Information Systems in Business

IS340

Half/ full unit

Full

Dr E Klecun, Room NAB 3.37

Dr T Cornford, Room NAB 3.29

Optional for BSc Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc Human Resource Management and Employment Relations, BSc Management and BSc Management Sciences.

Students are expected to have knowledge of information systems to a level equivalent to IS143 Information Technology and Society.

The course considers the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into organisations and their working practices, from strategic intentions through design and implementation to use and the intended and unintended effects. Topics covered include: establishing requirements for information systems; the systems development process and methodologies; strategic perspectives on information systems; organizational change and information systems; e-business models; strategic information infrastructures; information systems evaluation; project management.

This is not a technical hands-on course; rather it involves the study of a body of literature on the management and use of ICT by organizations. Drawing on information systems and management literature, the course provides an opportunity for students to examine case studies of successes and failures and to explore 'real-world' issues of information systems management. Most of the theory presented in the course is dealt with in the Michaelmas Term beginning with a brief review of the history of information systems and the origins of the subject. In the Lent term this theory is drawn upon as students present in seminars based on selected readings

Topics covered include:

• Understanding requirements for information systems;
• the systems development process and methodologies;
• strategic perspectives of information systems;
• organisational change and information systems;
• e-business models;
• strategic information infrastructures;
• IS evaluation;
• project management.

Michaelmas term

Lectures

10 x 2 hours

Lent term

Seminars

4 x 2 hours

Michaelmas and Lent terms

Classes

15 x 1 hour

·        Avison, D. and G. Fitzgerald, Information Systems Development, McGraw Hill, 4th Edition, 2006;

·        Checkland, P. and J. Poulter, Learning from Action: a Short Definite Account of Soft Systems Methodology and its Use for Practitioners, Teachers and Students, Wiley, 2006;

·        Ciborra, C. The Labyrinths of Information: Challenging the Wisdom of Systems, Oxford University Press, 2002;

·        Galliers, R. D. and W. Currie, The Oxford Handbook of Management Information Systems Critical Perspectives and New Directions, Oxford University Press, 2011;

The course is examined on an individual project in Michaelmas term (20%), on a group projec in Lent term (20%) and a three-hour formal examination in the Summer term that counts for 60% of the final mark.