300 | 400 | Graduate Courses

Management Information Systems
(Administered by the Department of Logistics, Operations and Management Information Systems)
Richard F. Poist, Jr., Interim Chair of Department
Distinguished Professors: Allen, Baumel
Professors: Crum, Poist
Professors (Emeritus): Thompson, Voorhees
Associate Professors: Hendrickson, Larson, Lummus, Mennecke, Nilakanta, Premkumar, Ruben, Townsend, Walter
Assistant Professors: Hackbarth, Johnson, Montabon, Strader, Suzuki, Zhu
Instructors (Adjunct): Blanshan, Chang, Choobineh, Clayton, Tandradinata

Undergraduate Study
For undergraduate curriculum in business, major in management information systems, (MIS) see College of Business, Curricula.

The MIS Program is designed to provide students with a strong educational foundation that prepares them as information system (IS) professionals. The academic program consists of a specially designed curriculum that emphasizes conceptual, analytical, technical and interpersonal skills. The major offers students comprehensive training in the application, use and management of information systems to prepare them to provide effective information services and support to organizations. The coursework is designed to provide the technical and conceptual skills associated with the use of information technology in business organizations. The program will: impart knowledge on existing and emerging information technologies and their impact on the IS function; train to critically analyze business processes, identify inefficiencies and problems, assess information requirements, create business solutions and technical specifications for the supporting system; provide expertise to design and develop database applications using the latest database technologies; provide expertise in the latest telecommunication technologies; train in interpersonal and communication skills to effectively interact with various information systems' clients; and provide managerial skills to manage IS projects.

To enter the MIS major, students must achieve a cumulative ISU grade-point average of 2.75 or a grade point average of 2.75 in the foundation (see College of Business Curricula). The MIS major requires students to take six courses. The required courses are: Com S 201, MIS 331, MIS 432, MIS 433, and MIS 435. In addition they will take one additional elective course from an approved list. These courses are designed to provide the conceptual, technical, and managerial skills necessary to design and develop systems in organizations.

Graduate Study
The MIS area participates in three graduate programs in the College of Business-M.S. in Business, MSIS, and full-time and part-time M.B.A. programs. The M.S. program is a 30 credit hour curriculum with a thesis.

The M.B.A. program is a 48 credit hour curriculum. Twenty-four of the 48 credit hours are core business courses and the remaining 24 credit hours are graduate electives. Students can obtain a MIS specialization in the M.B.A. program by taking 12 credit hours of graduate MIS courses from a selected list of courses.

The masters of science in information systems (MSIS) is a 32 credit (minimum) curriculum designed around three inter-related areas - Foundation, IS, and electives. All students are expected to be familiar with basic computing skills before they enter the program. The MSIS will educate students on applying IS theory and concepts to modern IS development through classes that enable them to learn and use the latest software in application projects. Students graduating from the program will have advanced technical and managerial skills to develop and manage information systems projects.

The MIS area also participates in an interdeptmental MS program in Information Assurance.
Courses open for nonmajor graduate credit: 432, 433, 435 and 438.

Courses Primarily for Undergraduate Students
MIS 330. Management Information Systems. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: Com S 103. The role of information technology in organization. Overview of methodologies for design and development of systems including decision support systems, expert systems, data bases, end-user computing, etc. Computer applications relate concepts to practice. Lecture and laboratory work emphasizes the enabling role of IT in contemporary organizations.

MIS 331. File Structures and Programming. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 330, Com S 207. Introduction to the concepts and use of data structures, file accesses and object oriented programming methodologies in contemporary business environments. Object oriented programming languages such as C++ used. Application development environments will be covered.

MIS 432. Information Systems Analysis. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 330, Com S 201. Critical analysis of business processes, data and process modeling, feasibility studies, CASE tools, and developing system design specifications. Nonmajor graduate credit.

MIS 433. Database Management Systems. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 331. Database design, development, and implementation. Focus on data models, both classical and object oriented. Uses relational and/or object oriented database management systems. Nonmajor graduate credit.

