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College of Business

 

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NOTE: BA 483 is not offered during Summer 2008.
These course materials are for reference purposes only.

 

BA 483 – IT, Business Strategy and E-Commerce - Course Syllabus – Spring 2008

 

INSTRUCTOR:        Dr. V.T. Raja 

OFFICE:                     Bexell 405

PHONE:                     541-737-6058 

E-MAIL:                     Raja@bus.oregonstate.edu

 

OFFICE HOURS:      First week and finals week: By Appointment

Tuesday:          12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Thursday:        12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Friday:               2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

and by appointment. 

CLASS TIMING:     Section 1: MW 12 noon - 1:50 p.m.

CLASSROOM:         BEXELL 103

PREREQUISITES: This is a required class for students in the MIS option.  Students taking this course should have successfully completed BA370, BA371, BA479, and also should be of senior standing.  It is highly recommended that students concurrently take BA372 if they have not already completed that course. 

 

COURSE OVERVIEW: This course, a capstone course for MIS option students, is organized as a miscellaneous topics course with a term long project component.  This term the course will expose students to a number of key concepts and timely issues related to information systems/information technology (IS/IT) applications in organizations.  In particular, the lecture component of the course has two tracks. 

 

The first track covers IT strategy concepts such as:

v  using IS/IT to influence competition (based on Michael Porter’s Competitive Forces Model)

v  using IS/IT to facilitate value configurations such as the Value Chain

v  using IS/IT to facilitate business process reengineering

v  strategic information systems

v  strategic alignment model to align IT and business strategy

 

The second track exposes students to some fundamental issues in the e-commerce environment including security, legal, ethical, and international perspectives.  With regard to security issues, students learn about desirable properties for a secure communication. In particular, they learn about:

v  network availability and access control

v  confidentiality

v  authentication and

v  message integrity

A framework is provided to enable students to understand management’s role in cyber security.  Students gain a fundamental understanding of host based security, symmetric key and public key cryptography.  Applications of algorithms such as 3DES, AES, RSA, MD5 and SHA are discussed. Students learn about Key Distribution Centers, Kerberos, certification authorities and digital signatures. 

 

The project component typically requires students to work on term long group projects. Clients for the project are usually small organizations or some division(s) of a large organization with operations in the State of Oregon and Washington.  The deliverables for this project are related to topics covered in the first track of the lecture component, and also typically involve an IT implementation such as the development of a prototype website that interacts with a database. Being a capstone course, students are expected to integrate their knowledge/skills gained from their MIS option classes and other courses such as Project Management and Strategic Management and Business Policy. 

 

The project will be divided into different parts for ease of implementation.  Details on all parts of the project will be provided in a separate handout.  Confidential evaluations of team members and self are included and will count towards each student’s project performance.  The project may also involve an in-class presentation by each team, although the presentation may be viewed as an in-class assignment and not as an explicit deliverable for the group project.  Students may be expected to work in a virtual environment among their team members and/or with geographically dispersed students from other institutions.  Additional project guidelines will be provided in class. 

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES: After completing this course, a student should be able to:

1.            Explain how information technologies (IT) influence businesses and how they provide competitive advantages.

2.            Design and implement IT that is aligned to business needs of a local organization

3.            Identify desirable properties of secure communication and ways to achieve them

4.            Explain management’s role in information security

   

READINGS

There is no required textbook for this course.  Instead, the instructor will provide lecture notes in class.  Handouts distributed in class will be posted on Blackboard.  For some lectures, readings may be assigned and information about these readings would be made available in class.  Some readings may be accessible through web links, the URLs of which will be announced in class. 

EMAIL

Some announcements for this class may be made via COB e-mail or ONID e-mail.

Note that it is YOUR responsibility to set up your ONID/COB email systems so that regardless of where emails are sent, you will always receive them.  For instance, you may redirect your COB emails to your ONID email, your ONID email to your COB email or all of your OSU-based emails to an off-campus email address.  For instructions on how to do this refer to http://faculty.bus.oregonstate.edu/sullivan/it-support/email.htm.

 

HANDOUTS AND LECTURE SCHEDULE: Typically class handouts are posted on Blackboard.  A tentative schedule of lectures is posted on Blackboard.   Please note that this schedule is tentative and is subject to change after taking into due consideration the contents of the survey completed by students during the first week of the term.  Also, schedule may be modified during the term to accommodate schedule changes requested by guest speakers.    

 

GRADING POLICY: Individual grades will be based on a ‘weighted’ average as follows:

Exam 1                                                            20%

Exam 2                                                            25%

Class Participation                              5%

Assignments                                        15%

Team Project                                       35%

                                                            ------

Total                                                    100%

                                                            -------

Individual grades will be assigned as follows:

A:        score >= 93%

A-:       90% <=  score  < 93%

B+:      87% <=  score  < 90%

B:        83% <= score  <  87%

B-:       80% <= score  <  83%

C+:      77% <= score  <  80%

C:        73% <= score  <  77%

C-:       70% <= score  <  73%

D+:      67% <= score  <  70%

D:        63% <= score  <  67%

F:         score < 63%

 

 

CLASS PARTICIPATION will be evaluated based on: attendance, (verbal) quality contributions to classroom lectures/discussions, punctuality, classroom conduct, and (written) quality contributions to the instructor (e.g., a relevant article, a relevant web site, an e-mail message following a class discussion, etc.).  If an individual comes to class every day, is punctual and polite, but does not make a strong attempt to participate, then that individual will earn low credit for class contribution (60% of contribution points).  Individuals who contribute occasionally, but do not do much to advance the discussion will earn a somewhat higher grade (70-80%).  Individuals who consistently contribute to the classroom discussions and advance discussions in a meaningful and productive way will receive the highest grades (90-100%). 

