Course Outline

RSM327H1S
Business Information Systems
Winter 2020

Class time,
L0101 & Monday &
location and 4pm-6pm OI 4422 Amy Kwan
L0201 Tuesday
instructor

Workshop time, Monday & OI 2198 (Mon)

Optional 6pm-7pm Various
location and TA Tuesday WO 30 (Tues)

Email: [email protected] (please include “RSM327” at the beginning

of the email subject line)
Instructor
contact Office: RT511
information Office Hours: After class or by appointment
To schedule an appointment, please send an e-mail in advance to let the
instructor know what you would like to discuss.

Benny Ho, email: [email protected] (please include “RSM327” at

TA contact the beginning of the email subject line)
information Note: the TAs should be your first point of contact for course content or
administrative matters.

Course Course Site: https://q.utoronto.ca/

Websites MyITLab Site: https://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com

Prerequisite: N/A

Exclusions: CSC340H1

Required 1) MyITLab ISBN: 1323503935 ~$60

Text/Lab:
2) Kroenke, Boyle, Gemino, Tingling, Experiencing MIS, Fifth Canadian
Edition, Pearson eText, 2019 ~$49.95
Note: students can purchase an access code in person from the UofT
Bookstore, online from the bookstore website, or online directly through
Pearson. Once registered for the eText, students can opt to purchase a

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 1 of 9

 looseleaf print version for $20.00 if print is preferred. This will be mailed
within 5-7 business days.)

Please see description below for registration instructions.

Course Scope and Mission

Information Systems (ISs) have been increasingly used by businesses to develop and implement
strategies to compete locally and globally. ISs have helped with knowledge-based operations
and products; flatter, more flexible and efficient organizations; as well as Information Technology
(IT) enabled relationships with customers, suppliers and stakeholders. In the past century
businesses have been one of the principle drivers of grand IT developments and have reaped
the highest benefits from it.
In the information era, business and commerce graduates are increasingly required to not only
apply, but also develop and manage ISs to streamline management and operations of their
businesses, establish electronic commerce, and change the basis of competition in their
business. To this effect, graduates need to understand the technology, its trends of
developments, its potentials and threats, and be able to identify the needed technological
change in their organization, the risks of change, the symptoms of failure to change, and the
need to design and manage change.
This course provides an introduction to the ways with which ISs have transformed management
and operations of our businesses and lives, and how new knowledge based economies and
societies are emerging. The technical foundations of ISs, including computer hardware/software,
Databases, communication systems and computer networks will be followed by the
organizational framework of ISs; namely the ISs in support of developing and implementing
business strategies, management decision and business operations. Based on these
foundations, the development and management of ISs infrastructure will be analyzed; concluding
the course with the ethical and security issues associated with ISs. No previous background in
computing is assumed.

EVALUATION AND GRADES

Grades are a measure of the performance of a student in individual courses. Each student shall
be judged on the basis of how well he or she has command of the course materials.

Evaluation Weight Date(s)

Class/Course Participation and Homework 15% Ongoing
MyITLabs: MS Excel and MS Access 5% Ongoing
MS Excel-based Assignments (2 parts) 8% Jan 25 & Feb 1
Midterm Test 12% Fri Feb 14 (times tbc) RT290
Group Project
Phase 1: Problem and Scope Statements 3% Feb 8
Phase 2: Business Requirements 5% Mar 7
Phase 3: Process Flow and IS Design 10% Mar 21
Mar 22 (in-class presentations
Phase 4: Group Presentation 7%
Mar 23/24 & Mar 30/31)
Final Examination 35% Final Examination period
Total 100%

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 2 of 9

REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA

Class Participation
The primary goal of the individual participation portion of the grade is to reward you for your
preparation and individual contributions to the learning environment. It includes, but is not limited
to, asking and answering questions, in-class participation work, in-class quizzes, etc. Class
participation is not based on attendance or preparation of course material. Students are strongly
encouraged to bring their name cards to every class.

Class discussion is an essential part of learning, and it is also the most interesting way to
conduct a class. Class participation will enhance your presentation and communication skills,
which will help you in recruiting and in your career. Students are expected to prepare in advance
for classes, attend classes and to contribute to discussions on a constructive and regular basis.

Professionalism is a component of class contribution. As such late arrivals, unexplained

absences and disruptive behaviour (including internet surfing, texting, use of Facebook etc.) will
be penalized via your class contribution assessment.

MyITLabs:
Working knowledge of MS Excel and MS Access is becoming increasingly important to
employers. Students will have an opportunity to practically apply course materials through online
labs and simulations. Details about the evaluation will be announced in class.

