COURSE SYLLABUS

CIS 505 Introduction to Enterprise Analytics

INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Pei-yu Chen
Professor
Department of Information Systems
W. P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University

Contact: canvas message or email: peiyu.chen@asu.edu

Office: BAC 680 (480-965-8676)
Office hour: Wednesdays: 2:00-3:00 pm (and by appointment) ** Please sign up via Canvas

COURSE OVERVIEW
About 75% of organizational assets are knowledge assets, such as data and information. Clearly
the firms that are going to be the most successful in the future are the ones that most effectively
manage their knowledge assets. Effectively leveraging knowledge assets, however, is not a
simple task. Databases and data warehouses form the foundation of virtually every modern
data analytics system. The database keeps records of the organization’s highly structured,
operational activities (e.g., personnel, inventory, sales, marketing) and the data warehouse
supports the strategic managerial analysis of complex business decision problems (e.g., new
product introduction, plant expansion, off-shoring, stock offerings). Without a well-designed and
intelligently implemented data management system, the organization will have a difficult time
solving complex data analytics problems. This course introduces students to the key concepts
and practices in managing information assets, as well as the information architecture of
organizations, consisting of databases and data warehouses, and provides students the
foundation of query and reporting using business analytics software.

W. P. CAREY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS LEARNING GOALS

The W.P. Carey School of Business has established the following learning goals for its graduate
students:
1. Critical Thinking
2. Communication
3. Discipline Specific Knowledge
4. Ethical Leadership or Global Leadership

Items in bold have significant coverage in this course.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course intends to provide the students with a solid understanding of the information
assets within organizations, skills to manage data, and hands-on experience with SQL and
visual analytics. At the end of the course, the students should be able to:

1. Explain the typical architecture of enterprise data analytics systems;

2. Construct data models for information assets in organizations;
3. Query databases using SQL;
4. Conduct query and reporting using visual analytics tools.

COURSE MATERIALS
Textbooks: Required for students not familiar with databases and/or SQL.
• Databases DeMystified: A Self-Teaching Guide, by Andrew Oppel, McGraw Hill Osborne
Publishing (either edition 1 or 2 is okay).
• Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes, by Ben Forta, Sams Publishing.

Optional: Other useful books:

• The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional Modeling, by Ralph
Kimball and Mary Ross, Wiley.
• Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, by Viktor
Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier, Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Enterprise Analytics: Optimize Performance, Process and Decisions Through Big Data, by
Thomas Davenport, Pearson FT Press.

Supplemental readings:
• The instructor provides supplemental readings throughout the term to introduce
background, fill gaps in the lectures, and broaden the students’ general knowledge
about the analytics profession.

GRADING

Course grades will be based on the following weights:

Homework (individual) 30%

Project (team) 15%
In-Class Quizzes (individual) 15%
Participation 5%
Final Exam (individual) 35%
Please note that for the team project, team members will have a chance to evaluate individual
contributions to the joint effort, and grades will be adjusted when there is consensus that a team
member is underperformed.

The grading scale is: 98-100 A+, 93-97 A, 90-92 A-, 88-89 B+, 83-87 B, 80-82 B-, 78-
79 C+, 70-77 C, below 70 E (ASU policy dictates that instructors may choose to award plusses
and minuses at their discretion). The final grades may be curved up or down based on the
overall class performance, level of difficulty of the homework, etc., as judged by the instructor.

COURSE MODULES AND TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

The course comprises the following modules:

1. M1: Toward data-driven decision making, and understanding the information architecture
of organizations
2. M2: Understanding information assets within organizations; data management basics, E-R
Modeling
3. M3: Interacting with data through query languages (SQL)
4. M4: Managing enterprise data: data warehousing, dimensional modeling, ETL
5. M5: Visual Analytics

