Managing Information Resources (PUAD 680)
Fall 2001

SYLLABUS

Basic Course Information

Time/Place: Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., rm. 250, Arlington “Original” Building

Instructor: Jonathan L. Gifford

Office Location:

Arlington Campus: “Original” Building, rm. 266

Fairfax Campus: Robinson A211

Telephone: 703-993-2275; fax 801-749-9198

E-mail: jgifford@gmu.edu

Office Hours: Generally Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; or by appointment.

Course Organization and Objectives

This course is about the information revolution, its impacts on society, and the new environment for organizations these impacts create, with­ a particular focus on gov­ernment and non-profit organizations. Information technology generally, and the Internet in particular, have brought extraordinary pressures and opportunities to bear on government and non-profit organizations. The course examines how information and information technology can enable or inhibit organization­s’ successful achievement of desired results.

Designing and implementing new systems or modifying and enhancing existing systems pose a challenge to both the line manager and the information technology (IT) professional. The line manager needs the skills and capacity to define information needs and the ability to ensure that systems acquired to manipulate and analyze information meet the business process requirements of all users. In particular, information needs of senior executives and their ability or inability to develop a vision for the potential use of information and information technology can seriously impede successful deployment of information systems.

For the IT professional, the challenge is developing and maintaining the systems and information nec­essary to lead change and support workers in producing the services and goods needed to fulfill the organiza­tion’s mission. Meeting this challenge can be all the more difficult in public and non-profit or­ganizations because of the procedural, personnel and budgetary limitations that they face.

Course topics include the role of information in the management of the public and non-profit sectors, the use of information systems in re-engineering organizational processes and in adapting approaches to providing information to mission accomplishment. In addition to these functional topics, the course surveys applications of information systems in a variety of public and non-profit settings of the students’ choosing. Candidate settings include (but are not limited to) associations, human services, defense and national security, public works, law enforcement, legislative bodies, and the judiciary.

The specific course objectives are to teach students to:

1.      Understand the impacts and opportunities of the new information age for government and non-profits;

2.      Recognize the value and problems of using systems to meet management challenges;

3.      Recognize and describe the value and performance of information systems relative to mission results;

4.      Recognize the practical, managerial and ethical dilemmas related to the development, implementation and use of information systems; and

5.      Understand the role of information in managing change.

In addition, the course seeks to enhance student skills in several areas:

6.      Finding, reading and critically reviewing professional and scholarly literature, since the latest information on managing information resources are often available in scholarly journals and government and consulting reports;

7.      Writing clear, understandable, concise, balanced and technically accurate papers and memoranda, complete with easily understandable charts, tables and graphs. The tendency to use jargon and unnecessarily technical language is often a serious problem for writing in this subject area;

8.      Professional presentation and commu­nication, both discussion of issues and options, and the presentation of analyses and results; and

9.      Fair and objective peer review of analytical procedures, conclusions and recommendations.

Requirements and Grading

Paper No. 1 (15% of grade)

Complete a “Work System Description and Evaluation,” approximately 500 words in length, plus appendices if desired (due in week 5), describing and evaluating a work system with which you are familiar. Your paper should both describe the work system you’ve chosen, and evaluate it. Use Alter’s work system, DFDs, and/or ERDs as appropriate to organize and present the description and evaluation.

Paper No. 2 (25%)

Write a 2000-word “Sector Application Survey” about information technology applications in a sector of your choice (housing administration, law enforcement, etc.), due in week 9. The instructor must approve the sector you select. The paper should describe state-of-the-art and emerging approaches to managing information resources in a sector of interest to the student. The paper should not be limited to a single organization or a single application. The point is to look at a sector—for example, law enforcement, highway operations and management, medical information systems, personnel management, housing administration or university data warehousing. Of course, the paper cannot survey an entire sector like law enforcement or higher education completely. You should identify some emerging business processes and functions within the sector that interest you and focus on them.

It is essential that the paper not only describe the technology but that it also critically analyze its potential for improving business processes, and touch upon the management and implementation challenges it poses. Be careful to avoid simply reporting unsubstantiated vendor claims. As appropriate, use Alter’s work system framework to describe your technology. Also make appropriate use of other assigned class readings. Try to identify quantified results.

The paper should be approximately 2000 words in length, and may include appendix material at your option.

You should carefully identify and cite source material. For a paper of this type, you will probably need to rely on a wide range of sources, including subject area experts, industry and trade publications, and promotional and marketing materials by vendors. Some of these may be from the Internet.

Examples of selected topics in the past include: ¶ ballistic imaging technology; ¶ smart cards; ¶ vessel navigation systems; ¶ medical records; ¶ “smart” battlefield technologies; ¶ global positioning systems and geographic information systems in highway asset management; ¶ internet technologies in higher education; and ¶ call center technology. In each case, the emphasis has been on a technology applied in a particular government or non-profit sector and the management and implementation issues it raises.

