Online Master’s in Information Management Courses
More than any other online master’s in information management program, the online master’s of information management program at W.P. Carey School of Business is a 10-course, 30-credit, lock-step program. The following list of courses is subject to change.
Data & Information Management
The online Master’s MIS program understands that effective information management using databases is foundational to the successful operation of modern businesses. This course is essential to the online master’s in information management because it addresses central issues in managing information to achieve competitive advantage and support innovation. Specifically, the course focuses on improving managerial decisions and developing skills in areas of database design and use. Specific topics covered include data modeling using entity relationship (ER) diagrams, data quality, building analytic capability and providing user-friendly access to organizational data. The pedagogical intent of the main course is to create experienced, highly proficient graduates through participant-centered learning.
Strategic Value of Information Technology
This course explores the strategic value of information technology (IT), which is a critical component to any online master’s MIS degree. Competitive advantages derived from IT solutions are identified along with their impacts on business operations and strategy formulation. Economic issues, benefits and risks associated with IT are discussed. The course aims to instill into students a balanced, disciplined view of IT and business with their interplay. It explicates the importance of aligning IT and business strategies to enable strategic positioning and operational effectiveness. Cases and assignments involving the symbiotic relationship of IT and business are assigned to provide students with real-world exposure for critical thinking and engaging discussion.
Business Intelligence
W. P. Carey School of Business ensures that their MSIM program goes far beyond any other online Master’s MIS degree. This course builds foundations for "evidence-based" decision-making. It covers a broad category of business processes, application software and other technologies for gathering, storing, accessing, and analyzing information to help managers make better business decisions at operational, tactical and strategic levels. The course draws on case studies to discuss how organizations can gain a sustainable competitive advantage by making exemplary use of business intelligence. Both analytical (OLAP) and data-mining tools are introduced with the help of hands-on exercises. Contemporary concepts such as Business Performance Management and Business Activity Monitoring are also covered.
Information Security and Controls
Organizations must protect their information assets. This online master’s of information systems course provides a broad survey of information security and controls. It utilizes the COBIT framework to illustrate how information security and controls contribute to effective IT governance. The course's main objectives are to develop an understanding of the issues associated with information security and effective IT governance, assess the relative effectiveness of information security alternatives, and design an organizational information security program. The course stresses that information security and controls are primarily managerial, not IT, issues.
Business Process and Workflow Analysis
This online master’s management information systems course builds the foundations for process analysis by focusing on key aspects of business processes, including information, documents, people, roles and business rules. The main objective is to provide an introduction to various techniques and tools of process analysis, including an understanding of organizational issues in rolling out change initiatives. It covers modeling of workflow-oriented business processes and services using simulation to assess as-is and to-be process models. Various approaches to understanding collaborative business processes are also discussed.
Emerging Technologies
In today's fast changing technology landscape, managers need to be able to develop sound approaches to considering, evaluating, and implementing emerging technologies. The online master’s of information systems program recognizes that emerging technologies are hard to evaluate since their business model is, as of yet, unproved. This course helps students learn decision models and frameworks that can be applied to assess, evaluate, and implement emerging technologies. The course introduces students to a number of technologies and issues to provide the context for applying the decision models and frameworks. These technologies include enterprise integration technologies, mobile platforms and devices, semantic web, and electronic collaboration technologies.
Managing Enterprise Systems
As is implied by the online master’s in information management systems’ name, understanding traditional and alternative systems is of the upmost importance. This course explores a range of systems that are available to today’s organizations. Online master’s of information systems students are exposed to the major categories of enterprise systems (such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, and Supply Chain Execution systems), the factors driving software adoption, and the keys for successful implementation. Special attention is paid to emerging technological solutions that have the potential to radically change business processes and/or the software market, and how to evaluate their potential impact on different business environments.
IT Services and Project Management
This course builds the foundations for information technology services and project management by focusing on key aspects of commoditization of hardware (e.g., on-demand, utility computing), software (e.g., the software-as-a-service model), and also business processes. It introduces the IT product development and service delivery processes with sound management principles for on-budget and on-time projects that meet end-user needs. The course also discusses the added complexity introduced by globalization and virtualization of IT services and projects. The main objectives are to review the fundamentals and to offer practical solutions for some of the challenges.
Information Enabled Business Modeling
This course will enable students to become power users of Excel and will show them how to build models of unstructured business problems so they can make better decisions and gain insight into the impact various factors have on those decisions. The vehicle used for developing such models is the familiar spreadsheet. Students will learn the creative process of constructing and using spreadsheet models of business problems, specifically how to design, build and test spreadsheets and workbooks, and how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which they are used. Topics are explored by learning how to solve a wide variety of business problems in finances, marketing, operations and engineering, often using tools and techniques from the field of management science that are built-in to Excel. By successfully completing this course, students explore alternative solutions through formalized approaches, and do sensitivity analysis to gain insight into why the chosen solution makes business sense. They will be better able to evaluate and prioritize alternatives, allocate resources, and justify and defend decisions.
Applied Project
This course focuses on emerging issues in information technology. More than any other online master’s of information systems program, students at W. P. Carey are introduced to industry leaders and professionals of national/international stature from the relevant emerging areas via seminars, panel discussions and round tables. Student teams work on an industry project in the area of their choice from among the emerging issues in information technology. This is designed to be a capstone course incorporating insights from all courses within the W. P. Carey online master's of information systems program.
