College of Business Administration
ABC University

MIS 3370: Business Process Redesign

Online course syllabus

Instructor: John Doe

Phone: 201-222-2345
E-mail: johndoe@abcu.edu

Office hours: Tue/Thu, 4-5 PM, KNGT 217

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DESCRIPTION
OBJECTIVES
MAIN TOPICS COVERED
STUDENT TEAMS
WORKING INDIVIDUALLY INSTEAD OF IN A TEAM
MAIN MODE OF INTERACTION
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
DOCUMENTS TO BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS COURSE
LETTER FROM CLIENT ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE
SLIDES AND RESPECTIVE AUDIO FILES
SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS
GRADING
MIDTERM EXAM
FINAL EXAM
PROJECT GRADING CRITERIA
GRADES CONVERSION TABLE
ETHICS
VERY IMPORTANT DATES
APPENDIX A: COURSE SCHEDULE
APPENDIX B: EXAMPLE OF LETTER FROM PROJECT CLIENT

DESCRIPTION
This is a project-centered course in which students learn and apply conceptual and technical knowledge on business process redesign topics. In a course project, students gather relevant information about business problems and related business processes from a client organization (e.g., a small business, a department in a larger organization), select one business process for redesign, develop a redesigned version of that business process, and propose information technology solutions to implement the new business process.

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this course is to give students an understanding of business process redesign issues. The course looks at business process redesign from both an incremental and radical perspective. The former, incremental perspective is aligned with total quality management and related quality certification problems – i.e., ISO 9000 and Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model. The latter, radical perspective is aligned with business process reengineering approaches, and involves the use of significant changes in business processes (implemented within a short timeframe) as a key competitiveness-enhancing tool for organizations, both large and small.

Students are expected to complete a team project addressing a REAL problem, which the students will identify, at a REAL organization. The team project consists of meeting with members of a client organization (e.g., a department at a company; a division or department of an institution such as a university or government branch; a small business etc.), gathering relevant information from them, proposing redesign solutions to business process problems, and describing possible information technology implementation solutions. Those solutions are aimed at implementing a new (or redesigned) business process.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED
•	Data, information and knowledge flow in business processes
•	Return on investment in technology
•	The past, present and future of business process redesign
•	Business process modeling approaches and diagrams
•	Selecting a target for successful business process redesign
•	Representing information and knowledge in business processes
•	Redesigning business processes
•	Using IT to enable new process designs
•	Redesigning Little Italy Restaurants

STUDENT TEAMS
Students are required to post their full names, short bios (one paragraph on education and work background is enough), and full contact information on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board. The information should be posted by 1 PM on Friday in the first week of the course. Students should then use this information to contact prospective team members, create teams, and define a team leader. Teams should have between 2 and 6 student members. The subject of their posting should be their name followed by a possessive apostrophe and the words “bio and contact information”. Example: John Doe’s bio and contact information.

Each team leader must inform the instructor and the rest of the class (through a posting on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board) about the creation of their team. This should be done by 1 PM on Friday in the second week of the course. Team leaders should provide the full names, short bios (one paragraph on education and work background is enough), and full contact information for each of the team members (this will be mostly a cut-and-paste exercise based on previous postings). The subject of their posting should be the name of the team leader followed by a possessive apostrophe and the words “team members’ names, bios and contact information”. Example: John Doe’s team members’ names, bios and contact information.

WORKING INDIVIDUALLY INSTEAD OF IN A TEAM
Students are strongly encouraged to work as part of a team. If being part of a team is not possible, due to geographical location, students may work individually. In those cases, they should consider themselves as a “team of one” for the purposes of interpreting the instructions in this syllabus, and completing the team project assignment.

MAIN MODE OF INTERACTION
The instructor will interact with the students through various media, including email, telephone and WebCT. The main mode of interaction will be through postings on the “Main” discussion board on WebCT. Each week, the instructor will compile questions and provide answers on that discussion board.

Whenever possible, the instructor will use more natural media to provide answers to questions, such as audio or video clips. This will be especially true for questions that appear to require a great deal of knowledge exchange to be appropriately answered.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
The textbook below is required for this course. A CD accompanies this book, and contains a variety of multimedia materials. These multimedia materials include a few introductory video clips highlighting key aspects of the course, audio clips associated with each of the PowerPoint slides provided, and full-motion screen captured demonstrations of the use of some of the tools discussed in the book.

•	Systems Analysis & Design Fundamentals: A Business Process Redesign Approach (1ST Edition Paperback, 2006), by Ned Florencio Kock; Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.

The above textbook’s organization mirrors that of a real business process redesign and information technology implementation project; like the one completed by student teams in this course. That is, it is organized so that the chapters sequentially cover key topics of each of the main chronological steps of such a project, from a “real world” perspective. It starts with concepts and background information on key issues in connection with systems analysis and design, and business process redesign. It then shows how to model and redesign business processes, concluding with information technology implementation issues. 

