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.

Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V1.2 is intended for use in undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Management Information Systems and Information Technology.

Version 1.2 of John's book retains the same structure and theory of version 1.1, but refreshes key statistics, examples, and brings case material up to date (vital when covering firms that move as fast as Facebook, Google, and Netflix). Adopting version 1.2 guarantees your students will have the most current text on the market, drawing real and applicable lessons from material that will keep your class offerings current and accessible.

One of BusinessWeek’s "Professors of the Year", John Gallaugher of Boston College, brings you a brand new Management Information Systems textbook that teaches students how he or she will experience IS from a Managers perspective first hand through interesting coverage and bleeding-edge cases.

Get involved with John's community by visiting and subscribing to his blog, The Week In Geek, where courseware, technology and strategy intersect and joining his Ning IT Community site where you can get more resources to teach Information Systems.

Shockingly, at a time when technology regularly appears on the cover of every major business publication, students find IS among the least appealing of management disciplines.

The teaching approach in Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V 1.2 can change this. The text offers a proven approach that has garnered student praise, increased IS enrollment, and engaged students to think deeper and more practically about the space where business and technology meet. Every topic is related to specific business examples, so students gain an immediate appreciation of its importance. Rather than lead with technical topics, the book starts with strategic thinking, focusing on big-picture issues that have confounded experts but will engage students. And while chapters introduce concepts, cases on approachable, exciting firms across industries further challenge students to apply what they've learned, asking questions like:

Why was NetFlix able to repel Blockbuster and WalMart? How did Harrah's Casino's become twice as profitable as comparably-sized Caesar's, enabling the former to acquire the latter? How does Spain's fashion giant Zara, a firm that shuns the sort of offshore manufacturing used by every other popular clothing chain, offer cheap fashions that fly off the shelves, all while achieving growth rates and profit margins that put Gap to shame? Why do technology markets often evolve into winner-take-all or winner take-most scenarios? And how can managers compete when these dynamics are present? Why is Google more profitable than Disney? How much is Facebook really worth

The Information Systems course and discipline have never seemed more relevant, more interesting, and more exciting. Gallaugher's textbook can help teachers make students understand why.

Management Information Systems (MIS) is a formal discipline within business education that bridges the gap between computer science and the well-known business disciplines of finance, marketing, and management. In its most general terms, information systems encompass any interactions between organized data and people. MIS can be the means by which information is transmitted (such as the Internet), the software that displays the information (such as Microsoft Excel), or the systems that manage the data. In this course, the student will learn about the various components of information systems and how to leverage them in business. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Describe the use and function of Management Information Systems; Describe and evaluate Information Systems Development processes and techniques; Identify and evaluate hardware and software requirements for Information Systems; Evaluate Data Management technologies; Explain the security risks associated with Management Information Systems. (Business Administration 206)