Presentation (10%)

Develop and deliver a 15-minute class presentation on the sector about which you are writing your second paper. Your presentation should utilize presentation software. The classroom is outfitted with Microsoft PowerPoint. You may use other presentation software at your option, but you are responsible for ensuring that the necessary software is available for presentation in our classroom. Presentations will be graded on both content and style. Presentations will be scheduled throughout the semester.

Paper No. 3 (40%)

There are two options for paper no. 3.

Option 1. Review and critique a recent, ongoing or anticipated information technology acquisition or procurement.

Option 2. Write a paper on how the information age, along with other broad trends in the management of public or non-profit organizations, affects the environment of organizations and can be used (positively and negatively) to respond to changes in an organization’s environment, both externally and internally.

The paper should be approximately 2500 words in length, plus appendices if needed. At your option, the paper may focus on the sector that was the subject of the “Sector Application Survey” (paper no. 2).

Use the assigned readings from the course as source material for your paper when appropriate, as well as additional source material you find on your own. As appropriate, use the tools and concepts examined in the course, including the work system framework and concepts of system performance.

Resubmitting Papers

Students may resubmit paper to be re-graded, subject to the following conditions.

1)      Resubmissions are accepted up to 1 week after papers are returned

2)      Must …

a)      … be a substantive rewrite; papers should have been grammatically correct the first time.

b)      … visit the Writing Center (http://writingcenter.gmu.edu)

c)      … include a writer’s memo discussing how the paper is improved, and why it’s worth my time to reread it.

d)      … include the original submission.

3)      You may also include up to 2 additional revisions of papers from the semester in an end-of-semester portfolio. Same rules apply re writer’s memo and including earlier submissions.

Class Participation (10%)

You should participate in class discussions demonstrating command of the assigned material and the ability to relate the concepts to other management issues. You should also subscribe to a computer-oriented periodical and scan it regularly for items related to your areas of interest. Candidate publications include Government Computer News (www.gcn.com), Government Technology (www.govtech.net). You may select another relevant publication if you wish. You can read these on-line, or subscribe to the hard copy version. (Note: eligibility for free hard copy subscriptions sometimes depends on how you answer the questions on the subscription form, which the publishers use to promote their publication to advertisers. Don’t lie, but make the most of anything that would make you attractive to their advertisers.)

A regular part of every class session will be a discussion of current events or “found objects” that are relevant to the subject matter of the course. These “found objects” might be incidents or situations that you encounter in your work or personal life that highlight or exemplify particular issues before the class. You should actively seek out such discussion items as a part of your regular everyday perusal of news and other events.

Note: Students who are unable to attend classes during which graded work is to be submitted or presented will be asked to provide appropriate documentation of the necessity for their absence. Also, note that the GMU’s unusual graduate grading system allows grades of A, A-, B+, B, C and F. There is no B-. Work that does not merit at least a B is generally not considered acceptable graduate quality work.

Textbooks

The texts below have been ordered through the campus bookstore and should be available for purchase.

1.      Steven Alter, Information Systems: Foundation of e-Business, 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002);

2.      Steven Kelman, Procurement and Public Management (Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1990);

3.      Clifford Stoll, The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage (New York: Doubleday, 1989);

4.      Andrew S. Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company. 1996. Revised. New York: Currency, Doubleday, 1999;

5.      Davenport, Thomas H. 1998. Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system. Reprint 98401. Harvard Business Review, July-August: 121-31.

6.      Tripsas, Mary. 2000. Adobe Systems Incorporated, Case no. 9-801-199. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Preparation questions:

i)         How was Postscript established as a de facto standard? How did Adobe make money form Postscript, despite its being an “open” standard.

ii)       Which firm is currently in a stronger position to control de facto standards in the eBook space: Adobe or Microsoft?

iii)      What should Adobe do? How can they win the standards war? Should they focus on eDocs or eBooks? Will the eBooks market tip or will there be multiple standards? How can Adobe make money in this market?

iv)     What is the appropriate public policy to govern such standards wars?

7.      Shapiro, Carl, and Hal R. Varian. 1999. The art of standards wars. California management Review, 41, no. 2, Winter: 8-32.

8.      Light, Jay O., Lynda M. Applegate, and Dan J. Green. 1999. The Last Mile of Broadband Access, Harvard Business School Note no. 9-800-076. Cambridge, MA: HBS Press.

9.      Bensaou, M., and Michael Earl. 1998. The right mind-set for managing information technology. Reprint 98502. Harvard Business Review, September-October.

10.  Sawhney, Mohanbir, and Deval Parikh. 2001. Where value lives in a networked world. Reprint R0101E. Harvard Business Review, January.

Items 5 - 10 were ordered late and will not be available until a few weeks into the semester.