Students must carefully read the entire textbook and review its CD materials (except chapters 11 to 13) at least once prior to beginning their projects (see the course schedule in Appendix A for recommended dates), and consult it frequently during the progress of their projects. Several of the ideas in the textbook will likely prove instrumental in the successful completion of the projects. For example, Chapter 6 contains several guidelines and ideas in connection with the selection of target business processes for successful redesign.

DOCUMENTS TO BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS COURSE
Student teams must write two main required reports for this course. One of the reports, called Business Problems and Related Information Flows must contain background information about the client organization, the business process being targeted by the student group, the main opportunities for improvement associated that that process, the goals to be achieved through the redesign.

The other report, called Information Flow Redesign and System Implementation Alternatives must contain information about the business process changes to be implemented through the business process redesign project, descriptions of the redesigned business process, and a discussion of three possible information technology implementation solutions. Those solutions are aimed at implementing the new (or redesigned) business process.

Templates for the reports are available from the CD that accompanies the required textbook. That CD contains an index page that pops up when the CD is inserted in the player (if that does not happen, open the “index.htm” file using a Web browser). The templates for the reports can be found under the “Documents and templates” section of the index Web page. That section also contains other files with templates and examples that may be used in the reports, such as a communication flow representation example stored in a PowerPoint file. Note that the content of the reports may vary from project to project. Documents must be saved in MS Word format. Figures and reports should be embedded into the documents (you may have to use a scanner in some cases).

LETTER FROM CLIENT ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE
A letter from the main contact person in the client organization, discussing the project, must be provided to the instructor together with the reports and manuals. An example of such letter can be found in Appendix B. The letter should contain the contact information of the person writing so the instructor can call him/her up and inquire about the project. The letter should be scanned and copied into an MS Word or PDF file.

SLIDES AND RESPECTIVE AUDIO FILES
Teams will summarize and explain key points in their project through PowerPoint slides and respective audio files, organized in a way similar to those in the CD that accompanies the required textbook. The slides should also summarize and explain the information contained in the project reports and manuals.

SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS
Students are required to develop a CD with links to the required documents for this course. The CD should also contain the project presentation slides and respective audio files. The organization and appearance of the links should be similar to those found in the CD that accompanies the required textbook.

The CD with links to the required documents is the main deliverable for this course. The name of the students in the team, starting with the team leader’s name, should be written on the CD with a permanent marker (e.g., a Sharpie black ink marker), followed by the words “MIS 3370 Project CD”.

The CD must reach the instructor at his University office by the deadline (see course schedule in Appendix A). The CD can be hand-delivered or mailed to the instructor. If mailed, the use of an overnight delivery service by a reliable company (e.g., FedEx, DHL) is strongly recommended.

GRADING
Students will be graded based on their performance in the midterm exam and project, as well as on careful completion of the final survey and exam. The weight of each of these grade components is as follows:
•	Midterm exam: 30%.
•	Project: 40%.
•	Final survey and exam: 30%.

MIDTERM EXAM
All students must take an online midterm exam individually at the middle of the course. The exam will have multiple choice questions similar to those at the end of most chapters of the textbook. It will cover primarily textbook topics. Midterm exams will be graded on a 100-point scale.

Students are welcome to consult any materials while taking this exam. However, they cannot discuss it with anyone until the midterm exam grades are posted on WebCT, which should happen by the end of the week following the exam week. That is, they should take the exam individually. If they discuss the exam with anyone (including friends, relatives, spouses etc.), there is a good chance that, as a result, they will receive a grade of zero for the exam.

FINAL EXAM
All students must take an online exam individually at the end of this course. The exam covers a variety of topics, and is aimed at assessing the students’ knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course. As such, it will not restrict itself to textbook topics, and may refer to common issues that emerged during the team projects.

Students are welcome to consult any materials while taking the final exam. However, they cannot discuss it with anyone until the final grades are posted on WebCT, which should happen by the end of the week following the exam week. That is, they should take the exam individually. If they discuss the exam with anyone (including friends, relatives, spouses etc.), there is a good chance that, as a result, they will receive a grade of zero.

PROJECT GRADING CRITERIA
Projects are graded on a 100-point scale, split in three main parts: organization of the presentation and reports (30 points), originality of the project (30 points), and business relevance of the project (40 points). The points in each part are calculated as follows:

Organization of the presentation and reports
Very poor – 5 points
Poor – 10 points
Good – 15 points
Very good – 20 points
Excellent – 25 points
Outstanding – 30 points

Originality of the project
Very poor – 5 points
Poor – 10 points
Good – 15 points
Very good – 20 points
Excellent – 25 points
Outstanding – 30 points

Business relevance of the project
Very poor – 5 points
Poor – 10 points
Good – 15 points
Very good – 20 points
Excellent – 30 points
Outstanding – 40 points

The following are questions that will be used as a guide for grading projects according to the criteria above. Students are strongly encouraged to try to ensure that they can answer affirmatively as many of these questions as possible.

