Students in introductory Management Information Systems (MIS) courses often ask what a career in MIS looks like. Lacking a clear vision, they make their own assumptions. Often they assume the career involves programming with little human interaction. That MIS is a technical field could not be further from the truth. MIS job descriptions typically require candidates to be able to collaborate, communicate, analyze needs and gather requirements. They also list the need for excellent written and communication skills. In other words, MIS workers are constantly interacting with other people both inside and outside the organization. They are coming up with creative solutions to business problems.
Business Information Systems by Frost, Pike, Kenyo and Pels is designed to help students get a feel for what a career in MIS would be like. The authors' students report that they learn more about information systems from their internships than from their IS courses. Consequently, they designed a book that looks very much like an internship--an introduction to the field followed by a substantial project.
The authors begin Unit 1 by introducing the information systems landscape. The unit kicks off with a discussion of all the usual suspects: the information systems triangle, the systems development life cycle, transaction systems (ERP, SCM, CRM), collaboration systems, and business intelligence systems. Other aspects of the landscape such as usability, outsourcing, database concepts and so forth are introduced throughout a chapter in unit 2 where they fit in naturally with the flow of the project. Unit 2 is the substantial project which runs over a number of chapters. Students will plan, build, and develop a proposal for an iPhone application. They will develop a very realistic mockup. They also build a website to help market and support the app. Students are engaged because the project is fun and feels real. However, they are simultaneously learning business concepts and MIS skills. With Designing Information Systems, even as freshmen, you can give your students an experience that emulates MIS in operation.
Business Information Systems: Design an App for That by Frost, Pike, Kenyo and Pels is a text that will help students learn Information Systems by doing Management Information Systems. Request a desk copy or examine the book online now to see how this text might work in your course or department.