In addition to the above, the instructor may provide selected outside readings, which will be made available at student expense or on the Library’s electronic reserves (http://ers2000.gmu.edu/ers/srch.html).

Instructor

Jonathan L. Gifford is an associate professor of public management and policy in the Department of Public and International Affairs, the director of the M.S. Professional Studies in Transportation Policy, Operations & Logistics in the School of Public Policy, and a faculty member in the Environmental Sciences and Public Policy program. His teaching interests include: the planning, analysis and development of information systems in government; public policy analysis; transportation system planning and development; and management information systems.

His primary research interests are the use of information technology in public organizations and facilities, and transportation system analysis and planning. Recent research topics include:

·        Institutional issues in the implementation of advanced transportation information and control technologies;

·        The influence of standards on the pace and extent of technological innovation and technological adoption; and

·        Increasing the public acceptability of infrastructure improvements.

His professional experience includes short stints with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, and the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, as well as a number of consulting assignments with government and private clients.

Prior to joining George Mason University, he served on the faculty of the School of Urban and Public Affairs at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering, with a specialization in transportation engineering, from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

For additional information, see http://mason.gmu.edu/~jgifford.

Computer Proficiency Requirements

Students enrolling in 680 must have basic proficiency in the use of a spreadsheet, database, word processing and presentation packages. Students lacking proficiency in spreadsheet or database but otherwise conversant in the use of computers may take PUAD 680 and PUAD 730 simultaneously. PUAD 730 may not be substituted for PUAD 680.

Students who need to gain proficiency have several options to do so. The right one for you depends on your situation, including how much you already know. Here are some options:

1.      Enroll in 730.

2.      Video-based tutorials for Excel, Access and PowerPoint are available from STAR (Student Technology Assistance and Resource Center), JLC rm. 229, 993-8990.

3.      Complete training in Microsoft Office through an off-campus training program. Such programs are sometimes available through an employer.

General Paper Guidelines

1)      Use of papers from another class requires explicit approval from the instructor.

2)      If using the same topic for papers 1, 2 and/or 3, be sure to differentiate between papers in a footnote. For example, the note might state that paper no. 1 dealt with one aspect of a problem, whereas paper no. 2 deals with a different aspect. This makes it clear to the reader (instructor) how the papers differ.

3)      Paper Length. Word counts specified for papers are exclusive of footnotes, endnotes, or appendix material.

4)      Papers must be typed and double-spaced.

5)      Papers should have a cover page that includes word count, but do not put papers in covers, binders or any other kind of package.

6)      No late assignments will be accepted without the instructor’s prior approval.

7)      Papers with unacceptable errors in spelling and grammar will be returned for correction prior to grading and penalized 10 percent.

8)      The instructor may ask to review your source material. Do not discard it for at least a month after your final paper is turned in.

9)      Plagiarism. Be careful and systematic in the way you quote and credit source material in order to avoid plagiarism, which may result in Honor Code violations.

10)  You cannot use a paper from another course without explicit instructor approval.

11)  Finding and evaluating source material. The department’s “Research Guide” (see below) contains some good pointers for finding and evaluating sources. Remember that some sources are more credible than others, and it’s up to you the researcher to evaluate the credibility of a source and the particular facts, ideas or positions it advances. All sources are not created equal!

a)      “Grey literature” an important source in may application areas

b)      Technical reports, government reports, consulting studies, university reports

c)      Not well indexed in standard reference tools

d)      Accessible through special purpose tools/websites that may be industry specific – associations, research centers, etc.

12)  Style

a)      The term “style” refers to the way a paper treats headings, footnotes, bibliographic citations, illustrations, tables, etc. In professional writing, it is important to be aware of style and to follow the appropriate style guidelines for what you are writing.

b)      You should choose and adhere to a particular style. You may wish to use the style outlined in the department’s “Research Handbook,” located at http://www.gmu.edu/departments/pia/research/resch-hk.htm. This guide is somewhat dated, especially with respect to the use of the library’s on-line capabilities. However, it provides useful information on writing and on evaluating source material.

c)      For the citation of e-mail messages, World Wide Web sites, and other items on the Internet, follow the format specified in “Beyond the MLA Handbook: Documenting Electronic Sources on the Internet” <http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/1.2/inbox/mla_archive.html> (June 10, 1996). Important to include document date (or “n.d.,” not dated) and access date.

d)      In addition to the guidelines in the “Research Handbook,” papers for this course require the following: (i) identify your sources in footnotes; (ii) include source information for all figures and tables; and (iii) include a bibliography of all source material at the end of your paper.

13)  Grading criteria

a)      Technical content: 65%.

b)      Writing quality: 25%.

c)      Style and appearance: 10%

Honor Code Policy

The Honor Code policy endorsed by the members of the Department of Public & International Affairs relative to the types of academic work indicated below is set out in the appropriate paragraphs:

1.      Quizzes, Tests and Examinations. No help may be given or received by students during the taking of quizzes, tests or examinations, whatever the type or wherever taken, unless the instructor specifically permits deviation from this standard.