Organization of the presentation and reports
•	Were the slides, audio files, and reports well organized?
•	Did the reports follow the outline provided by the instructor?
•	Did the team members properly introduce the topic of the project at the beginning of the slide presentation, and in the reports?
•	Did the members provide a good motivation for their project at the beginning of the slide presentation, and in the reports?
•	Have the slide presentation and reports flowed smoothly from beginning to end, or did they seem to be a group of poorly connected sub-presentations and/or written sections?
•	Was there a conclusion in the slide presentation, where the main points were summarized?
•	Did the report have a table of contents with page numbers indicated for each section and subsection?
•	Did the page numbers on the report match those indicated in the table of contents?

Originality of the project
•	Did the project seem to build on carefully conducted interviews, or was it mostly based on Web sites and other easy to obtain documents?
•	Did the project address the client organization needs in a truly original way?
•	Were the insights generated through the project at least somewhat counterintuitive, or simply common sense?

Business relevance of the project
•	Was the specific area (or topic) chosen in the project an important area for businesses today?
•	Was the project aimed at a problematic business process?
•	Were numbers (i.e., quantitative data) used to support assumptions regarding the project’s expected impact on the organization and/or its individuals?
•	Did at least some of the insights generated through the project seem unusual or counterintuitive from a business perspective, suggesting that the team members probed deeply into the project’s many facets, and provided a work of value to the client organization?
•	Was the client organization representative (who was expected to write the letter in connection with the project) satisfied with the outcomes of the project?

GRADES CONVERSION TABLE
The grades conversion table below will be used in the conversion of numeric grades to "letter" grades at the end of the semester. Numeric grades will be calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, based on the weighted average of the grades for the midterm exam, project, and final survey and exam.

Less than 60	F	
At least 60 but less than 70	D	
At least 70 but less than 80	C	
At least 80 but less than 90	B	
90 and above	A	

ETHICS
Abiding by high standards of ethics is not only required by the University, but also likely to be beneficial to the students in the long run. Cheating in a project report, for example, may lead to immediate benefits (such as a slightly higher grade in the project), but will likely lead to the development of a habit that will be extremely detrimental to the student in his or her future career. Unethical behavior is frowned upon by organizations and society as a whole. Moreover, more often than not, unethical behavior is also illegal behavior.

Cheating
Cheating can be defined as an act in which a student commits deception in order to falsely demonstrate that he or she mastered a topic of subject, usually as part of a class assignment or exam. Cheating is considered a serious academic offense, which may lead to serious negative consequences, including an “F” grade in the course, and possibly expulsion from the University

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is particularly serious form of cheating. It can be defined as the wrongful appropriation, purloining, publishing, expressing, or taking, as one’s own, the thoughts, writings, inventions, or ideas of another person (Oxford University Dictionary). The nature of academic work implies adherence to very high standards of ethics, without which the work ends up having very little value, in the eyes of the instructor and the University. Students are strongly advised to make sure that they do not commit plagiarism during this course, since doing so is certain to lead to an “F” grade in the course, and possibly expulsion from the University.

VERY IMPORTANT DATES
•	Week of Aug 28. Post full name, short bio, and full contact information on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board by 1 PM on Friday.
•	Week of Sep 4. Post full names, short bios, and full contact information for each of the team members on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board by 1 PM on Friday.
•	Week of Oct 16. Take midterm exam online by 1 PM on Friday.
•	Week of Dec 4. Make sure that project CD reaches the instructor by 1 PM on Friday.
•	Week of Dec 11. Take final exam online by 1 PM on Friday.

APPENDIX A: COURSE SCHEDULE

Week beginning	Recommended actions (content to be studied includes PowerPoint slides and audio files related to the chapters that are indicated below)	
Aug 28	Read course syllabus (carefully)
Post full name and individual info. on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board by 1 PM on Friday	
Sep 4	Study: Part I Case, Chapter 2, Chapter 3
Post team members information on WebCT’s “Main” discussion board by 1 PM on Friday	
Sep 11	Study: Part II Case, Chapter 4, Chapter 5	
Sep 18	Study: Part III Case, Chapter 6, Chapter 7	
Sep 25	Study: Chapter 8, Part IV Case	
Oct 2	Study: Chapter 9, Part V Case	
Oct 9	Study: Chapter 10, Chapter 14	
Oct 16	Take midterm exam online by 1 PM on Friday	
Oct 23	Work on project	
Oct 30	Work on project	
Nov 6	Work on project	
Nov 13	Work on project	
Nov 20	Thanksgiving Holiday (take a break)	
Nov 27	Finalize work on project	
Dec 4	Make sure that project CD reaches the instructor by 1 PM on Friday	
Dec 11	Take final exam online by 1 PM on Friday	

APPENDIX B: EXAMPLE OF LETTER FROM PROJECT CLIENT