A Program For Management Information Systems Education In Schools Of Business

Abstract

This paper discusses a program for Management Information Systems (MIS) education in Canadian schools of business. It examines and synthesizes the recent literature on the Mis curriculum and focuses on a feasible program of studies for the Mis professional that may be implemented within a master’s program in business. This program is an implementation of those portions of the Mis curriculum for which major support was found both in the literature and in leading North American schools of business. Its contents are then compared with the findings of an MIS course survey of Canadian business schools. The paper also presents a course description covering the minimal Mis knowledge for the general manager.

Résumé

Cet article présente un programme d’enseignement du MIS (Systèmes Informatiques pour le Management) pour les écoles d’administration canadiennes. II fait le point sur la littérature récente dans ce domaine et s’attache au developpement d’un ensemble de cours, orienté vers le professionnel du MIS, qui puisse être offert dans un programme de maîtrise en administration des affaires (MBA). Cet ensemble de cours est une mise en pratique des portions de programmes d’enseignement du MIS qui reçoivent I’appui de la littérature et des principales facultés d’administration d’Amérique du Nord. Le contenu de ce programme est composé du résultat d’une enquête sur les cours de Mis offerts dans les facultés d’administration canadiennes. L’article présente également une description d’un cours orienté vers le “manager” en général et couvrant les connaissances minimales requises dans le domaine du MIS.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Izak Benbasat

IZAK BENBASAT is an assistant professor in the Division of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Commerce, University of British Columbia. He received a BA from Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey, and an M sc and PH D in MIS from the University of Minnesota. His current research interests are the evaluation of information structures for decision-making effectiveness and the relationship between the decision-maker’s behavioural characteristics and information systems usage.

Albert Dexter

ALBERT S. DEXTER is an associate professor in the Division of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Commerce, University of British Columbia. He received a BA in Economics from UCSB, an MBA from Harvard, and a PH D from Columbia University in 1970. He has been working on developing case materials in computer based information systems of Canadian firms for the last few years and has recently published a casebook on Management Information Systems. He is the Examiner for the Certified General Accountants of Canada in the area of data processing.