THE WALLACE E. CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
MD240: Management Information Systems
Spring 2002
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Syllabus/Schedule
Guidelines/Grading
Case Study Questions
Quiz Results
Technology Project
Consulting Project
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GRADING:
The percentage breakdown of your final grade will be as follows:
10% Class Participation
10% Case Analysis Outlines
10% Group Technology Exercises
25% Group Consulting Project Presentation and Write-Up
20% Quizzes
25% Final Exam
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100%
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Much of the value of a business education comes from the thought processes that you develop through communication and cooperation experiences. As a result, much of what you will learn during this course will result from a thoughtful exchange of ideas during class. Those of you who are geniuses and have led debate club have gifts that you are obligated to share with your peers. The rest of us, typically, have fears about thinking out loud or standing out in front of our peers. For these individuals, it is imperative to get used to talking in the language of IS and reasoning about IS on our feet, so that we can (i) figure out whether the geniuses are for real and not just feeding us a line, and (ii) develop an authoritative managerial communication style. It is important that everyone makes their best effort to contribute.
While many students openly contribute to class, I understand from prior experience that many other students just will not contribute if dis/incentives are not threatened/offered. Still, I will try to make this grading simple. Students will be scored on a 0-1 point scale three times throughout the semeter. No contributions to the class or being absent without excuse will lead to a score of 0 for that period. Note that a score of 1 will be worth approximately 3% of your grade. While this may not seem to be much, you should realize that three consecutive zeros will drag your grade down by a full letter grade.
Of course, I do not expect that every student will contribute to every class. Note that it is the quality of comments that counts the most. Interim class participation scores will be posted periodically to the class page on the World Wide Web, and you are always free to ask me in person directly about your participation.
CASE ANALYSIS OUTLINE:
Over the course of the semester, we will have three case study discussions. For these discussions to work well, it is essential that all students come fully prepared.
To help you structure your preparation, I will provide a list of discussion questions for each case study. You will be asked to turn in a typed, one-page outline for a total of two case studies. For each of these you will do your analysis individually.
The case analysis outline should concisely present your thoughts on each of the discussion questions. For the individual write-ups, your outline should be in the range of 1-2 pages (note: 0.5 pages is not enough), use full 1 inch margins, using a font no smaller than 12 pt Times Roman. Bullet points or other devices to get your thoughts across quickly are recommended.
Your overall case grade will be the average of your two case write-ups. Grades will be assigned on a 10 point scale, as follows:
10 pts: Outstanding analysis
9 pts: Excellent analysis
8 pts: Very good analysis
7 pts: Good analysis
6 pts: So-so analysis
5 pts: and lower: Poor analysis
TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS EXERCISES:
Your group consulting project team will perform these exercises. They are intended to be fun, unstructured exercises oriented toward brainstorming and exploration. They hopefully also will help your team get to know each other and start working together prior to the Group Consulting Project.
The deliverable of each exercise will be a short (approximately one-page) write-up, described in the exercise handout. Grades will be assigned on a 10 point scale, as follows:
10 pts: Outstanding effort
9 pts: Excellent effort
8 pts: Very good effort
7 pts: Good effort
6 pts: So-so effort
5 pts: and lower: Poor effort
GROUP CONSULTING PROJECT:
You will be asked to form groups of approximately 5 students each. Your group will pick a client who has a problem that you believe could be solved using IT. This must be a real organization with a real problem.
Grading will be based on five elements:
(1) quality and thoroughness of your analysis and solution,
(2) quality of write-up,
(3) quality of presentation, and
(4) apparent original research effort involved, e.g., how much time you spent interviewing your client, researching technologies that might relate to your project, etc.
QUIZ:
There will be a total of five multiple choice quizzes based on the readings. The top four quiz grades will be used to calculate your final grade. Quizzes will be taken during class time, but won't be discussed in class. Grade results, disputes, and question content discussions will be handled completely after class or via email. This way, the administrative aspects of the quizzes will be handled outside of class, leaving class time for other topics. A zero will be given on any quiz missed and there will be no make-ups.
FINAL EXAMINATION:
The final examination, to be held during exam week, will provide an opportunity for you to integrate the concepts, cases, and discussions from the semester. The test will be comprehensive and will cover all material from the full semester. The format will be short, medium and long answer.
NOTE: The Carroll School's Educational Policy Committee clarified school policy for faculty during Fall semester 2001, stating that (i) faculty must hold an exam in each class during finals week unless they notify the Dean otherwise, and (ii) final exams must be held during finals weeek and not before. As such, each student in MD240 will be expected to take the final exam during finals week at the time specified by the Boston College final exam schedule.
Disability Accommodation:
If any student has need for a specific accommodation, please discuss this with me early in the semester.
Plagiarism, Unduly Stressful Situations, etc.:
All students are expected to do their own work, unless instructed to work in groups. If any homework instructions are unclear, please ask me to clarify. I will not tolerate cheating of any kind. Any academic offense, such as plagiarism or cheating, will be handled according to protocol in the Boston College student handbook.
Also, if you are having trouble keeping up with the material because of uncontrollable situations (e.g., personal loss, girlfriend or boyfriend left you, who knows what else) and have missed some classes or quizzes, please talk to me about it. I would rather know what is going on, than just be left wondering why you are not in class.