A PROGRAM FOR MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

SYSTEMS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS*

IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.

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.

RESUME
Cet article presente un programme d'enseignement du MIS (Systemes Informatiques pour le
Management) pour les ecoles d'administration canadiennes. II fait le point sur la litterature
recente dans ce domaine et s'attache au developpement d'un ensemble de cours, oriente vers le
professionnel du MIS, qui puisse etre offert dans un programme de maitrise en administration
des affaires (MBA). Cet ensemble de cours est une mise en pratique des portions de programmes
d'enseignement du MIS qui regoivent I'appui de la litterature et des principales facultes d'ad-
ministration d'Amerique du Nord. Le contenu de ce programme est compose du resultat d'une
enquSte sur les cours de Mis offerts dans les facultes d'administration canadiennes. L'article
presente egalement une description d'un cours oriente vers le "manager" en general et couvrant
les connaissances minimales requises dans le domaine du MIS.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the need for Management Information Systems (MIS) programs
in schools of business has been discussed throughout Western Europe and
North America. This discussion has been stimulated by the profoundly rapid
technological changes in computing and the gradual evolvement of data pro-
cessing into management information systems in organizations.
The pioneering studies by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
on both undergraduate and graduate business school programs in MIS have re-
ceived much attention."'*'"' A similar study in Great Britain^i"' closely paral-
leled the ACM approach. Dickson et al.'''' conducted the first U.S. study to deter-
mine the MIS impact on the business school curriculum. Vazsonyi'^^' has pointed
out the lack of consensus on what constitutes an MIS program in the u.s. In
Canada the need for MIS education in schools of business has to date received
scant attention. Sterling et al.^'^' discussed a model computer science program
which is only one of the related background courses of studies for graduate MIS
students. Another MIS related area has been developed by two study groups
*Received 15 July 1977; revised 3 April 1978, and 27 June 1978.
276
, vol. 16, no. 3, October 1978
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 277

of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.'^'-'*' These studies have

suggested specific areas of MIS expertise needed by members of the accounting
profession. In addition to reviewing the above studies, the MIS programs of
several leading U.S. business schools were examined.^ We found that the
breadth and variety varied extensively among studies and implemented pro-
grams.
MIS PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

In order to develop an appropriate MIS curriculum, one should examine both the
MIS development process and the types of tasks that are performed by profes-
sionals in the industry. This anal^^sis will provide a foundation on which to
base programs and courses.
A major problem existing in the Mis area and one which we will not attempt
to resolve in this paper is the lack of agreement on "THE" definition of a MIS.
However, we believe the following definition is generally acceptable. "A defini-
tion of Management Information System as the term is generally understood
is an integrated man/machine system fof providing information to support the
operations, management, and decision making functions of the organization.
The system utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedures,
management and decision models, and a| database,"^^> p. 5.
The development of an MIS consists of; an interactive process of information
analysis, system design and implementation. The major emphasis in informa-
tion analysis is on the determination 6f information requirements and the
patterns of information flow which would satisfy these requirements. This
requires a behavioural understanding o^ the firm, and the structure of the
organization as a system. System design is the conversion of the requirements
specified above into specific implementation plans which can be realized
through hardware and software. This step requires not only an understanding
of computer technology, but also of huinan factors, since systems are used,
and maintained by people. The effective implementation and control of the
MIS resources require both administrative and socio-technical skills.^^'
An interesting and perhaps unique aspect of the successful MIS specialist is
that he or she should have a firm grasp of both organizational and management
concepts and the advanced technology of modern management information
systems. Both bodies of knowledge must reside in the same individual in order
to avoid a problem which is all too comrnon today: managers who know they
have a problem but do not know what cart be done about it and/or technicians
who simply do not understand what the manager needs. It is the lack of individ-
uals who can bridge this gap which has laeen responsible for many of the MIS
failures that have been observed in recent years.
To review the tasks performed by MIS professionals, we identified five career
paths: the accounting profession, consultidg, data administration, management
of information systems, and systems analysis/design. These positions are de-
scribed below:
'Carnegie-Mellon, Harvard, MIT, Minnesota, NYU, UCLA, Wharton. We wrote to these schools,
obtaining program objectives, descriptions, and course outlines.
278 IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER
1 Professional accountant ~ auditing
There is a growing need for the expertise to carry out the auditing function in
the complex and highly automated information processing environment now
used by most large organizations. This role requires the auditor to be proficient
in the use of the computer as an audit tool. There is also a need for individuals
qualified to audit information systems; that is, to verify that an information
system is designed properly and performs according to its specifications.

