Sat
12/19

TERM PAPER DUE DATE: Last day to submit your Term Paper is Sun Dec 13.
Term papers submitted after the due date or send via Email will not be graded.
You must submit your term paper on Moodle as designated under week 11. Please
do not email your term pears.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mid Term and Final exam must be taken as

scheduled. There is NO MAKE UP exam. NO exceptions please.
Course Requirements
Each student will be expected to complete the assignments, exams and submit
their term paper. There will be two assignment, and (one Term Paper), and midterm and final examinations during the semester.
***Students are required to have an E-mail address throughout the term.

Examinations
Mid-term, final examinations, will be all multiple choices .
Make-up exams should be pre-approved by the instructor one week prior to the scheduled
exams .
Letter grades will be assigned to each student based on a mathematical calculation of the points
earned on the papers and examinations completed. Grades will not be "curved." Therefore, any
number of students in this course can earn a grade of A (or F) on the papers and examinations for
the course as a whole.

EVALUATION METHODS
Term paper
Assignment set One
Assignment set Two
Mid-term examination
Final examination

Total Points

20%
10%
10%
30%
30%

100 points
50 points
50 points
50 points
50 points

100% Total 300 points

Grading Scale
4

Above 90%
Above 80%
Above 70%
Below 70%

A
B
C
F

Research/Term paper guidelines

The objective of graduate level writing assignments is to promote attitudes and skills that will improve
a students ability to communicate in writing, develop research skills and documentation techniques,
and encourage critical analysis of data and conclusions.
I believe that outside class research is a vitally important part of the learning process. You can choose
your own topic or choose one of the topics from the list that I will provide you. If you decide to choose
your own topic, please make sure that your topic is related to applications of information systems in
decision making for managers. Technical topics such as network protocols, network topology will not
be approved. Your final Term paper should be at least 10 pages, double spaced, 12 point.
You must submit an Ms word document ( 2003 or 2007 word) of your completed

term paper no later than Sun Dec 13 to designated area under week 11.
Academic Integrity
When university officials award credit, degrees, and certificates, they must assume the absolute
integrity of the work done by you; therefore, it is important that you maintain the highest standard of
honor in your scholastic work.
Academic dishonesty cannot be condoned. When such misconduct is established as having occurred,
it subjects you to possible disciplinary actions ranging from admonition to dismissal, along with any
grade penalty the instructor might, in appropriate cases, impose. Procedural safeguards of due
process and appeal are available to students in disciplinary matters.
Academic dishonesty, as a general rule, involves one of the following acts:
1. Cheating on an examination or quiz, including the giving, receiving or soliciting of information
and the unauthorized use of notes or other materials during the examination or quiz.
2. Buying, selling, stealing or soliciting any material purported to be the unreleased contents of a
forthcoming examination, or the use of such material.
3. Substituting for another person during an examination or allowing such substitution for one s
self.
4. Plagiarism. This is the act of appropriating passages from the work of another individual, either
world for word or in substance, and representing them as ones own work. This includes any
submission of written work other than ones own.
5. Collusion with another person in the preparation or editing assignments submitted for credit,
unless such collaboration has been in advance by the instructor.
6. Knowingly furnishing false information to the university forgery and alteration or use of
University documents or instruments of identification with the intent to defraud.

Class Operations and Expectations

Teaching procedures for this course will include reviewing lecture slides, case studies, reading
assignments, writing assignments and examinations. In this class, students are expected to
review the required reading . .
The case study method of analysis is a major teaching and examination tool in this class. The
case study method is designed to systematically analyze the cases in the text and determine the
principle(s) or rule(s) of managing information systems that each case teaches. This method
aids the students in cultivating the skills for distilling the crucial facts of a case, developing the
issue or question in various management problems.
This method also teaches the students how to match a set of facts with management concepts and
principles that produced the outcome obtained

