Faculty Contact Information:
Professor: Dr. Al Harris
E-mail: aharris@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
I am physically located on the East coast of the U.S. Please understand that there may be a delay in my response to you due to time differences. | |
Consultation:
| You may email me at anytime. I am physically located on the East coast of the U.S. Please understand that there may be a delay in my response to you due to tome differences. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Wheelen, T. and Hunger, J. (2006). Strategic Management and Business Policy (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
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Supplementary Readings:
Cases: There are two cases for which you will be responsible. These cases will be in the primary text.
Handouts and Other Readings: Other readings may be assigned from time-to-time. You will be responsible for any reading assignments made.
The standard for papers in the graduate program is the APA style. All participants in this course and all graduate INSS, MGMT, PUAD, and ECON courses should have a copy of the style guide:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edi.). Washington DC: Author.
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
| Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line. | |
Course Description:
| 3 semester hours credit. (Formerly INSS 620.) Prerequisites: All undergraduate prerequisites and INSS 540 or INSS 640, or permission of the Program Director. Examines the issue of linking business performance with information systems technology. Alternative structures for matching the information system organization with the overall organization are discussed and evaluated. Planning mechanisms and strategies are examined. Behavior and legal issues that relate to information systems management are addressed. Case studies are used to expose students to information systems policy issues. Students in the public administration program are not eligible for INSS 720. | |
Course Goals:
As a required, advanced, course in the Master of Science in MIS, this course builds on previous coursework and professional experience to focus on high level strategic and policy decisions. Upon completion of the course, participants should have an understanding of:
- Principles of strategic management,
- Strategy formulation and environmental scanning, and
- The process of policy evaluation.
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Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of concepts, research, and theories concerning strategic management.
- Develop and apply a framework of analysis for practical problem solving.
- Develop conceptual skills integrating management issues in public and commercial organizations.
- Develop an appreciation for problems associated with globalization of the economy.
- Develop abilities to analyze, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the performance of people responsible for strategic decisions.
- Improve research capabilities and critical thinking required for strategic policy formulation and evaluation.
- Recognize and apply appropriate ethical standards as part of the strategic management process.
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Grading Information:
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Course Requirements:
Group Project: Each group will be expected to prepare and present a professional analysis of an organization, making sure to include all of the concepts presented in the texts and class discussion. The paper should range from 20-25 double-spaced pages. The group presentation should consist of PowerPoint slides with notes for an oral presentation that would last 20-30 minutes. Your group should also be expected to answer any questions posed by the other students. Each member of the group may have the opportunity to grade the other members on their level of participation/effort on the project. An outline for the group project report is presented at the end of the syllabus.
Case Analyses: For each case, you are expected to present the major points of the case, using the terms and concepts presented in the class. You will be assigned to a case by the instructor. Several people may have the same case for discussion. The case analysis should consist of a 4-6 page report. You will post your final case analysis on the conference, answer any questions posed by the instructor and other students, and submit your paper for grading. These case analyses should reflect the concepts of the class (SWOT, Porter’s 5 forces, Generic Strategies, SWOT, TOWS matrix, etc.) and class "discussions." Failure to include any of the concepts of the class (SWOT, Porter’s 5 forces, Generic Strategies, SWOT, TOWS matrix, etc.) will decrease the quality of your response and, hence, your grade. For INSS720 students, tell why the case is important to the study of IS/IT or strategic management. For MGMT640 students, tell why the case is important to the study of public administration management.
Article Reviews: Each student will be expected to review and contribute one article for each of the discussion conferences (Conferences # 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9). These articles must contribute additional knowledge in support of the topics for the conference. A 1-2 page summary of the article is to be prepared, posted to the Conference, and submitted for grading. Each student is expected to post a single-spaced copy of his/her final article review to the conference during the first three days of the conference. This will increase our understanding of the field and provide resources to build your knowledge and understanding of the subject area. Part of the grading criteria for article reviews is the article’s relevance to the class and the topics discussed in class.
Exams: The exams will consist of some combination of short answer questions, a comprehensive question, and/or a case. All questions will be based on the discussions, readings and objectives for this course.
Class Participation: Each student will be judged on the quality and quantity (if below the specified minimum) of participation in class discussions. I expect students to be interactive in the class. Your postings must be quality postings, that is, add value to the conference. Postings such as “Great answer,” “I agree,” and other similar type postings do not add value to the conference and will not be counted as a posting for grading purposes. Once the participation points are posted in any conference, the number of points will not be changed, even if additional discussion postings are made.
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society. | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner.
Complete graduate level projects or programming assignments, write graduate level papers or case studies: You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your results in a professional manner. In a face-to-face course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material. In a DE class, this means creating a visual/textual presentation for your instructor and classmates.
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary for successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The examination questions used for this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam. | |
Course Schedule:
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Academic Policies:
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The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Code of Civility
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
I am Dr. Al Harris and I will be your instructor for this DE course. I would like to give you a little background on me.
• I received my BS degree in Business from Indiana University, my MS in Administration degree from the George Washington University, and my Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Georgia State University.
• I spent four years as a Marine officer during the Vietnam era.
• After leaving the Marine Corps, I spent 17 years in the consulting profession. During that time, I programmed, designed, and managed the development of many information systems. I also ran my own small consulting business for the last six years of that time, doing a lot of strategic IS planning for many companies.
• After getting my Ph.D., I joined the professorial ranks. I am currently a Professor of Computer Information Systems at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., where I teach a variety of undergraduate and graduate classes. I am also an Adjunct Professor at UMUC.
• I took a sabbatical in the Fall semester of 2001 and taught INSS720 in the European Division of UMUC for two terms before taking it on as a DE course. I have taught this combined course several times over the years.
• I live in Boone, NC, a small town in the mountains of northwest NC. I love to travel. From 1994 to 1999, my wife and I visited all 50 states. After visiting all of the states, we decided to travel internationally. Since 1999, we have visited over 50 different countries on five continents. In June 2004, my wife and I accompanied 12 students for a 4 week study abroad in Japan and Taiwan. In June 2005, we spent a week in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Dubrovnik, Croatia. We then flew to Bucharest Romania, and spent 3 weeks in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and Prague, Czechoslovakia. We spent New Year's Eve 2006 in Paris, France. For three months in 2006 (April to June) my wife and I lived in Évora, Portugal where I taught graduate classes as a Fulbright Scholar to Portugal. We traveled extensively during those three months.
• I love teaching these courses. I hope my excitement and enthusiasm on the subject will be contagious.
I truly believe that strategic thinking and information systems/information technology (IS/IT) can greatly impact and, many times, drive corporate strategy and competition. I truly believe that IS/IT is one of the major elements of any strategy that produces competitive advantage. I will, therefore, stress how IS/IT impacts the strategy when we exchange ideas.
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