2 The consultant
Consulting is a general designation which requires overall managerial skills in
addition to technical computer knowledge. The consultant is usually called in
to provide both specialized skills and an independent viewpoint. This individ-
ual will aid in the planning, analysis, design, and implementation of a com-
pany's MIS.

3 The data administrator

Database systems are usually found in large organizations and require a new
managerial function. The data administrator determines what data are col-
lected and stored iu the computerized database, who will have authority to
access the data, and what standards are required for their maintenance and
use. This is a senior-level position, because it requires adjudicating differences
of opinion on areas such as priority of data access or billing of information
services. Therefore, the data administrator needs general management aud
organizational skills in addition to the requisite MIS knowledge.

4 The MIS manager

The MIS manager is the senior executive in charge of MIS applications, planning,
development, computer resources, and personnel. Some larger companies have
created a vice-presidential position to manage these activities. This person
co-ordinates a number of technical functions, and serves as the key managerial
interface between corporate management and the MIS department. As such,
the individual needs to be both technically proficient as well as having the
overall company management point of view.

5 Systems analyst/designer
These two roles are often combined into a single job description. This individual
needs to be able to relate to the functional managers, to have an appreciation
of the functional applications, and to have the ability to help users define,
analyse, design, and eventually implement their information requirements into
solutions that are often computerized. The role of analyst/designer requires
substantial technical computer expertise; however, experience has shown that
most systems that fail do so because of the lack of a good user interface, and a
lack of understanding of how the functional areas of an organization operate.
This has in the past caused a variety of difficulties - misspecification of the
problem or solution, lack of organizational commitment, fear of computeriza-
tion, to name a few. Therefore the analyst/designer must have the skills to
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 279

treat the company's' problems from a social, organizational, and technical

perspective."^^^
After examining the MIS development process and the tasks performed by
various MIS professionals, we believe a program of studies should be designed
to include both managerial and technical knowledge. This program should
cover the following general topics*^^^: (i) knowledge of the management pro-
cess and the functional areas of business; (ii) knowledge of computer hardware
and software as they apply to managenient information systems; (iii) knowl-
edge of data structures (models), and the administration and management of
• data resources; (iv) knowledge of quantitative skills in order to model and
evaluate systems; (v) knowledge of the concepts and processes required for:
(a) analysis, design, implementation ; aqd (b) planning, control, and evaluation
of computer-based management infornjation systems; (vi) knowledge of the
behavioural, economic, legal, and social aspects of the use of computer systems.