Tentative schedule: Please refer to course website for detailed readings, activities, homework
assignments and any updates on schedule.
Date Module Task
Aug. 21 (W) M1: Course Overview Background Survey
Toward Data-Driven Decision Making
Understanding Information Architecture of
Organizations
Aug. 26 (M) M2: Understanding information assets within
organizations: Data modelling using Entity-
Relationship Modeling
Aug. 28 (W) M2: Understanding information assets within
organizations: Relational Schema
Sep. 02 (M) NO CLASS (Labor Day)
Sep. 04 (W) M2: Understanding information assets within HW1 assigned (Due:
organizations Sep. 09)
Sep. 06 (F) M3: Interacting with data through query languages
Make up (SQL1)
class for
Labor Day
Sep. 09 (M) M3: Interacting with data through query languages HW2 assigned (Due:
(SQL2) Sep. 18)
Sep. 11 (W) M3: Interacting with data through query languages
(SQL3)
Sep. 16 (M) M3: Interacting with data through query languages HW3 assigned (Due:
(SQL4) Sep. 25)
Sep. 18 (W) M3: Interacting with data through query languages
(SQL5)
Sep. 23 (M) M4: Managing enterprise data: Data Warehousing
Sep. 25 (W) M4: Managing enterprise data: Dimensional HW4 assigned (Due:
Modelling Oct. 07)
Sep. 30 (M) M4: Managing enterprise data: ETL concepts
Oct. 02 (W) M5: Data and Visual Analytics
 Oct. 07 (M) M5: Data and Visual Analytics
Oct. 09 (W) Final Exam Exam
NOTES:
1. There will be in-class quizzes after the completion of Modules 2, 3 and 4. Exact dates to
be announced in class as we progress.
2. There will be a team project and presentation. Details to be announced in class and on
class website.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

Unethical behavior by corporations has been linked with negative performance outcomes; the same is
true of unethical student behavior. It is expected that students will neither participate in nor condone
activities such as cheating or plagiarism. You are expected to do your own work on all individual
exercises, quizzes, and exams. Students are encouraged to speak to other students about the issues, but
do not share work or answers.

A student who engages in academic misconduct as outlined in ASU’s academic integrity policy
(http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity) while attending a graduate program will receive strict
penalties.

Those penalties ordinarily will range from a letter reduction in final course grade to expulsion from the
program and School of Business. The penalty will be decided by the course faculty member and the
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs. All allegations of academic misconduct must be reported to program
administrators. Any subsequent act of academic misconduct, regardless of severity, will result in
dismissal from the program and the School of Business.

Link to the W.P. Carey School honor code for master programs:
https://my.wpcarey.asu.edu/academic-integrity/upload/MBA-Honor-Code.pdf

ABSENCE POLICIES
a. Missed homework, quizzes and exams cannot be made up, unless instructor approval has
been obtained and accommodations have been made ahead of time (e.g., See RELIGIOUS
ACCOMMODATIONS below).
b. Instructor absence policy: Per ASU’s policy ACD 304-10, instructors should specify the policy
on how long students should wait for an absent instructor. Please note that the instructor
will make all efforts to be in every class, unless other arrangements have been made and
announced in class. In the unexpected case that the instructor does not show up on time,
please wait for at least 45 minutes, if you have not been directed to wait longer by someone
from the academic unit.
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS
Accommodations will be made for students with religious holidays. Below is the calendar of
official religious holidays. Each holiday noted with two asterisks denotes an observance for
which work is not allowed. For these holidays, students will not be penalized in any way for
missing class or assignment. This means that this will not count as an absence in class and they
will be granted a makeup assignment or exam, etc.
https://provost.asu.edu/index.php?q=religious-holiday-calendar

All requests for accommodation must be submitted by the end of the second week of class.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS
If you need an accommodation for a disability, you must register with the Disability Resource
Center (DRC).

UNIVERSITY-SANCTIONED ACTIVITIES
Accommodations will be made for students who miss class related to university- sanctioned
activities according to ACD 304-02.

If you are participating in a university-sanctioned activity, please let your instructor know as
early in the course as possible so that accommodations can be made.

THREATENING BEHAVIOR POLICY

The university takes threatening behavior very seriously and these situations will be handled in
accordance with the Student Services Manual, SSM 102-02
http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/ssm/ssm104-02.html.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL

Note your policy on copyright material and the sale of notes in your classes, etc.

Information contained within this syllabus (except grading and absence policies) is subject to change.