Information Systems & Analytics
Professors: Narendra Agrawal (Benjamin and Mae Swig Professor), Gangshu Cai, Manoochehr Ghiassi (Department Co-Chair), Steven Nahmias, Stephen A. Smith, S. Andrew Starbird, Andy A. Tsay
Associate Professors: Ram Bala, Tao Li, Haibing Lu (Department Co-Chair), David K. Zimbra
Assistant Professors: Yasin Ceran, Necati Ertekin, Sami Najafi-Asadolahi, Michele Samorani, Michael Schermann
Acting Assistant Professor: Mohammad Amin Morid
Lecturers: Eghbal Rashidi, Graeme Warren
Undergraduate study in the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems (OMIS) explores the use of computer information systems and analytical decision-making methods in organizations. Essential to the conduct of business, these skills equip the department's majors and minors to design, implement, and evaluate systems central to an organization's success.
In addition to the major in management information systems (MIS), the department offers an MIS minor for nonbusiness and non-MIS majors, and the inter-departmental major of accounting and information systems (AIS).
The department's majors and minors may pursue a variety of careers after graduation, including management consulting, systems administration, technical sales and marketing, operations management, and roles as business analysts in public, private, service, and nonprofit sectors. Past graduates have also gone on to various master's degree or doctoral programs, as well as law school.
Requirements for the Majors
In addition to fulfilling Undergraduate Core Curriculum and Leavey School of Business requirements for the bachelor of science in commerce degree, students majoring in management information systems or in accounting and information systems must complete the following departmental requirements:
Major in management information systems (MIS)
OMIS 30
OMIS 105, 106, and 107
Three courses from OMIS 110, 111, 114, 113, 116, 117, 120, 135, 137, 150, 170, 173
Major in accounting and information systems (AIS)
ACTG 20, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, and 138
OMIS 30
OMIS 105, 106, and 150 (or ACTG 155)
One course from OMIS 107, 111, 113, 120, 135, 137
Accounting and information systems majors may use either OMIS 30 or 31 to satisfy the information systems requirement in the Leavey School of Business curriculum. OMIS 150 is cross-listed with ACTG 155. Accounting and information systems majors may enroll in OMIS 150 or ACTG 155.
Requirements for the Management Information Systems Minor
Nonbusiness majors and non-MIS majors in the Leavey School of Business may pursue the MIS minor, enabling them to apply a deeper understanding of technology to their major.
The MIS minor has the following requirements:
OMIS 30
OMIS 105
Three courses from OMIS 106, 107, 110, 111, 114, 113, 116, 117, 120, 135, 137, 150, 170, 173
Nonbusiness students minoring in MIS must also complete the following requirements:
One course in mathematics from MATH 11 or 30
One course in statistics and data analysis from OMIS 40, MATH 8, MATH 122, PSYC 40, COMM 110
Three courses in business from BUSN 70, MGMT 160, MGMT 161, MKTG 181, FNCE 121, OMIS 108
Lower-Division Courses
15. Introduction to Spreadsheets
Using spreadsheets to analyze business data and present the findings in tables, charts, and graphs. Topics covered will include spreadsheet formulas, functions, pivot tables, and pivot charts. Students will also learn how to retrieve data from sources such as text files, relational databases, and servers. Students may not take both OMIS 15 and 17 for credit. Students must have less than 87.5 units completed. (2 units)
17. Introduction to Business Computing
Using spreadsheets and database management systems to analyze business data and present the findings in tables, charts, and graphs. Topics covered will include spreadsheet formulas, functions, pivot tables and charts, and SQL queries. Students will also learn the workings of relational database management systems. Students may not take both OMIS 15 and 17 for credit. (4 units)
30. Introduction to Programming
Fundamental methodologies and approaches to computer programming, with emphasis on problem solving, top-down program design, and thinking like a programmer. Students will learn basic structures of computer programming; analyze real business problems from a computer programmer perspective; and program, test, and debug well-structured programs. Focuses on essential aspects of writing software that include good design, modularity, efficiency, documentation, clarity, portability, and style. Students will obtain hands-on programming skills through several programming assignments. This course is the basis for business application development in database design and systems programming courses. Students who receive credit for CSCI 10 (formerly MATH 10), COEN 6, COEN 11, or OMIS 31 may not take this course for credit. (4 units)
31. Business Applications Programming
Develop and implement business application programs using software tools such as Visual Studio, Visual Web Developer, and Dreamweaver. Students will develop both Windows and Web applications. Assignments will use programming frameworks such as .NET and PHP. Students who take CSCI 10 (formerly MATH 10), OMIS 30, COEN 6, or COEN 11 may not take this course for credit. (4 units)
34. Science, Information Technology, Business, and Society
Examines the complex relationship among science, information technology, business, and society. Investigates major breakthroughs in information technology, how they were influenced by business needs, and how they affect business and society. Explores social and cultural values in business science and technology, and economic challenges posed by rapid business information technology. Also examines the workings of major components of information technology used in business today. (4 units)
40. Statistics and Data Analysis I