AN M I S PROGRAM

We have presented the knowledge required in the MIS area by briefly examining
the MIS definition, basic structure, development process, and the type of
career paths of the individuals involved. We now present a set of specific
courses comprising an MIS program designed to achieve the above knowledge
requirements.
The previous MIS program proposals'^'^'^^^ which were developed by large
number of experts with diverse ideas ,on management information systems
education, have tended to be complex arid difficult to implement. For example,
our experience has shown that given the constraints of an established master's
program in business administration (MBA), it is difficult to restructure the
present course network to fit it into a mpdel such as that proposed by the ACM
Curriculum Committee.'^' The ACM rriodel combines the MIS and business
administration topics in integrated courses and its full implementation would
necessitate major reconstruction of existing university MBA programs. Another
problem in following the recommendations of the proposed models is the lack
of data on implementation, or the trial and error cycle an institution must go
through to reach a reasonably stable iprogram structure. Many educators
probably do not consider the evolutionary nature of course structures in a
newly developed ai-ea like management information systems. A good example
of this evolutionary process was observed in the well-established program of
the University of Minnesota which has been in existence for about ten years.
One of the authors, who was associated;with that program, has observed the
learning effect which took place during the first five years of its development.
Many changes, such as addition or extejision of courses, and restructuring of
courses into separate programming and; management content, were initiated
by both students and instructors. As a consequence, the program today is quite
different from its initial structure.
In order to develop an operational Mis program, we reduced the idealized
set of courses into a smaller one which is: quite feasible to implement. This set
280 IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER
has substantial agreement with the aforementioned studies'^'S.io) g^^^j programs
of leading North American universities. A recent study'^' on the requisite skills
characteristics of information processing professionals further supports this
program. Six ACM skill clusters for professionals were identified: people,
models, systems, computers, organizations, and society. The researchers found
that people, systems, and organizational skillsVated highest in terms of useful-
ness. These same skills form the focus of the course sequence described in this
paper.
We do not believe it feasible to design completely separate supporting courses
for the MIS program. It is more practical to develop a MIS graduate program
within the framework of existing MBA programs. This naiTOws the develop-
mental work to the specialized MIS courses. The program includes a first year of
study similar to that found in a typical MBA program. This requirement is
based on the reasoning that specialization in MIS should not be a narrow one,
since it is carried out within the broad field of business administration. If one
takes a closer look at the career path descriptions discussed in the previous
section it is "evident that the understanding of business organizations and
management is a necessary skill set for MIS specialists. The typical core year
of studies would include courses in: quantitative methods (operations research,
probability, and statistics) ; economics; financial and managerial accounting ;
marketing; finance; organizational behaviour/industrial relations; and busi-
ness policy.
It is expected that an individual taking a Mis graduate degree will also have
some prior background in computer systems. The typical background expected
would be undergraduate studies in business, computing science, or engineering.
Many candidates at the graduate level would have several years of business
experience in the MIS area prior to entering the graduate program. As a mini-
mum, the student should have a knowledge of basic hardware and software,
computerized business systems, and have a working knowledge of one scientific
and one business data processing language. The proposed program is presented
in figure 1.
The MIS courses are briefly described in Appendix 1. Further elaboration may
be found in the cited literature. We have shown two of the courses in figure 1 as
optional. The controls and auditing course is of special interest, and is fundamen-
tally important to those desiring to make a career of professional accounting.
The societal course is of a background nature, culturally oriented, and of gen-
eral interest, but not directly essential to the professional's program of studies.
Different course sets for each of the career paths are not specified, because the
program includes only the minimal required set we felt essential to a course
of studies in MIS. AU examination of figure 1 suggests that the MIS program is
brief enough (6 one-semester courses) to provide an individual with the avail-
able time to take other courses, graduating with a degree in MIS, but still main-
taining a general management perspective. Alternatively, the individual could
take the two optional course plus courses in data communications, networks,
simulation, and write a thesis, graduating with extensive MIS specialization.^
'These additional courses are available as options in a few of the U.S. and Canadian MIS
programs.
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 281

Prerequisites
(i) Work Experience
(ii) Core Year MBA Courses

]\IIS for Operations Data Structures

and Manajjement and
File Processing

Controls & Societal & Information Information Database

Auditing in Legal Aspects Systems Systems Management
EDP in Computing Analysis Administration

( represents Systems
optional courses) Design &•
Development

FIG. 1. MIS graduate program

The program also gives the student enough elective options to increase his/her
skills in other areas. For example a student with an undergraduate computer
science degree can take extra business administration courses, whereas a busi-
ness undergraduate can make up for the deficiencies in the technical topics.

