Course Outline: Information Technology for Decision Making (ISOM1701)

Area: It, QT and Operations | Credit: 3

Programme: PGDM | Duration: June – September, 2019 | Term: I
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Instructor(s) Name : Boudhayan Ganguly
Email : b.ganguly@imi-k.edu.in
Phone (Extn no.) : 66529670
Meeting Hours : Mon – Fri: 4PM to 5:30 PM
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Course Description
The course shall give insights into the role of IT in business organizations. The course shall
help the students grasp how IT tools are used in businesses in order to achieve their objectives.
Focus will be on Spreadsheet modelling to solve business problems across different domains.
The course would also give a brief introduction to software development life cycle.

Course Objectives

The objectives of the course is as follows

1. To be able to use spreadsheet as a decision making tool.
2. To use IT to take decisions in different contexts i.e. under uncertainty, with partial data,
using forecasting etc.
3. To comprehend the different stages of the Software Development Lifecycle.

Mapping between Course Objectives and Program Objectives

Program Objectives Course Course Course Course

Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3 Objective 4
Program Objective 1.1 No No Yes NA
Demonstrate enhanced oral and
written communication
capability in business situations.
Program Objective 1.2 No No Yes NA
Demonstrate capability to make
effective presentations related
to business cases and research
through correct and precise use
of language leading to logical
conclusions.
Program Objective 1.3 No No Yes NA
Demonstrate awareness of
socioeconomic environment,
both domestic and international

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Program Objective 2.1 No No Yes NA
Demonstrate values for ethical
decision making
Program Objective 2.2 No No Yes NA
Demonstrate ability to discern
between ethical and non-ethical
practices in business situations.
Program Objective 3.1 Yes Yes Yes NA
Demonstrate enhanced
analytical thinking in business
situations.
Program Objective 3.2 Yes Yes Yes NA
Demonstrate ability to solve
business problems based on
analytical thinking.
Program Objective 4.1 Yes Yes Yes NA
Demonstrate understanding of
general management and
functional areas of business
organizations.
Program Objective 4.2 Yes Yes Yes NA
Demonstrate ability to apply
concepts, tools and techniques
of gen. management as well as
functional areas to real life
situations.

Pedagogy
Text based class room teaching. Practical session shall be held in IT lab. Research
papers shall be provided to the students as and when required.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Component Weightage

End Term Examination 30

Mid Term Examination 25

Quizzes (3 nos) 30
Project 10
Class Participation 5

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End Term (30): The End Term exam shall be of 30 marks and shall test the students on their
subjective knowledge of the subject. It will be a pen and paper exam.

Mid Term (25): The Mid Term exam shall be of 25 marks and shall test the students on their
subjective knowledge of the subject. It will be a pen and paper exam.

Quizzes (30): Quizzes shall test the students’ ability to solve practical problems using
spreadsheets. Most of the quizzes shall be in the IT lab. There will be an objective quiz also.

Projects (10): All the students are required to do a Project in the course. This will be a group
work and will have to be submitted before the commencement of the end term exam. The
students shall also submit a project report.

Resources

The textbook forms the basic reading material for the course. In addition, the participants are
also supposed to go through the readings recommended in the course outline. Course
participants are also required to regularly go through academic journals, business magazines
and websites. Cases will be discussed during the course.

Text book:
Managerial Decision Modeling with Spreadsheets – N. Balakrishnan, B.
Render and R.M. Stair

Reference books:
Microsoft 365 – Parsons, Oja, Carey and Desjardins

Business Data Analysis – David Whigham

Information Technology for Management - E. Turban, L. Volonino and G.R. Wood
Detailed Session Plan

Session
Topic/s
No.
1 IT as a Decision Making Tool.
Introduction to spreadsheet tools.
Creation of sales reports, customer
order etc.
2-3 Spreadsheet application in Sensitivity
Analysis: Use of Pivot tables, Array
formula, Use of excel in business
forecasting
Readings/Tasks
Chapter 1, Managerial Decision Modeling
with Spreadsheets. - N. Balakrishnan, B.
Render and R.M. Stair
Module 1 and 2: Microsoft 365 – Parsons,
Oja, Carey and Desjardins
Module 4 and 5: Microsoft 365 – Parsons,
Oja, Carey and Desjardins

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 Session
Topic/s Readings/Tasks
No.
4-7 Spreadsheet applications in Linear Chapter 3, 4 and 5. Managerial Decision
Programming including Binary and Modeling with Spreadsheets - N.
Integer Programming. Balakrishnan, B. Render and R.M. Stair
8-10 Introduction to Combinatorial Material to be given in class.
Optimization: Solving simple
problems such as Minimum Spanning
Tree (using Kruskal’s Algorithm,
Prim’s Algorithm)
11 Cyber Security Chapter 5, Information Technology for
Management - E. Turban, L. Volonino and
G.R.Wood.
12 Internet and Social Media Strategy Chapters 4, 7 and 8. Information Technology
for Management - E. Turban, L. Volonino and
G.R.Wood

13-15 Software Development Life Cycle:
16-18 Business Intelligence and Decision
Support: Application in online
recommender systems.
Chapter 13, Information Technology for
Management - E. Turban, L. Volonino and
G.R.Wood
Module 11: Microsoft 365 – Parsons, Oja,
Carey and Desjardins
Chapter 8, 10, 11. Managerial Decision
Modeling with Spreadsheets - N.
Balakrishnan, B. Render and R.M. Stair

Academic integrity

a) Plagiarism is the use of or presentation of ideas, works that are not one’s own and
which are not common knowledge, without granting credit to the originator. Plagiarism
is unacceptable in IMI Kolkata and will invite penalty. Type and extent of penalty will
be at the discretion of the concerned faculty.

b) Cheating means using written, verbal or electronic sources of aid during an

examination/ quiz/ assignment or providing such assistance to other students (except in
cases where it is expressly permitted by the faculty). It also includes providing false
data or references/list of sources which either do not exist or have not been used, having
another individual write your paper or assignment or purchasing a paper for one’s own
submission. Cheating is strictly prohibited at IMI Kolkata and will invite penalty as per
policies of the Institute.

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