MIS 434. Electronic Commerce Strategy. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 330, Mkt 340, TrLog 360. Overview of business strategies and technologies used for electronic commerce. Emphasis is on the strategic, operational, and technical issues associated with global electronic commerce using class lecture/discussion and case studies.

MIS 435. Business Telecommunications. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 331. Overview of communications technology used in various business applications - local area network, wide area network, broad band network, wireless and voice network. Understand the role of protocols, particularly internet protocols, in communications. Train to analyze network requirements, design and implement local area networks. Nonmajor graduate credit.

MIS 438. Information Systems Development. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 432, 433. Design of business systems using contemporary tools and methods such as SQL, CASE tools, OOD tools, etc. Focuses on synthesizing concepts from earlier MIS courses. Nonmajor graduate credit.

MIS 439. Topics in Management of Information Systems. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 331, permission of instructor. A variety of topics will be covered and topics may vary between semesters. Some of the topics are information resources management, electronic commerce, decision support systems, and expert systems.

MIS 490. Independent Study. Cr. 1 to 3 each time taken. Prereq: 330, senior classification, permission of instructor.

Courses Primarily for Graduate Students. Open to Qualified Undergraduate Students
MIS 503. Management Information Systems. (2-0) Cr. 2. Prereq: Graduate classification. Current theories and practices of information processing and decision making. Focus on information technology and its uses in improving work practices, products, and tools for decision support. Use of artificial intelligence and other developments in technology. Competitive pressures and risks of information technology (IT). Setting IT strategy, information system planning and development of enterprise architecture. Focus on systems development and implementation.

MIS 531. Business Software Development. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. A survey of business-oriented programming languages with emphasis on design, writing, debugging and testing of computer programs for business transaction processing, and managerial decision-support. Topics include structured programming and file processing.

MIS 532. Advanced Business Software Development. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 531 or equivalent. A survey of business-oriented programming languages with emphasis on state-of-the-art development techniques for business software. Topics include object-oriented and Internet programming issues and methods.

MIS 533. Data Management for Decision Makers. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. The course will address the data needs of functions such as marketing, finance, production etc. The course will focus on teaching advanced data base management skills needed to design, develop and use database, data warehousing and data mining systems for effective decision support. Importance of contemporary technologies will be stressed.

MIS 534. Electronic Commerce. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. Overview of how modern communication technologies including the internet and world wide web have revolutionized the way we do business. It will provide an understanding of various internet technologies and how companies are using the internet for commercial purposes. The course will also explore future scenarios on the use of these technologies and their impact on various industries and the society.

MIS 535. Telecommunications Management. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. Issues involved in the management of telecommunications function. Overview of communications technology used in various business applications, local area network, wide area network, broad band network, wireless and voice networks. Internet technologies and protocols. Analyzing the strategic impact of these technologies on organizations. Strategic planning for telecommunications, including network planning and analysis.

MIS 537. Information Resource Management. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. Information Resource Management (IRM) is a popular concept of viewing information systems resources from a strategic resource perspective. This course will present and discuss the IRM concept as well as provide pragmatic tools for implementing this approach within the organization. Topics will include: IS outsourcing, total cost of ownership, IS planning and strategic analysis, justification for IT investment, management of IT human resources, traditional project management theory, and project management techniques derived from the Theory of Constraints (TOC).

MIS 538. Business Processes and Systems Development. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. Discusses the theory and techniques used to analyze information systems to support various business processes. The course also discusses the theory and concepts related to business systems design such as data and process modeling, relational data base theory, database management, systems design, and developing technical specifications for a business system. A working prototype for a business application will be developed using popular software development packages.

MIS 539. Topics in Management of Information Systems. (3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 503. A variety of topics may be offered in different semesters. Topics may include electronic commerce, information resources management, decision support systems, and expert systems.
MIS 590. Special Topics. Cr. 1 to 3 each time taken. Prereq: Permission of instructor. For students wishing to do individual research in a particular area of MIS.

MIS 599. Creative Component. Cr. 3. Prereq: Graduate classification, permission of supervisory committee chair. Preparation and writing of creative component.

Courses for Graduate Students
MIS 699. Research. Cr. 3 to 6, arranged. F.S.SS. Prereq: Graduate classification, permission of major professor. Research.