Information Management for Organizational Effectiveness
Syllabus
What is INLS385-001 all about?
The basics
To quote from the SILS course descriptions, this course is about:
Basic concepts in the way that information, people, and technology interact to influence organizational effectiveness. Principles of problem solving, teamwork, leadership, and organizational change/innovation.
But what does that mean?
What it means is that we are going to consider the ways information is used within organizations. But to do that, we will have to consider the cultures of organizations and how they behave. In the process, we will consider the role of information technology within organizations, but it won't be our primary focus.
Our primary focus will be on understanding organizations and how they think, ...
... how information flows within organizations, and how that understanding can provide us with a way to deal with innovation and change in organizational contexts.
We consider theoretical foundations for practical applications and we will look at lots of examples, perhaps some you may never have considered.
Plan to read a lot, think even more, and to share the results of your reading and thinking with your peers. We want to develop the capacity for critical thinking about information use and, in the process, begin to develop some personal problem-solving skills that may be put to good use in any organization.
Method of transmission of information
Most of the class will be a mix of lecture, question and answer, discussion, and in class activities. Plan to bring your laptops with you to reach out for information you might want to introduce in class.
You will have multiple written assignments and a final in this class. Your written products may be either blog postings or something in a medium of your choosing. You may choose to store your work in a website/portfolio of your own design. Should you not choose to use blog postings or a website/portfolio, plan to store your written work in your Sakai dropbox.
One limitation
No one is permitted to record any of the class sessions, either with video or audio recorders, unless you first discuss it with the instructor and receive written permission to do so.
Special mention
In a previous semester, I asked the students to reflect on the class by suggesting a new way to approach the topic. Every one of the students took on the topic with thoughtfulness and thoroughness. This class is built upon their thinking. However, this particular semester is following, for the most part, the plan suggested by Kate Moran and Marla Sullivan. Their work inspired the spring 2013 class and its organization, and continues to inspire this semester's version of the class.
Additionally, much of this semester's class is influenced by the INLS385 classes taught by Dr. Mohammad Jarrahi. His voice will be heard through the organization of this particular semester's class.
PDF version of the syllabus
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Readings
There are no assigned textbooks,
... but plan to read a lot, and to save many of the readings to your personal professional reading collection.
We will have a three level plan for readings
Readings will not be for memorizing things, but rather to frame your thinking for the session to come. Read them, think about them, and, where useful, comment on them on the class blog.
What to expect for each class session
something about the topic of the day, easy to digest, perhaps in a visual form
something to think about, relevant to the topic under consideration
articles or book sections that are about research on the topic, research we might not talk about in class, but that might be worth your individual exploration
Other Readings
When additional readings are assigned, they will be made available electronically, through the class schedule and the specific session pages.
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Evaluation
The several tasks for this class are each worth the following percentages
| worth | task |
|---|---|
| 25% | value added |
| 10% | the individual in the organization |
| 15% | organizational structure |
| 15% | organizational leadership |
| 10% | technology effects |
| 25% | Final Exam |
There will be a final exam. It may be an in-class exam, or it may be an in-class submission of a take-home project. In either case, you will be informed of the specifications at the final review session.
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The value you add to your peers' experience in this class is based on three things:
-
Attendance
You are expected to attend all classes and to arrive to class before it starts.
You should be seated and ready to start at 1100.
If you need to miss a class, let me know so we can expect that you won't be with us. -
Deportment
Be courteous to your classmates.
Turn off devices that might disrupt class.
Use your information tools to support current course activities only.
Pay attention.
Try not to pursue other interests during the class session. -
General Participation
Class participation consists of doing the following:
being prepared for class,
making observations about the readings,
asking questions,
taking notes,
actively working on in-class exercises and actively listening.
Everyone will get the chance to participate.
Module reports
We often do not realize what we have learned until after due deliberation.
Writing a module report provides you an opportunity to reflect on the readings and lectures,
and reading the reports you write provides me a chance to assess to what extent you have met the learning objectives.