MyITLab registration for RSM327:

1. Go to pearsonmylabandmastering.com
2. Under Register, click Student.
3. Enter your instructor’s course ID: kwan79585 and click Continue.
4. Sign in with an existing Pearson account or create an account:
 Please ensure you register using the name as displayed on your T-Card
 If you have used a Pearson website (for example, MyITLab, MyMathLab, or
MyPsychLab), enter your Pearson username and password. Click Sign in.
 If you do not have a Pearson account, click Create. Write down your new Pearson
username and password to help you remember them.
5. Select an option to access your instructor’s online course:
 Use the access code that came with the textbook or that you purchased
separately from the UofT bookstore.
 If you wish to purchase the eText+MyITLab online, you may do so using a credit
card or PayPal, however, important note: if you wish to purchase the MyITLab
access-only (no eText) you must purchase this from the UofT bookstore – this
option is only available at the bookstore.
6. Click Go To Your Course on the Confirmation page. Under MyLab & Mastering New
Design on the left, click RSM327 Winter 2020 to start your work.

MS Excel-based Assignments:
Part 1 of 2 is completed through your MyITLab account. Part 2 of 2 will be announced in class
and posted on the course website at least two weeks prior to the submission deadline.

Midterm Test:
Details for the midterm will be announced in class. It will cover any materials from Class 1-5.

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 3 of 9

Group Project:
Students should form groups of 5-6 students per group by the second class. The instructor might
adjust this number in order to accommodate variations in class sizes. The group will work as a
studying unit throughout the term. Students are responsible for finding a group and should inform
the instructor of the composition of each group.

Details for the group project will be posted on the course website. Late assignments will not
be accepted and will receive a mark of zero. The project will run throughout the semester with
specified project deliverables at milestone dates which will be announced in class and included
in the group project hand-out. Full details of the group projects will be posted on the course site.

Should there be any concern about contribution, group members’ should inform the instructor as
soon as possible. The instructor reserves the right to award the mark of zero to any student who
is working ineffectively in a group. Peer evaluations may be undertaken to ensure that all
members of each group are contributing equally; that is, the contribution of each member of the
group will be assessed by all members of the group at the end of the term and appropriate
rescaling of each individual's grade for group work may be made. Your peer evaluation would
need to be conducted transparently amongst your group members.

Final Examination:
The final examination will be held during the formal examination period. The date and time of the
final examination will be announced by the Faculty of Arts and Science. It will be three hours in
duration and may consist of multiple choice questions, short answer questions, problems, and/or
a case. It will cover all materials from the entire course.

Aids Allowed
No study aids are allowed. You may use a non-programmable hand-held calculator.

COURSE FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS

Turnitin.com:
Normally students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of
textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their
essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they
will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the
university’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website.

For Written Assignments:

Please note that clear, concise, and correct writing will be considered in the evaluation of Case
Assignments and Peer Feedback. That is, you may lose points for writing that impedes
communication: poor organization, weak paragraph development, excessive wordiness, hard-to-
follow sentence structure, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Students who require
additional support and/or tutoring with respect to their writing skills are encouraged to visit the
Academic Success Centre (http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/asc) or one of the College Writing
Centres (www.writing.utoronto.ca/writing-centres). These centres are teaching facilities – not
editing services, where trained staff can assist students in developing their academic writing
skills. There is no charge for the instruction and support.

For Group Work:

The Group Presentation requires students to work in teams of 6.
Learning to work together in teams is an important aspect of your education and preparation for
your future careers. That said, project-based teamwork is often new to students; to work well in
teams, it helps to follow a set of core expectations to best succeed at your team projects.

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 4 of 9

1. Read the document entitled, “Working in Teams: Guidelines for Rotman Commerce Students”
which is available on the RC portal under the Academic Services tab.

2. When working in a team, Rotman Commerce students are expected to:

 Treat other members with courtesy and respect;
 Honour the ground rules established by the team;
 Contribute substantially and proportionally to the final project;
 Ensure enough familiarity with the entire contents of the group project/assignment so as
to be able to sign off on it as original work;
 Meet the project timeline as established by the team.

3. Resolving conflicts:
Conflicts are part of the team’s process of learning how to work together. When handled well, it
can generate creativity and bring-multiple perspectives to the solution.

Student teams are expected to work through their misunderstandings as soon as they arise (and
prior to submission of the final project). When teams are unable to arrive at a solution that works
for all members, the team must meet with the Rotman Commerce Team Coach** as soon as
possible. The Coach will listen to the team and help develop options for improving the team
process. All members of the project team must commit to, and, utilize their action plans.