First course in a two-course sequence. Students learn to summarize and describe sets of data using numerical and graphical methods; to quantitatively express the probability of events and utilize probability rules; to employ probability distributions to describe the probabilities associated with discrete and continuous random variables, and to compute means and variances; to evaluate sample data collection plans for quantitative and qualitative data; and to construct interval estimates for the population mean. Students analyze real-world data using spreadsheet software. Prerequisites: MATH 11 or 30, and OMIS 15 or 17. (4 units)
41. Statistics and Data Analysis II
Second course in a two-course sequence. Students learn to construct confidence intervals and test hypotheses about means, proportions, and variances for one and two populations; to formulate and test hypotheses about multinomial data; to construct both simple and multiple regression models, evaluate model quality and predict the value of dependent variables using regression. Students analyze real-world data using spreadsheet software. Prerequisites: OMIS 15 or 17, and OMIS 40. (4 units)
43. Data Wrangling and Visualization
Cross-listed with ECON 43. Prerequisites: MATH 30 and OMIS 40 (2 units)
Upper-Division Courses
105. Database Management Systems
This course presents issues related to databases and database management systems (DBMS). Students will acquire technical and managerial skills in planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance of databases. Hands-on training in relational database design, normalization, SQL, and database implementation will be provided. Use of DBMS software is required. Emphasis is placed on the issues of managing a database environment. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
106. Systems Analysis and Design
This course presents methodologies and approaches to the analysis and design of computer-based information systems for business applications. Topics include the systems development lifecycle, development methodologies, requirements determination, use case analysis, process modeling, systems architecture, program, and interface design, systems implementation, and organizational transition. Application of the studied methodologies and techniques to a systems analysis and design project is required. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
107. Systems Programming
Discussion of the fundamental concepts of systems programming. Major focus on the overall structure and capabilities of modern operating systems (LINUX/UNIX, Windows, etc.) and how to use operating system facilities to manipulate files and processes. Also covers shells and scripting programming concepts for performing system-level programming assignments on dedicated computer systems. Development of several software assignments utilizing systems programming concepts is required. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
108. Operations Management
Survey of analysis and design methods for business systems that produce and deliver goods and services. Topics chosen from the following: process analysis, sales forecasting, production planning and scheduling, inventory management, material requirements planning, quality control, lean manufacturing, and supply chain management. Prerequisite: OMIS 41 or ECON 41 and 42. (5 units)
108E. Sustainable Operations Management
This version of OMIS 108 emphasizes applications to sustainable business practices. Prerequisite: OMIS 41 or ECON 41 and 42. (5 units)
108S. Operations Management
Enrollment in this version of OMIS 108 is restricted to students in the Leavey Scholars Program. Prerequisite: OMIS 41 or ECON 41 and 42. (5 units)
109. Prescriptive Analytics
Mathematical methods for solving decision problems encountered in business situations. Emphasis on problem formulation and application of spreadsheet-based algorithms for solution. Linear models and linear programming. Sensitivity analysis. Network models. Integer and nonlinear programming. Decision analysis and value of information. Dynamic analysis and the principle of optimality. Prerequisite: OMIS 41 or ECON 41 and 42. (5 units)
110. Computer Simulation Modeling
Examination of computer simulation modeling for the design and operation of complex processes or systems. Theory and techniques of simulation and simulation languages such as SLAM, GPSS, and GASP; inventory control; assembly and job-shop scheduling; and manufacturing process design. Prerequisites: OMIS 41 or ECON 41 and 42 and OMIS 30. (5 units)
111. Computer Communications Systems
Designed to provide the information systems professional with a basic literacy in communication technologies driving the digital economy. Basics of data and telecommunications, LANs, WANs, broadband, analog and digital communications, Internet architecture and concepts, wireless including cellular and WLANs, and market and regulatory issues are covered. Emphasis on being able to assess the business impact of networking technologies. Prerequisite: OMIS 30, 31, or 34. (5 units)
113. Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
This course examines a broad collection of software tools and analytical applications that allow enterprises to analyze data maintained in data warehouses and operational databases for business intelligence. Topics include data storage and data integration architecture, enterprise analytics, and business intelligence tools and presentations. Students will acquire hands-on experience in building business intelligence applications. Prerequisites: OMIS 30, and OMIS 105. (5 units)
114. Data Science with Python
