BSAD 602 Information Management

• BSAD 602 is Information Management

Teaching Team

• The instructor is Dr. Ayman Al-Serafi
• Dr. Al-Serafi is a GUC Lecturer of Business Informatics, holds a PhD from Europe, and has 15+ years of experience as an IT advanced data analytics consultant and researcher.
• There will be theoretical tutorials and practical labs designed to enhance hands-on skills
• Labs include information systems like MS Excel, MS Access and Signavio BPMN.
• The teaching assistants are Ahmed Marie, Mohamed Essam, and Hania Ashraf, all Informatics Technical experts located in rooms A2.210 and A2.222.
• Students are expected to be polite to the teachers
• Students must arrive on time; late attendance after 15 minutes is not allowed.
• A first warning of lateness will be given, and then the student will be sent out with no attendance recorded

Administrative Matters

• Course material is available on the Content Management System (CMS) at CMS.giu-uni.de
• As of Spring 2025, the Information Management (2700) course has 200 students enrolled, 4 academic enrollments, and lasts for 0 weeks in total.

Introduction and Overview

• All companies use information technology / information systems to manage their daily activities and managerial support.
• It is necessary to understand the digital terminologies and concepts needed to digitally transform a business, students cannot compete without technology in the modern world.
• Main software tools needed in future careers will be taught in labs
• Spreadsheets and reports will be taught in MS Excel
• Simple Databases and reports will be taught in MS Access
• Business Process models will be taught in SAP Signavio, for business procedures

Why Attend the Lecture?

• There will be in-depth discussions of topics one will work with after graduation
• Attending allows interaction with the instructor for better understanding.
• Failure to attend lectures may result in failing or receiving a below-average grade.
• Lecture content appears on the final exam.
• Essential theory is exclusively covered in lectures, not in tutorial labs.
• It offers an opportunity to learn concepts for course mini-projects

Lecture Dos and Don'ts

• DOs include raising your hand for urgent questions and discussing with the instructor
• DON'Ts include arriving more than 5 minutes late, chatting with friends, eating, using mobile phones during the lecture, showing disrespect, and asking for exam questions

Business Information Management Overview

• The overview involves Information Technology, Information Systems, Applications, and People
• Information Technology includes software applications, databases, data analytics, artificial intelligence, etc
• When related to Business Informatics: it involves social aspects/effects, technology acceptance, IT(projects) management, information management, policies, laws, privacy, etc
• In terms of applications, it includes enterprise systems for business, E-Business / E-gov, business process management, data science, business intelligence, etc.

Defining Information and Systems

• Information: A message communicated from sender to receiver, whether truth, lie, or a sound.
• System: a collection of interrelated components within arbitrary boundaries

Information Management (IM)

• IM involves 'Getting the right information to the right person at the right place at the right time', preferably using information technology (IT) / Information Systems
• It can also be defined as applying management principles to the acquisition, organization, control, dissemination, and use of information that's relevant to effective organizational operations.
• Information in this context refers to all value-added information, internal or external, like production data, records, market research data, or competitive intelligence.
• IM deals with value, quality, ownership, usage, and security of information within organizational performance contexts.

Information Systems

• A payroll processing system captures employee payment transaction data (such as a time card), with system outputs including online and hard-copy reports for management and employee paychecks.
• Combination of six key elements: People, Hardware, Software, Data, Telecommunications networks, and Business Procedures
• Set of interrelated components that Collect, process, store, and distribute information, support decision making, coordination, and control

Perspectives on Information Systems

• An information system involves Actors, Instructions, and a Bridge
• Automation shifts work from the human side to the computer side, with the degree of difficulty to change increasing
• Three activities need to produce information organizations for organizations: Input, Processing and Output
• Input: Captures raw data from the organization or external environment
• Processing: Converts raw data into meaningful form
• Output: Transfers processed information to people or activities
• Feedback: Output returned to appropriate members of organization to help evaluate or correct input stage

Dimensions of Information Systems

• They exist in three dimensions: Organizational, Management, and Technology
• The Organizational dimension involves organizations broken down by different departments, each with Senior, Middle and Operational management
• The Management dimension involves managers that need to set organizational strategies for responding to business challenges, where decision support is a need
• The Technology dimension involves Computer hardware and software, Data management, Networking and telecommunications technology
• IT infrastructure provides the platform that a system is built on