**For an appointment with a Rotman Commerce Team Coach, please contact Nouman Ashraf at
[email protected] Nouman is highly skilled at facilitating team dynamics and
collaboration. Note that the Team Coach’s s role is to provide guidance, support and advice on
team matters – not to formally evaluate or assess teamwork for academic purposes.

Electronic Course Materials

This course will be using the following electronic course materials: MyITLab

These materials will cost a total of up to $65.00 CAD. The use of these materials complies with
all University of Toronto policies which govern fees for course materials.

Credit / No-Credit Option in Rotman Commerce

You may request to Credit/No-Credit an RSM course in the following cases only:

 The course is not a requirement for your specialist program, including the 8.0 RSM FCE
requirement.
 The course does not have a group work component.

If you wish to request credit/no-credit for an RSM course, you must contact your Rotman
Commerce Academic Advisor by the drop deadline for the current term. The deadline for this
term is March 15, 2020.

Final approval is on a case-by-case basis with the permission of the Director, Rotman
Commerce.

POLICY AND PROCEDURE

Missed Tests and Assignments (including midterm examinations)

Students who miss a test or assignment for reasons entirely beyond their control (e.g. illness)
may submit a request for special consideration. The Request for Special Consideration Form
and supporting documentation must be submitted in a timely manner in order for the request to
be reviewed.
RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 5 of 9
In such cases, students must notify the Rotman Commerce Program Office on the date of the
course deliverable such as a missed test, or assignment missed class (in the case of
participation marks), or due date. They must then complete a Request for Special Consideration
Form and submit it along with supporting documentation (e.g. Verification of Student Illness or
Injury form) to the Rotman Commerce Office within 2 business days of the originally scheduled
course deliverable. Students who do not provide appropriate or sufficient supporting
documentation will be given a grade of 0 (zero) for the missed course deliverable.

Documentation submitted in support of petitions for missing tests and assignments must be
original; no faxed or scanned copies will be accepted.

Note that the physician’s report must establish that the patient was examined and
diagnosed at the time of illness, not after the fact. Rotman Commerce will not accept a
statement that merely confirms a later report of illness made by the student to a
physician.

Students who follow the above procedures may have his or her individual marks reallocated to
the final exam. Group assignment(s) will need to be discussed with the course instructor on a
case by case basis. If you fail to provide the required documentation, you will be assigned a
mark of zero. There will be no make-up tests or assignments.

Late Assignments
All assignments are due on the date specified in the course outline or instructions provided,
unless otherwise announced in class and posted on Portal. No late assignments will be
accepted. If appropriate documentation is provided, the value of the missed assignment will be
added to the final test.

Students who, for reasons beyond their control, are unable to submit an assignment by its
deadline must obtain approval from the instructor for an extension. Supporting documentation
will be required as per the policy on missed tests and assignments.

Accessibility Needs
The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a
disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or course
materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible:
[email protected] or http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/as.

Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity is a fundamental value essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarships at
the University of Toronto. Participating honestly, respectively, responsibly, and fairly in this
academic community ensures that the UofT degree that you earn will continue to be valued and
respected as a true signifier of a student's individual work and academic achievement. As a
result, the University treats cases of academic misconduct very seriously.

The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters

http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm outlines the behaviours that
constitute academic misconduct, the process for addressing academic offences, and the
penalties that may be imposed. You are expected to be familiar with the contents of this
document. Potential offences include, but are not limited to:

In papers and assignments:

 Using someone else's ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement.

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 6 of 9

  Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the
instructor.
 Making up sources or facts.
 Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment (this includes
collaborating with others on assignments that are supposed to be completed individually).

On test and exams:

 Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone.
 Looking at someone else's answers
 Misrepresenting your identity.
 Submitting an altered test for re-grading.

Misrepresentation:
 Falsifying institutional documents or grades.
 Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but not
limited to), medical notes.

All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated by the following procedures
outlined in the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. If you have any question about what is
or is not permitted in the course, please do not hesitate to contact the course instructor. If you
have any questions about appropriate research and citation methods, you are expected to seek
out additional information from the instructor or other UofT resources such as College Writing
Centres or the Academic Success Centre.

