ISYS1021: Digital Technologies: Strategy and Use

Fall 2018

 

Last updated:  Aug 21, 2018

Instructor	Professor Xuan Ye
Email	xuan.ye@bc.edu
Website	https://www2.bc.edu/xuan-ye/
Phone	617-552-8286
Office	Fulton 460E
Office Hours	Mon: 3:00PM- 4:00PM; Wed: 3:00PM- 4:00PM; Fri: 11:00 AM- 12:00 PM; By appointments
Class Website	https://bostoncollege.instructure.com/courses/1590429

 

Teaching Assistants

Liam Haffey	haffeyl@bc.edu
James Airoldi	airoldij@bc.edu
Tiffany Lau	lautb@bc.edu
Jordan Vining	viningjo@bc.edu
Nolan Constantine	constann@bc.edu

Overview

This is an introductory course on information technology (IT) and its use in modern organizations. During the past few decades, IT has transformed companies—their business processes, decision-making structures, corporate strategies, and interactions with customers and suppliers. Scan the business news on any day and you will be reading not only about businesses whose success is due to a technology-infused product line or business strategy, but also about businesses struggling with IT issues whether those be security breaches or disruptive challenges from new technology upstarts. As a result, managers and entrepreneurs face significant IT related challenges in their work including: how to justify large IT investments, how to manage risks, how to choose the appropriate technology, and how to integrate the technology with existing processes and systems.

To address these challenges, this course will focus on the central questions:

1. How do organizations use information technology to improve their business processes and create competitive advantage?
2. How do managers employ information technology to solve problems and make critical business decisions?

 

We will tackle these questions by:

 

• learning about key business and technology concepts,
• developing a set of frameworks for applying these concepts to the analysis of business situations,
• applying these frameworks to the analysis of actual companies who are using technology to transform their businesses, and
• learning to use spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel) to analyze complex business problems.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course you should be able to:

 

• Understand and discuss various management concepts and issues related to systems and technologies.
• Assess the current role of IS in an organization, identify areas for the strategic use of IS, and understand where technology makes firms and markets vulnerable to disruption. You will have a recall-level awareness of several successful and failed attempts to use IS for competitive advantage so that in meetings you will be able to back up any assertions with concrete
• Use Excel to solve challenging business problems. You will learn how to write formulas, use functions to summarize data, handle conditions, and calculate important financial functions. You will also learn how to create charts, link multiple data sets using lookup functions, and analyze data using pivot
• Use charts and tables to communicate business information effectively. Excel is not just a tool for solving problems, it is used to communicate your analysis to colleagues and clients. In addition to learning how to crunch numbers you will learn to display your analysis in an effective

 

Course Website

The course website is hosted on Canvas. You can go directly to this course by going to https://bostoncollege.instructure.com/courses/1590429 and log in using your BC credentials. You can also access the Canvas website from My Courses in BC Portal. For a quick overview of Canvas, have a look at this brief introductory video.  More video tutorials can be found here and answers to frequently asked questions can be found here.

This site includes an updated version of the course schedule along with detailed directions on how to complete and submit all course assignments.

Textbooks

There are two required books for class.

1. For the Excel material, we will be using:  Mastering Excel 2016: A Problem-Solving Approach (2^nd Edition) by James Gips.  Pearson, 2017.  ISBN 978-1323759400.
2. For the information systems strategy and technology topics we will be using Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. by John Gallaugher, v. 7.0, August 2018, Flat World Knowledge.

See Obtaining the Textbooks for more details about the textbooks and where to obtain them.

Both textbooks will also be on reserve at the O’Neill Library.

Online Readings

In addition to the textbooks, there will be several online readings (links will be posted on Canvas).

Software & Web Applications

Part of our agenda in this course is to develop a hands-on understanding of a range of information technologies. First-hand experience with technology will add depth to our discussion of the strategic import of these technologies for business and will help to support our goal of obtaining a working knowledge of key technical concepts. While the primary hands-on experience in the course will be using Excel, we will also from time to time explore other technologies including relevant web applications and software already loaded on your PC or Mac. I will let you know in advance if you should bring your laptop to class. You will always have the option to look on with another student and work together on these hands on experiences.

Excel

You will need access to Microsoft Excel in order to complete most of the exercises and all of the problem sets. You can install Excel on your laptop or use computers in O’Neill Library. Excel 2016 is recommended for both Mac and Windows, but you can continue to use Excel 2013 for Windows and Excel 2011 for the Mac if you have one of these versions on your computer.

Details about how to install or upgrade Excel can be found here: Getting Excel On Your Computer.

 

Poll Everywhere

We will be using Poll Everywhere. to add to the interactivity of the classroom. I will post questions in class and you will be able to respond by text message, web browser, or by using the free mobile app. Answers are not used for grading but will help me (and you) to assess your understanding of course topics and also to get some input for class discussions. I will explain how to get set up on Poll Everywhere in class.