2.      Course Requirements. All work submitted in fulfillment of course requirements is to be solely the product of the individual(s) whose name(s) appears on it. Except with permission of the instructor, no recourse is to be had to projects, papers, lab reports or any other written work previously prepared by another student, and except with permission of the instructor no paper or work of another type submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of another course may be used a second time to satisfy a requirement of any course in the Department of Public Affairs. No assistance is to be obtained from commercial organizations which sell or lease research help or written papers. With respect to all written work as appropriate, proper footnotes and attribution are required.

3.      Required Reading. A signed pledge that reading required for a course has been completed may be made a condition of receiving credit in that course. Inability to sign the pledge when required on the final exam will result in the assignment of a grade of I.

Schedule

Class

Date

Subject

*Readings

Homework Due

1

8/28

Introduction

 

 

2

9/4

Systems analysis

*Alter chaps. 1-2

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2001

U.S. General Accounting Office 2001

Short Bio

Work system exercise**

3

9/11

Business processes

*Alter chap. 3

 

DFD exercise**

4

9/18

Databases

*Alter chap. 4

Database problem**

5

9/25

Types of Information Systems

*Alter chap. 5

*Davenport 1998

Gulledge and Sommer 2001

Paper no. 1

6

10/2

Customer, Product & E-Commerce

*Alter chap. 6

*Grove

*Tripsas 2000 (note preparation questions under “Textbooks”)

*Shapiro & Varian 1999

 

7

10/16

Human & Ethical Issues

*Alter chaps. 7

Fukuyama 1996

 

 

 

Spring break – no class meeting

8

10/23

Computers in a Networked World

*Alter chap. 8

 

 

9

10/30

Software, Programming & Artificial Intelligence

*Alter chap. 9

Paper no. 2

10

11/6

Networks & Telecommunications

*Alter chap. 10

*Light, et al. 1999

*Sawhney & Parikh 2001

 

11

11/13

System Development

*Alter chaps. 11-12

To be announced reading on XML

 

12

11/20

Procurement

*Kelman

Kelman 1999

 

 13

11/27

IT Planning & Management in the Federal Government

*Bensaou & Earl 1998

Federal CIO Council 2000

 

14

12/4

Security & Control

*Alter chap. 13

*Stoll 1989

U.S. General Accounting Office 2001

 

 

12/11

No class meeting

 

Paper no. 3

* indicates required text, or see reading list below

** see the exercise description below

Reading List

Federal CIO Council, Capital Planning and IT Investment Committee. 2000. Smart practices in capital planning, <http://www.cio.gov/files/Smart_Practices_book.pdf>.

Fukuyama, Francis. 1996. Trust still counts in a virtual world. In Forbes ASAP. Accessed February 15, 1999.

Gulledge, Thomas R., and Rainer A. Sommer. 2001. Public sector enterprise resource planning, George Mason University, Policy Analysis Center, Fairfax, VA. <http://www.eep.gmu.edu/pac_content/research/Papers/Sub.pdf>.

Kelman, Steven. 1999. White House-initiated management reform: Implementing federal procurement reform. In The managerial presidency, edited by James P. Pfiffner, 2d edition, 239-64. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2001. The hidden threat to e-government: Avoiding large government IT failures, PUMA Policy Brief no. 8.  Http://www.oecd.org/puma/Risk/ITfailuresE.pdf.

U.S. General Accounting Office. 2001. Information and technology management. Statement of David L. McClure, Director, Information Technology Management Issues, GAO-01-583T. In <www.gao.gov>. Washington, D.C.

Exercises

The following exercises are to be prepared for the first few classes. For each exercise, please be prepared to present your exercise to the class, using an electronic PowerPoint slide or a transparency.

Work System Exercise (Due: week 2)

Use the work system framework from chapters 1 and 2 of Alter to create a work system framework diagram to summarize a system you are familiar with, and describe and evaluate the system from the infrastructure and context perspectives.

DFD Exercise (Due: week 3)

1)      Sketch the dataflow diagram for a business process with which you are familiar.

2)      Select one of the subprocesses from (1) and diagram it in greater detail.

Note: in doing this exercise, try to view the process from the “system” perspective. Think in terms of the work system framework. Don’t adopt a “customer-eye” view.

Database Problem (Due: week 4)

1)      Study Figure 4.4 in Alter (p. 142) and modify it to make it more consistent with your understanding of how GMU’s registration system operates. Add or remove entities and relationships as needed.

2)      Study Table 4.1 in Alter (p. 144) and modify it to include other attributes you think might be important in the registration process. Include attributes of any entities you added in question 1.