College of Business Administration
ABC University

MIS 4310: Systems Analysis and Design

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
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (PURCHASE NOT REQUIRED)
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 traditional and emerging systems analysis 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), and develop a functional information system solution to address the business process-related problems identified.

Traditional systems analysis and design courses are often seen as courses focused on the development of computing solutions to business problems. This emphasis on the development of computer applications is inconsistent with one key business reality. Business process redesign should precede computer-based automation. In some cases, business process redesign alone, without any computer-based automation, leads to significant productivity gains for organizations. This inconsistency is addressed through this course, which includes a robust business process redesign learning component.

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this course is to give students an understanding of traditional and emerging systems analysis and design issues. This is done with an emphasis on issues arising in business process redesign and systems implementation contexts. 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 developing a prototype information system to implement the redesign solutions.

This is a project-oriented and very work-intensive course. In addition to using the theory and techniques learned during the course, students are expected to learn and use new technologies through proactive search of printed and on-line documentation from different sources (e.g. software developing companies, bookstores, library, etc.).

Different teams may use different technologies, depending on their system requirements and project goals. Project goals should be attainable by the end of the semester. Ambitious goals are encouraged and will be rewarded accordingly, but only to the extent that they are achieved.

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
•	Database design concepts and issues
•	Object-oriented design concepts and issues

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. It provides an overview of systems analysis and design topics with a business process redesign orientation. It also includes a discussion of the software development technology known as Active Server Pages, which can be used in the course project.

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

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.

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 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.

ADDITIONAL TEXTS (PURCHASE NOT REQUIRED)
The texts below refer to several popular system development tools that may be used in the team project and do not cover all possible options. Student teams will NOT be penalized for trying to be innovative and move beyond system development tools that they already know. I strongly recommend using Web-oriented development tools.

•	Access 2000 Developer’s Handbook (2 Volume Set), by P. Litwin, K. Getz, and M. Gilbert.
•	Access 2003 Bible, by Cary N. Prague, Michael R. Irwin, and Jennifer Reardon.
•	Advanced JavaServer Pages, by David Geary.
•	Beginning Active Server Pages 3.0, by David Buser, Chris Ullman, Jon Duckett, John Kauffman, jua Llibre, Brian Francis, David Sussman, and Juan T. Llibre.
•	Beginning ASP Databases, by J. Kauffman, K. Spencer, and T. Willis.
•	Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with VB.NET, by Chris Ullman, Rob Birdwell, John Kaufmann, David Sussman, Chris Goode, Neil Raybould, Chris Miller, Srinivasa Sivakumar, Juan T. Libre, Ollie Cornes, Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, Jon Ducket, Matt Butler, and Gary Johnson.
•	Building Web Solutions with ASP .NET and ADO .NET, by Dino Esposito.
•	Microsoft Frontpage 2000 Bible, by D. Elderbrock, and D. Karlins.
•	Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out, by Jim Buyens
•	Oracle® WebDB Bible, by Rick Greenwald, and James Milbery.
•	Professional Active Server Pages 3.0, by Alex Homer, David Sussman, Brian Francis, George Reilly, Esposito, Dino Esposito, Andrea Chiarelli, Craig McQueen, Godfrey Nolan, Simon Robinson, John Schenken, and Kent Tegel.
•	The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide: Programmer's and Developers Exams (With CD-ROM), by Simon Roberts, Philip Heller, and Michael Ernest.
•	Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL, by H.E. Williams.

DOCUMENTS TO BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS COURSE
Student teams must write four main required documents for this course. Two of those documents are reports, and the other two are system manuals. Teams will take a business process redesign-oriented approach to addressing problems in a client organization, and develop a prototype information system to implement a business process redesign solution to those problems.

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.

Even though the redesigned business process can be implemented with the use of a commercial package or through outsourcing, student teams are required to develop a prototype information system that can be used as a basis to implement the redesigned business process. Such prototype system must incorporate two key features or characteristics:

•	The system should employ a database management technology. For example, the system can be built in part on commercially available database standards and/or management suites such as SQL Server, MS Access, MySQL, and Oracle WebDB.

•	The system should allow users to access it through the Internet or through an Intranet. For example, if the system uses MS Access, its forms and reports could be made available through an Intranet employing Novell Netware or Windows XP security settings. Or, the system could incorporate a Web interface for manipulation of the database using, say, Active Server Pages.

Students are required to develop two types of documents in connection with their prototype system: User Manual and Programmer Manual. The first document instructs the end user on how to operate the system on a daily basis. The second assists the programmer/analyst who is in charge of maintaining and improving the system.

While developing the manuals, put yourself in the position of the respective manual user. Ask yourself if the information provided in the manual is adequate for your specific user needs. For the User Manual, assume that the user is computer illiterate and knows very little about computers and the system's operating environment. Such user needs detailed explanation about running the application, responding to problems such as missing data, duplicate indexes, etc.

Similarly, when preparing the Programmer Manual, you should assume that the programmer maintaining the system has not been involved in the initial design of the system. Thus, he/she knows nothing about the internals of the application. As a result of changes in company requirements, the programmer may be asked to modify data fields, change data validation, algorithms, as well as the calling sequence of programs or macros. This manual has to provide the programmer (and/or analyst) with information regarding the database tables and relations, form designs and macros called by the forms, hierarchy of overall system, security, logging, special conditions, etc.

Templates for the reports and manuals 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 and manuals 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 and manuals 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 4310 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, Chapter 8	
Sep 25	Study: Part IV Case, Chapter 9, Chapter 10	
Oct 2	Study: Part V Case, Chapter 11, Chapter 12	
Oct 9	Study: Chapter 13, 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