Email
At times, the course instructor may decide to communicate important course information by
email. As such, all UofT students are required to have a valid UTmail+ email address. You are
responsible for ensuring that your UTmail+ email address is set up AND properly entered on the
ROSI system. For more information please visit http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/category/3/utmail.html

Forwarding your utoronto.ca email to a Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or other type of email account is
not advisable. In some cases, messages from utoronto.ca addresses sent to Hotmail, Gmail or
Yahoo accounts are filtered as junk mail, which means that important messages from your
course instructor may end up in your spam or junk mail folder.

Quercus and the Course Page

The online course page for this course is accessed through Quercus. To access the course
page, go to q.utoronto.ca and log in using your UTORid and password. Once you have logged
in, you will be at the Quercus Dashboard. On this page you will see all of the courses you are
presently enrolled in. If you don’t see the course listed here but you are properly registered for
the course in ROSI, wait 48 hours.

Recording Lectures
Lectures and course materials prepared by the instructor are considered by the University to be
an instructor’s intellectual property covered by the Canadian Copyright Act. Students wishing to
record a lecture or other course material in any way are required to ask the instructor’s explicit
permission, and may not do so unless permission is granted (note: students who have been
previously granted permission to record lectures as an accommodation for a disability are, of
course, excepted). This includes tape recording, filming, photographing PowerPoint slides,
Quercus materials, etc.

If permission is granted by the instructor (or via Accessibility Services), it is intended for the
individual student’s own study purposes and does not include permission to “publish” them in

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 7 of 9

anyway. It is absolutely forbidden for a student to publish an instructor’s notes to a website or
sell them in any other form without formal permission.

Saving Paper in Courses

“Each year at U of T, an estimated 10 million sheets of paper are used in the printing of lecture
slides, tests, assignments, and other course materials in 1st and 2nd year courses alone”
(Sustainability Office, University of Toronto). Please do your part in helping to conserve paper in
this (and all other) courses. Consider the following ideas:
 Avoid printing electronic documents – get used to working with them from digital format (you
will need to do this in your professional careers);
 Make your own notes in electronic documents (e.g. MS Word, MS Excel, Google Docs, etc.);
 If you are printing, make sure you select double-sided printing (available at all libraries);
 Take leadership and share your concerns and ideas with all of us so we can improve our
practices.

RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 8 of 9

 RSM327 WINTER 2020 – WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE*

Optional
Week Week of: Topic(s) Readings Deliverables
Workshops

1 Jan. 6 The Importance of MIS Ch.1

Business Process and Decision Fri Jan 17: MyITLab #1

2 Jan. 13 Ch.2
Making (MS Excel)

MS Excel Fri Jan 24: MyITLab #2

Productivity, Innovation, and (MS Excel)
demo (Intro
3 Jan. 20 Strategy / Introduction & Ch.3
and Sample Sat Jan 25: MS Excel
Overview of Group Project
Applications) Assign Part 1 of 2
Fri Jan 31: MyITLab #3
Database and Content MS Access (MS Access)
Ch.5
4 Jan. 27 Management; Hardware and demo (Intro to
Ch.4(ss) Sat Feb 1: MS Excel
Software (self-study) Application)
Assign Part 2 of 2

Acquiring Information Systems Sat Feb 8: Group

5 Feb. 3 Ch.10
through Projects Project Phase 1
Midterm Test: Friday February 14, 2020
6 Midterm Time: L0101(Mon) 1pm-3pm tbc, L0201(Tues) 3pm-5pm tbc
Location: RT290 Rotman Finance Computer Lab

Feb. 17 No Classes February 17 - 21 (Family Day & Reading Week)

Acquiring Information Systems Fri Feb 28: MyITLab #4

Ch.10
7 Feb. 24 through Projects (ctd.); Process Bus Req Q&A (MS Access)
Ch. 6
Flow Charts; The Cloud

Fri Mar 6: MyITLab #5

Organizations and Information (MS Access)
8 Mar. 2 Systems Ch.7
Guest Speaker (tbc) Sat Mar 7: Group
Project Phase 2

Decision Making and Business

Ch.8 Process Flow
9 Mar. 9 Intelligence; Social Networking,
Ch.9(ss) Q&A
eCommerce and the Web (ss)

Structure, Governance and Sat Mar 21: Group

Ethics; Managing Information Project Phase 3
10 Mar. 16 Ch.11, 12
Security and Privacy Sun Mar 22: Group
Guest Speaker (tbc) Project Phase 4

11 Mar. 23 Group Project Presentations N/A

12 Mar. 30 Group Project Presentations N/A

*Schedule is subject to revision. Group project will be announced in class and posted on the course
site. Last day to drop course without academy penalty is March 15, 2020.
RSM327H1S (Winter 2020) Page 9 of 9