The objective of this course is to teach the analytical mindset & programming skills relevant to data science. Students will learn the principal tools for data science in Python, including the Jupyter (IPython) Notebook, Pandas, Seaborn, and Scikit-learn. Students will learn skills that cover the various phases of exploratory data analysis: importing data, cleaning and transforming data, algorithmic thinking, grouping and aggregation, visualization, time series, statistical modeling/prediction and communication of results. The course will utilize data from a wide range of sources and will culminate with a final project and presentation. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
115 Predictive Analytics
This course aims to teach conceptual foundations of predictive analytics and practical data analytics skills in\ order to perform out-of-sample predictions on real-world data. The course (1) introduces multiple data\ structures (e.g. time series, cross-sectional) that are frequently used in several different business contexts, (2)\ demonstrates predictive model construction techniques on different data structures, and (3) focuses on\ improving out-of-sample predictive performance. Topics include time series analysis and forecasting,\ regression models, classification and prediction models, text mining and analytics, and social network\ analysis. Prerequisite: OMIS 114. (5 units)
116. Applied Machine Learning
This course examines applications of artificial intelligence and expert systems for business. Topics include rule-based systems, data and Web mining, and other knowledge-based systems. Prerequisite: OMIS 30 and
- (5 units)
117. Software Development Project
Integration of system and programming concepts to develop a comprehensive software system. Also presents an overview of software development methodology. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
120. Web Programming
The course will focus on the design and development of Web-based applications using a number of currently popular tools and strategies, and also explore the use of databases as data repositories for Web applications. Core technologies including HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and AJAX will be emphasized. Prerequisites: OMIS 30, and
- (5 units)
135. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are the foundation of modern business processes. Study of business process integration, ERP technology, and ERP implementation. Students will have the opportunity to work with ERP software from SAP. Includes a team project and case studies. Prerequisite: OMIS 105 or COEN 178. (5 units)
137. Object-Oriented Programming
Introduction to object-oriented design methodology. Discussion of different programming paradigms, concepts of data abstraction, inheritance, and encapsulation. Topics include an overview of Java programming language, classes and objects, data abstraction, inheritance, I/O packages, exceptions, threads, and GUI. Development of several programming assignments using Java is required. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
145. Competitive Quality
Slogans like "Quality is Job 1"; "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"; and "The Dependability People" leave little doubt as to the importance of quality in commercial competition. This course explores how quality contributes to competitiveness. The course starts by defining quality and introducing methods for measuring quality. The course investigates variation in quality and its effect on firm performance, and studies methods for monitoring and controlling quality including quality control charts and sampling inspection. Finally, in light of new developments in operations theory and in technology for tracking and monitoring products, the course also tackles strategic supply chain issues associated with quality. Case studies and field trips are used to bolster student understanding. Prerequisites: ECON 1 and OMIS 108/108E/108S. (5 units)
150. Financial Information Systems
Course focuses on computer-based financial information systems that allow finance and accounting professionals to acquire and manage a company's financial system. Topics include the business functions of a financial information system, the technical aspects of the system, and the management issues of implementing such a system. Students will acquire hands-on experience using ERP systems. Students who receive credit for ACTG 155 may not take this course for credit. Also listed as ACTG 155. Prerequisites: OMIS 30, and OMIS 105. (5 units)
170. Physical Database Design
Methodology for design of physical file structures to support single- and multiple-file applications. Query optimization using indexes. Data structures, file structures, file access methods, file manipulation, and algorithmic analysis. Prerequisite: OMIS 105. (5 units)
173. E-commerce Technologies
An integrated course discussing techniques needed to build, operate, and maintain e-businesses. Topics include scripting languages, markup languages, security, online transaction, and multimedia operation. Prerequisite: OMIS 30. (5 units)
198. Internship
Opportunity for selected upper-division students to work in local businesses or government units. Requires a faculty advisor and should be fairly well structured. Note: A student cannot use a collection of internship courses to satisfy the upper-division course requirement for any of the OMIS department's major or minor programs. Prerequisites: Upper-division standing and approval of the undergraduate committee one week prior to registration. Written proposal must be approved by instructor and chair one week prior to registration. (1 unit)
199. Directed Reading/Directed Research
Independent projects undertaken by upper-division students with a faculty advisor. Note: A student cannot use a collection of directed reading/directed research courses to satisfy the upper-division course requirement for any of the OMIS department's major or minor programs. Prerequisites: Upper-division standing and approval of the undergraduate committee one week prior to registration. Written proposal must be approved by instructor and chair one week prior to registration. (1--5 units)