SURVEY OF CANADIAN PROGRAMS

A survey questionnaire was sent to 35 Canadian schools which have programs

in commerce and/or business administration. We asked if the school had or
planned to have a graduate/or undergraduate program in MIS, and the program
objectives. Respondents specified all MIS courses offered, provided course
outlines, and listed the faculty members ihvolved in MIS teaching and research.
Twenty-two schools responded. In a.ddition, information on seven more schools
was obtained by analysing their university calendars. Through the knowledge
282 IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER

of what other institutions are doing in the MIS area, it is possible to identify
the course patterns which are developing and the level of resources which are
being devoted to such programs. This survey information may reduce some
evolutionary problems and give direction to institutions who want to establish
or expand their programs in management information systems. Table 1 shows
the breakdown of the schools in terms of their MIS program offerings.
Results show Calgary, McGill, and York have programs at both levels;
Laval, McMaster, Toronto, and UBC have graduate programs; Concordia,
Saskatchewan, and St Francis Xavier offer undergraduate programs. As of this
writing, Acadia (graduate joint with Computer Science), McMaster (under-
graduate), St Mary's and Wilfrid Laurier (undergraduate) are planning to
implement programs. Although the course titles used by each school differ
somewhat, a perusal of the content of the programs shows that 80-90% of the
material in figure 1 is adequately covered. We also compared this program to
existing programs at several leading U.S. schools offering masters and doctoral
degrees in MIS : Carnegie-Mellon, MIT, Minnesota, NYU, Wharton, and UCLA.
These schools have included most of the courses shown in figure 1 in their
programs.
Table 2 shows the breakdown in course offerings in Canadian universities
according to the courses included in the MIS model presented in the previous
section. The findings in table 2 are not suprising. Courses on auditing/control,

TABLE 1
PROGRAM OFFERINGS IN MIS

Undergraduate Graduate
With programs 6 7
Without programs 20 20
Planned 1978-80 3 2
Unknown status 6 6
35 35

TABLE 2
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS OFFERING COURSES

All schools

Course name U G Total

Information Systems for Operations & Management 12 8 20
Data Structures & File Processing 9 1 10
Information System Administration 3 6 9
Information System Analysis 8 5 13
Database Management 5 2 7
System Design & Development 10 3 13
Auditing & Control 1 2 3
Legal & Societal Aspects 1 1 2
U — Undergraduate.
G - Graduate.
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 283

and legal/societal aspects, which were described as optional and of specialized

interest, are offered only in a few schools. Courses of a general nature, such as
information systems for operations and management,-and systems analysis and
design are widely available. An area which has recently been attracting in-
creased attention is database management systems. Today, however, this
course is not yet as prevalent as the more traditional topics in the same area
such as file processing and organization.
Schools offering programs in the management information systems area have
the general objective of preparing graduates for entry level positions as sys-
tems analysts and designers. It is clear from the survey responses that those
programs have adopted the philosophy of distinguishing between the mana-
gerial/user and technical orientation of computerized management information
system design and are emphasizing the former area.

A MIS COURSE FOR ALL GRADUATE BUSINESS STUDENTS

Having discussed the graduate MIS program and our survey, we now propose a
single course (not part of the MIS program) which we feel is important for all
professional managers, regardless of functional discipline.
Perhaps the most certain fact of life facing the future manager is the tremendous role that high
speed and large capacity computers will have in the management of his enterprise. Thus,
an academic program designed to prepare future,managers must devote considerable attention
to what is now known as the computer sciences ...
The objective is not to make computer specialists of students. Rather, every graduate is
expected to be comfortable in a business environment in which computers are a daily part of
managerial activity. He must be able to recogriize opportunities to use the computer in his
managerial activities, to know what to expect 'from it, and to know how to communicate
effectively with computer specialists so that coiiputerized projects will be properly handled
from a technical, as well as managerial, point of vi^w.'''"