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Grading Standards
One of the important things we hear from employers of IS grads is that our grads have the ability to express themselves clearly and coherently in written and verbal formats. Accordingly, our evaluation tools for INLS385 are written and verbal formats.
But what kind of standard will be applied?
Subjective assessment draws upon the instructor's professionally developed awareness of quality in academic or other work. This may be essential for assessing with validity, because some outcomes require sensitivity to context and thus cannot be assessed in a fixed way across contexts. Objective assessment, in contrast, relies on quantitative scales that could apply to description of student work or performance. [IUPUI]
Therefore, grading the evaluation tools for INLS385-001 is necessarily a subjective effort and a grade will generally mean the descriptors in the table below.
| points | what it means | grade |
|---|---|---|
| 95> | Mastery of course content at the highest level of attainment that can reasonably be expected | A |
| 92-94 87-91 83-86 80-82 |
A totally acceptable performance demonstrating an adequate level of attainment |
A- B+ B B- |
| 77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 60-66 |
A marginal performance in the required exercises demonstrating a minimal passing level |
C+ C C- D+ D |
| <60 | For whatever reasons, an unacceptable performance | F |
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Honor
What it means to us
Faculty and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill adhere to their Code of Student Conduct.
We can learn much from each other and we will do that. I expect each of you to help each other.
We'll discuss what we expect in terms of cooperative, collaborative, shared work and the honor code.
Honor Code
It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University, student or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.
Campus Code
It shall be the further responsibility of every student to abide by the philosophy of the code; namely, to conduct oneself so as not to impair significantly the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the University community.
Faculty Responsibilities
I have a role to play as well, and I will fulfill these responsibilities.
What it means to us
The system rests on several central tenets:
The university community, including faculty and students, share a commitment to the pursuit of truth, and the dissemination of knowledge to succeeding generations of citizens devoted to the high ideals of personal honor and respect for the rights of others.
These goals can only be achieved in a setting in which intellectual honesty and personal integrity are highly valued; other individuals are trusted, respected, and fairly treated; and the responsibility for articulating and maintaining high standards is widely shared.
Both students and faculty must play active roles in fostering a culture in which honor is prized and acting to remedy violations of community norms relating to academic misconduct, injuries to members of the University community, and conduct that adversely affect University operations and resources.
The principles of academic honesty, integrity, and responsible citizenship govern the performance of all academic work and student conduct at the University as they have during the long life of this institution.
Your acceptance of enrollment in the University presupposes a commitment to the principles embodied in the Code of Student Conduct and a respect for the most significant Carolina tradition.
Your reward is in the practice of these principles.
Your participation in this course comes with the expectation that your work will be completed in full observance of the Honor Code
You are encouraged to work together with your fellow students and to share knowledge and learning.
However, academic dishonesty in any form is unacceptable, because any breach in academic integrity, however small, strikes destructively at the University's life and work.
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Diversity
What this faculty stands for
In support of the University's diversity goals and the mission of the School of Information and Library Science, SILS embraces diversity as an ethical and societal value.
We broadly define diversity to include race, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, social class, age, sexual orientation, and physical and learning ability.
As an academic community committed to preparing our graduates to be leaders in an increasingly multicultural and global society we strive to:
- Ensure inclusive leadership, policies and practices;
- Integrate diversity into the curriculum and research;
- Foster a mutually respectful intellectual environment in which diverse opinions are valued;
- Recruit traditionally underrepresented groups of students, faculty and staff; and
- Participate in outreach to underserved groups in the State.
The statement represents a commitment of resources to the development and maintenance of an academic environment that is open, representative, reflective and committed to the concepts of equity and fairness.
Remember, on occasion you may have felt yourself to be a member of a minority group, picked on by a majority group. Here at school, you may find those roles reversed. Do not fall prey to the temptation to use your new majority sensibility to get back at those who may have picked on you in the past, when you were in a minority group. Treating others as you would have them treat you is always a good rule to follow.