 

EXAMS are scheduled to be held in class during class time.  Exams are not comprehensive.  Any changes to the time or venue will be announced in class.  Date(s) for the exam will be announced in class.  It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor directly to find out if any announcements have been made regarding the exam date, time and venue.  Exam(s) will be of a closed book/closed notes format.  A student who is unable to take the exam during their scheduled times, must notify the instructor within one week of announcement about exam date and make alternate arrangements for a make-up exam with the instructor.  Typically no makeup exams will be given if the instructor does not approve an excused absence for the student in advance.  In case of illness, appropriate medical documentation has to be provided to the instructor. 

 

ASSIGNMENTS may include mini-case analysis and in-class presentations.  Assignments are typically in-class assignments.  Some assignment(s) may be of a take-home nature.  To receive full credit for take home assignments and PowerPoint handouts of presentations, these should be typed and must be of a professional quality (e.g., spell check, grammar, use of non-sexist language).  Late submission of assignments will result in a 20% penalty for each day the homework is late.  A computer/printer crash is not an acceptable excuse for late submissions.  As mentioned earlier, the project may also involve an in-class presentation by each team, although the presentation will be viewed as an assignment and not as an explicit deliverable for the group project.   

 

Students who miss an assignment without prior permission of the instructor are typically not allowed to make up the assignment, except for illness with documentation, and emergency reasons supported by appropriate documentation.  In all other cases, even if students are allowed to make up an assignment, such a make up will have to be submitted to the instructor before the assignment feedback is provided (could be as early as next class session), and a penalty of up to 50% may be levied.  It is the student’s responsibility to schedule a make up assignment or exam with the instructor at appropriate times.  It is expected that students will notify instructor via e-mail at least one day in advance of missing any class. 

 

GRADE APPEALS: If you are not satisfied with a grade you have received for an exam, or assignment, you are welcome to discuss it with the instructor outside class hours. The instructor reserves the right to ask the student to provide a written grade appeal.  In such cases, written grade appeals with appropriate justification have to be made within one week from the time the grades are given out by the instructor.  Incomplete grades will be given only under circumstances deemed unusual by the instructor, and will require appropriate documentation. 

 

DISABILITY ACCESS SERVICES: Oregon State University is committed to providing equal opportunity to higher education for academically qualified students without regard to a disability. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact Disability Access Services (http://ssd.oregonstate.edu/) to learn more about their rights and responsibilities. Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should be aware of, or who need special arrangements in the event of evacuation, should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible, and no later than the first week of the term. 

 

OSU 'No Show Drop' rule: Note that for this course the OSU 'No Show Drop' rule will be strictly enforced. This rule: Academic regulations AR 9§b reads as follows:

"If it is anticipated that the demand for enrollment in a given course will exceed the maximum number that can be accommodated, the department offering the course may designate it in the Schedule of Classes with the code "NSHD" (no-show-drop). A student who is registered for such a course who attends no meetings of the course during the first five school days of the term will be dropped from the course by the instructor, unless the student has obtained prior permission for absence. If such action is taken, the instructor will send written notice through the department to the Registrar’s Office, which in turn will notify the student that the course has been dropped from his or her schedule. Students should not assume they have been dropped unless they receive notification from the Registrar’s Office. No fee will be charged."

 

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Students are expected to uphold the OSU standard of conduct for students relating to academic honesty. Academic honesty is defined as an intentional act of deception in which a student seeks to claim credit for the work or effort of another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work. 

 

The penalty for academic dishonesty is severe.  Any student guilty of academic dishonesty may be subject to receive a failing grade for the exam, assignment, quiz, or class participation exercise as deemed appropriate by the instructor.  Any student guilty of academic dishonesty could be subject to receive a failing grade for the course and can expect to be reported to the appropriate officials in COB and appropriate University Officials.  If a student is unclear about whether a particular situation may constitute academic dishonesty, the student should meet with the instructor to discuss the situation.

Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work, examinations, reports, and projects must be that student's own work for individual assignments, and the group's own work for group assignments/projects. Students are guilty of academic dishonesty if they:

·         Use or obtain unauthorized materials or assistance in any academic work; i.e., cheating.

·         Falsify or invent any information regarded as cheating by the instructor; i.e., fabrication.

·         Give unauthorized assistance to other students; i.e., assisting in dishonesty.

·         Represent the work of others as their own; i.e., plagiarism.

·         Modify, without instructor approval, an examination, paper, record or report for the purpose of obtaining additional credit; i.e., tampering.

Students are expected to uphold the OSU standard of student conduct.  Please refer to: http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/regs.htm http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/oars.htm#acdis

for details on student conduct and academic dishonesty.  Ensure that you talk to the instructor if you have any questions about the above two important issues. 

 

PERSPECTIVES OF ISSUES

A variety of perspectives recommended by the AACSB are addressed in the BA 483 course.  These include ethical, political, social, legal/regulatory, and technological issues that are integrated in different lectures throughout the term.