In order to achieve the above goals we propose a one-semester MIS course for
all MBA students. The literature study, as well as the results survey indicated
little if any consensus on a basic MIS course for all graduate business stu-
dents.'^^' Many schools have introduced computer courses which typically
have not been successful in giving the student anything more than a basic
working knowledge of computers and co|mputer programming. In the future,
increasing numbers of students will halve completed a basic programming
course prior to entering the graduate business program. Therefore, this MIS
course does not include a programming r0quirement. Where a student does not
have a rudimentary programming course; as part of his/her background, then
some remedial programming course is in iorder. However, we feel this type of
course does not have a place in a graduate program.
In order to present our ideas in a. conceptual context we have developed a
series of topics (not a course outline) that can reasonably be met in a one-
semester course (see table 3). Preparatidn of the detailed course outline is a
task more appropriate to individuals developing MBA programs within their
own university environments. We have included only those items deemed
essential for the professional manager. TJie emphasis in this course is clearly
284 IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER

TABLE 3
TOPICS FOR A ONE-SEMESTER MIS COURSE FOR ALL GRADUATE BUSINESS STUDENTS

I The role of information in the organization

(a) Explicit management and administration of information as an organizational resource
(b) Cross-functional significance of information
(c) General systems concepts as applied to is
II Impact of MIS on the organization
(a) The behavioural ramifications (short and long term) of introducing MIS
in the organization
(b) The induced change in the organizational structure as a result of Mis implementation
(c) The possibilities for changes in the role and functions of managers
III Role of the functional manager as user in
(a) The initiation of a systems study
(b) The feasibility analysis stage. Cost/benefit evaluation. Steering committees
(c) The defining of information requirements
(d) The reduction of behavioural problems in system implementation
(e) The evaluation of the quality of the system at the post-implementation-audit stage
IV Management applications of computers
(a) Government
(b) Health
(c) Education
(d) Business
V Atternatives for acquiring computer resources
(a) In-House - Purchase, lease, rental, third party lease
(b) Service bureau
(c) Time-sharing
(d) Facilities management/consultants' role
VI Capabilities /limitations of computerized systems {present and future)
(a) The functions of computers
(b) The technology of computers; (i) hardware concepts, (ii) software concepts
(c) Economic factors in computer usage
VII Social issues of computerization
(a) Legal aspects
(b) Privacy implications
(c) Social and ethical implications

not on technology. It is based on the overriding goal that managers should be

able to use their managerial expertise in decisions relating to computerized
management information systems. They can accomplish this only if they are
knowledgeable and confident enough to apply the same judgmental capacity
to MIS decisions as they would in any other area of management concern. It is
also becoming quite evident that the successful design and implementation of
management information systems requires close manager (user) interaction and
co-ordination with the design team. The greater the understanding of what is
involved in building a management information system the better will be the
user's contribution to a properly designed system.

CONCLUDING NOTES
We have examined the available MIS curriculum literature, surveyed the Cana-
dian schools of business, and collected data on several leading U.S. schools.
In Canada ten schools have viable programs and three other schools are about
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 285