Digital Firms

• Digital firms, are those businesses in which all the organization's significant business relationships with customers, suppliers and employees are digitally enabled
• Time shifting is a characteristic of digital firms, which means working hours become 24 hours /7 days
• Space shifting is another characteristic of digital firms: work takes place in globally (no boundaries)

Information System Requirements for Tourism Portal

• There should also be a database to store input information
• Students will learn to create simple databases using relational / tabular formats in MS Access
• There is a need to organize the business workflow and activities
• Students will learn to use business process management and modeling tools to identify key business activities and their workflow
• There is a need to process the data
• Students will learn about different business information systems like customer relationship management and point-of-sale systems.
• There is a need to analyze the output data
• Students will learn about simple business intelligence and data analytics in MS Excel

Information Management

• Focuses on the management of information as a company asset
• Focuses on information systems (IS) management as a key element in organizational success for information processing

Course Objectives

• Provide an in-depth understanding of form and content of business information and communication
• Show how the flow of information & communication can be structured and supported through IT

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding information systems concepts, functions and components and the integration between business and information systems
• Ability to identify and analyze existing business problems and processes in addition to the need for information management tools (Databases)
• Ability to identify potential business success
• Ability to transform business data to useful information
• Develop skills in using MS Access, MS Excel, BPMN Tools, and E-Business tools to enhance decision making
• Explain the importance of information management for today's business
• Distinguish between data, information, and knowledge as business assets
• Identify requirements and methods for information processing (analysis) and data management
• Explain the architectural and structural aspects of information & communication management
• Discuss the role of the IS department in planning and creating information systems
• Understanding of use scenarios for strategic IT planning
• Understand how IS supports Information-Centric Business Decision Making, Knowledge Work, and Collaboration in organizations
• Learn how to store data in relational / tabular Databases
• Learn how to model Business Processes
• Get practical use case in Business Intelligence using MS Excel

Topics Covered

• Part 1: Information Systems Fundamentals (lectures 1-2)
• Part 2: Data & Information Management (lectures 3- 6)
• Part 3: Business Information Systems (lectures 7-12)

Assessment

• Final Exam accounts for 40% of the grade
• Assignments with software tools in lab account for 30% of the grade
• Final Project accounts for 20% of the grade
• Quizzes (best 2 of 3) account for 10% of the grade

Schedule

• Week 1: Introduction to Information Management and Information Systems
• Week 2: Corporate Information Systems: Business applications and Enterprise Systems and Tutorials in the same week cover: Intro + Information Systems
• Week 3: Data, Information & Knowledge – Managing Corporate Information Resources and Databases and Tutorials in the same week cover: MS Excel Lab 1
• Week 4: Business Data Management for Analysis and Tutorials in the same week cover: MS Excel Lab 2, Lab Assignment 1, Quiz 1
• Week 5: Essentials of Data Management and Tutorials in the same week cover: MS Excel Lab 3
• Week 6: IT and Network Infrastructure and Tutorials in the same week cover: OLAP + MS Excel Lab 4, Assignment 1 submission
• Week 7: Business Process Management and Tutorials in the same week cover: Intro to Relational DB + MS Access Lab 1
• Week 8: Business Process Modelling and Tutorials in the same week cover: MS Access Lab 2, Assignment 2, Quiz 2
• Week 9: No lecture (Holiday) and Tutorials in the same week cover: MS Access Lab 3
• Week 10: No lecture (Holiday) and Tutorials in the same week cover: BPMN Signavio Lab, Final Project, Assignment 2 submission
• Week 11: E-Business, E-Government and E-commerce and Tutorials in the same week cover: BPMN Signavio Lab
• Week 12: Strategic Uses of Information Technology for Digital Transformation and Tutorials in the same week cover: Final Presentations I, Final Project Report submission (+2 days)
• Week 13: Building Information Systems for Digital Transformation and Tutorials in the same week cover: Final Presentations II, Final Project Report submission (+2 days), Quiz 3
• Week 14: Final Revision
• 3- 25 June : Final Exam