Learning Resources/Library:
Utilization of library resources is an indispensible part of your education at the UNVA. Our
librarians are available to assist you from 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Please
take advantage of this opportunity for assistance to your success while you are here at UNVA.
The UNVA library offers an extensive range of resources, particularly online, for student use.
Our library subscription journal databases include:
ABI/INFORM Complete
o ABI Dateline
o ABI Global
o ABI T&I
Academic OneFile
Business & Company Resource Center
Business ASAP
Business Source Complete
Computer Database
Dissertations & Theses
EconLit with Full Text
Education Research Complete
ERIC
Expanded Academic ASAP
General Business File ASAP
General OneFile
Health and Wellness Resource Center
Health Reference Center Academic
IBISWorld
InfoTrac Custom Newspapers
LegalTrac
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
Literature Resource Center
Newsletters ASAP
ProQuest Psychology Journals
ProQuest Research Library
Student Resource Center Gold Edition
Teacher Reference Center
...and other article databases

Research with InfoTrac: Students are required to conduct research after regular classes.
InfoTrac is one of the most advanced on-line research tools. Access to InfoTrac is available to
6

all UNVA students through the University Library. Contact the librarian for more information
on InfoTrac and other research resources available at the UNVA Library.

UNVA Administrative Issues

FERPA
The Federal Educational Records Protection Act (FERPA) restricts how the information those professors
have, can and cannot be distributed. Professors may not post student grades. Professors may not give one
students papers to another for delivery to the first student. Faculty may not give out final grades over the
phone or internet. The general rule is that a faculty member can release student information only the individual
student the information/data relates to.

Change of Grade
Professor may not change a final grade for a student without consulting with the Division Director. There are
only two reasons to change a final grade. (1) The professor made an error in computing the final grade. The
error must be explained. (2) The student has a verifiable medical excuse for missing a major assignment/exam
that the professor wants to permit the student to make-up with the approval of the Division Director. The
professor may not permit a student to do more work or additional project for justifying a change of grade.

Attendance
Education is cooperative endeavor between students and your instructor. Instructors plan a variety of
learning activities to help the students master the course content. Your contribution is to participate
in these activities within the framework established in the class syllabus. Successful learning
requires good communication between students and instructors; in the most cases regular classroom
attendance is essential.
It is your responsibility to inform your instructor and ask for permission prior to an absence for class.
You are responsible for making up all course work missed during your absence. In the event of
unexplained absences, your instructor may administratively withdraw you from the course or lower
your grade.
Students receiving Veteran's benefits and International students in the United States on F-1 Visas are
reminded that regular attendance is required of them. The University is required by law to report
excessive absenteeism by students in these categories.

Incomplete Work
A course grade of "Incomplete" will be given under very unusual circumstances, and only if the
student has completed at least 75% of the assigned work by the last day of class and only when an
Incomplete Contract is completed and approval is obtained from the instructor in advance.

Bibliography and Research references

Students are encouraged to do outside readings related to the course material.

The Road Ahead, by Bill Gates, Viking Press, 1995 (ISBN 0-670-77289-5)

Bold New World: The Essential Road Map to the 21st Century, William Knoke, Kodansha
International, 1996.
A Practical Guide to Information Systems Process Improvement by Anita
Cassidy, Keith Guggenberger
IT Manager's Handbook: Getting Your New Job Done by Bill Holtsnider, Brian
D. Jaffe
IT Architectures and Middleware: Strategies for Building Large, Integrated
Systems by Chris Britton
Visualizing Project Management : A Model for Business and Technical
Success by Kevin Forsberg, et al
Digital Darwinism : 7 Breakthrough Business Strategies for Surviving in the
Cutthroat Web Economy by Evan I. Schwartz
Telecommunications Deregulation (Artech House Telecommunications
Library) by James K. Shaw
Digital Signal Integrity: Modeling and Simulation with Interconnects and
Packages (Prentice Hall Modern Semiconductor Design Series) by Brian
Young
High Performance Printed Circuit Boards by Charles A. Harper (Editor)
High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic by Howard W., Ph.D.
Johnson, Martin, Ph.D. Graham
Digital Systems Engineering by William J. Dally, John W. Poulton