to implement them. These programs appear managerial and non-technical in

nature; thus the graduates will be seeking positions leading towards increas-
ingly management oriented careens.
Most Canadian business schools offer a one-term introductory computer
systems course, containing some rudimentary programming and basic hard-
ware concepts. This type, of course, is not what we have proposed as our
recommendation for a required course for all professional managers. We feel
the emphasis should be on the management of MIS as an organizational re-
source. The more technically oriented hardware and programming materials
are relatively less valuable for the general manager. As programming knowl-
edge becomes an expected part of the student's educational background (e.g.,
programming is now taught in many high schools and almost all universities),
the focus of this introductory MIS course will shift along the lines of the mana-
gerial course proposed.
Information, systems, or management information systems programs are
still in a developmental phase. As such, they have been criticized by both aca-
demics and practitioners as not having well-defined structures or goals. Some
academics have claimed that the management information systems area lacks
a theoretical foundation. Others, such as John Dearden of Harvard,^^^ have
criticized it as being overly ambitious for trying to educate "super" systems
analysts who have the skills to solve any management information systems
problem in organization of business administration. The program presented
in this paper is designed to provide the proper MIS knowledge, but it too is
expected to evolve with experience and ?in advancing technology.
Today the Mis field is going through a growth phase similar to that manage-
ment science went through 20 years ago. Recent texts, for example Davis,'^'
have tried to develop a conceptual base for MIS. It is interesting to note that
the management science academics, because of pressure from the practitioners,
have now been giving attention to mapagerial acceptance problems or the
bridging of the gap between the specialist and manager. The MIS program pro-
posed in this paper was developed with this specific purpose in mind. The em-
phasis is on both the socio-organizationg,! and technical aspects of MIS usage.
As the development of MIS continues, the need for specialized capabilities
increases, and there will be an increasing heed for the type of MIS graduate pro-
duced by the proposed program. These people will be helpful in promoting a
broader view of MIS systems, which shotild result in a greater proportion of
successful systems. It has been observed too often that MIS people who have
come up the programming-technical rants have tended to search for solutions
within a. narrow technical framework. It js hoped that, with the better trained
MIS specialist, the solutions can be found within the broader technical, mana-
gerial, and behavioural context of the organization.

APPENDIX 1: DESCRIPTION OF: THE MIS CORE COURSES

1 Information systems for operations and \nanagement
An overview of the field of management information systems. Topics include:
286 IZAK BENBASAT AND ALBERT S. DEXTER

the inter-relationship of information, management, and systems; what the

manager should know about computerized information systems; identifying
information requirements for operational, tactical, and strategic decision-
making; administration and control of system development, and behavioural
aspects of information systems.

2 Data structures and file processing

An introduction to structures for representing the logical relationships among
elements of data and information. Topics include: analysis of file and data
management systems; evaluating data structures in terms of their strengths
and limitations; determining appropriate data structures given user require-
ments; effects of hardware and software on file structures, processing, and
management.

3 Auditing and control

Conceptual approach to EDP auditing, methodologies and survey of techniques.
Topics include: general and application controls; control practices and survey
of audit software systems, capabilities and testing; database management
systems and auditing; audit trails, backup and recovery, physical security.

4 Legal and societal issues

To understand the impacts of computers and information systems on the in-
dividual, society, and organizations. Topics include: contracting for computer
use; liability in use; privacy implications; antitrust and competitive practices
in the computer industry, legal and ethical issues in computer applications.

5 Information systems analysis

Determination of information needs and the patterns of information flow to
satisfy these needs in an organization. Topics include: analysis of the system
life-cycle; standards, tools and techniques required for logical design ; feasibility
studies; functional analysis; system prototype design.

6 Information system administration

Theory and practice of planning, control and administration as applied to the
management of information systems and computer operations. Topics include:
the needs and responsibilities of both corporate management and the manage-
ment of the information processing area; project selection, control, and security
of information system resources; staffing and organizing; economics of infor-
mation systems, location of services and issues of central/decentralization ; use
of outside services; vendor contracts.

7 Database management
Concepts and methods in the management of databases. Topics include: objec-
tives of database management; definition, and design of database systems;
user interaction with database systems; role of the database administrator;
database integrity, security, and privacy.
 MIS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS 287

8 Systems design and development

Translation of specific information requirements into a detailed implementa-
tion plan which can be realized by hardware, software, and people resources.
Topics include: knowledge and tools necessary to develop a physical design
and operational system from logical design; estimating and evaluating the
performance of proposed design methods; use af modelling and simulation
techniques in evaluation; automated techniques applied to design ; economic
and organizational issues in implementation ; case and field studies in informa-
tion system design and development.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors appreciate the helpful comments of Dr Robert C. Goldstein and

other colleagues in the Faculty of Comniierce, UBC, as well as the comments of
the INFOR referees.

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