Grading

Excel Exercises & Workshops	15%
Problem Sets	20%
Quizzes	10%
Midterm	20%
Participation	5%
Final Exam	30%
Total	100%

Final letter grades will be based on the following ranges:

• A [93 and above]; A- [90-93);
• B+ [87-90); B [83-87); B- [80-83);
• C+ [77-80); C [73-77); C- [70-73);
• D+ [67-70); D [63-67); D- [60-63);
• F (below 60].

 

Exercises & Workshops. For some classes you will be asked to complete a brief exercise before class. This will usually involve demonstrating mastery of some Excel technique. I am asking you to learn about and practice these Excel techniques before we discuss them in class. I will assign specific videos on Lynda.com. as well as pages in the textbook to help you learn the technique. These exercises are intended to take no more than 30 minutes to complete. In addition to these before class exercises there will be a small number of in class workshops that will challenge you to apply your Excel skills in a small group in real time. Details will be provided on Canvas. 

Problem Sets. There will be four problem sets assigned during the course. Each problem set will include several challenging problems and will take a significant amount of time (a minimum of several hours and possibly longer). If you have a question about a problem set you should contact the instructor or a TA for guidance. I strongly advise you to start every problem set within a day or two of receiving it, so that you will be able to find out where you have questions and get them answered in class or in office hours. You should not leave these to the last minute. Late assignments are not accepted unless I agree you have a very compelling reason. Solutions to the problem sets will often be discussed in class on the day they are due. It is your responsibility to submit your assignments on time. Problem sets will be made available on Canvas and should be submitted online before the deadline.

 

Quizzes. There will be two closed book, closed notes quizzes during the course.  The first quiz will focus on Excel skills and will help you prepare for the midterm. The second quiz will focus primarily on technology and strategy concepts. Information about the precise format and content of each quiz will be provided in advance on Canvas.

Midterm. The midterm will be an in class assessment of your Excel learning plus a few important managerial concepts. The midterm is 50 minutes, closed book and closed notes. Details about the midterm will be provided later in the course.

Participation. Your class participation grade reflects your contribution to class discussion. I am happy to give you feedback about your participation at any point in the semester and to talk about strategies for increasing your class participation. In addition to in-class participation, contributions to discussions on Canvas (optional) will also be counted towards your participation grade (details to be provided during the semester).

Final Exam. The purpose of the final exam is to provide one final assessment of your learning of course topics. The final is closed book and closed notes and is a comprehensive test both of your Excel skills and of your recall-level knowledge of managerial concepts, strategic frameworks, technologies, and the issues and examples highlighted in the readings and covered in class. The final will take place at the time scheduled by the University:  May 10th (location will be announced prior to the final).

 

Expectations

Expect the course to be challenging, fun, and valuable!

Please show up on time and be prepared to actively participate. Arriving late is a disruption. Expect that you will be called on to share your knowledge.

The Excel portions of the course depend heavily on your completing the assigned videos and exercises in advance of class. The Excel material builds as we move through the semester and it is important that you keep up with the course as we go. If you find yourself falling behind for whatever reason, please seek help from me and from the teaching assistants. We are committed to helping every student learn this material and there will be resources for helping you to get and stay on track. It is up to you, however, to seek out this assistance.

Use of Laptops and Mobile Devices

This course is focused on information technology and we will be using laptops in class on a regular basis. However, laptops can be a tremendous distraction in a classroom setting. Our classroom discussions will be intellectually challenging, and it goes without saying that the Internet offers many tempting escapes from this level of focus. Therefore, classroom policy is that laptops are to be closed except when doing an in-class exercise or following along with an Excel example. If you do not absolutely need your laptop I suggest you keep it closed. Cell phones and tablets should be silenced and set aside except when needed (e.g. for Poll Everywhere). I reserve the right to adjust the class participation grade in response to classroom use of devices that creates a distraction for me or other students.

Academic Integrity

In this course our learning process will be highly collaborative, but be sure that individual assignments represent your own work. When collaboration is permitted on an assignment this will be clearly indicated; otherwise you should always assume that the assignment is individual in nature. Cheating, copying the work of others, talking during exams, or any other breach of academic integrity will be pursued with the utmost seriousness. If you are confused or stuck on an assignment, the best thing to do is to ask me or a teaching assistant for help. Actual cases of cheating are generally dealt with severely. People have failed courses and been kicked out of school for this. Please refer to BC’s academic integrity policy for further information: http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/integrity.html.

Disability Services

If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or the Boston College Office of the Dean of Students, at (617) 552-3470 or deanofstudents@bc.edu regarding all other types of disabilities, including temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required.