Introduction to Business Information Systems

Most students, regardless of their major, need to understand information systems and technologies and their importance to the success of business organizations. While many of today’s students have lived with technology their whole lives, they do not see the connection between what they use every day and what they need to understand to be successful in the business world. Introduction to Business Information Systems, Canadian Edition by Mark Huber, Craig Piercy, Pat McKeown and James Norrie, is organized using a unique spiral approach that leads students from the individual, to the organization, to the business partner perspective, allowing them to begin with what they understand, and then expand that knowledge to understand how it can help them succeed in the business world.

Students are more engaged when they begin with what they already know.  Therefore, the spiral approach to learning information systems used in this text reinforces learning through expansion of topics from the individual level, to the organizational level, and then to the business-partner level. This approach will enhance student engagement with the course material as well as improve retention.

Within each layer of the spiral are three chapters, the first of which focuses on the basics of business, the second on technology, and the third on decision-making and problem solving.  The goal is to teach that the effective integration of IS with knowledge can drive the creation of significant business value.

Mark W. Huber is Lecturer in Management Information Systems in the Terry College of Business, Director of the Terry College and Franklin College of Arts and Science Leadership Excellence and Development Program (L.E.A.D.), and a member of the UGA Teaching Academy. He has a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Georgia. He began his faculty career at UGA in 1999 and prior to that was on the faculty at Wake Forest University and East Carolina University. During the past six years he has won nine teaching awards including recognition as Outstanding Faculty at UGA Honors Day, a Terry College Regent’s Professor Award Nominee, Outstanding MIS Faculty, a Student Government Outstanding Professor Award, Alpha Kappa Psi (professional business society) Outstanding Management Information Systems Teacher of the Year Award, and three UGA Career Center Student Development Awards. Dr. Huber recently completed a 21-year Air Force career that included the creation and command of a Combat Communications Squadron and the management and development of strategic information systems projects at the Pentagon. His research interests include group support systems and team and group development. His papers have been published in the International Journal of e-Collaboration, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and Communications of the Association for Information Systems. In addition to this textbook, he has co-authored a lab manual published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2006. Away from school, he and his wife Lisa enjoy hiking, kayaking, and bicycling.

Craig A. Piercy has been teaching large numbers of students in Introduction to Information Systems, Computer Programming, and Web Development classes at the University of Georgia since 2000. Previously, Dr. Piercy taught similar courses at Towson University. He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at Tennessee Tech, and he received his MBA and Ph.D. in Management Science from the University of Georgia. As an engineer and later as an academic, Dr. Piercy has long been interested in information technology and how it can be used to solve problems and improve our lives. In addition to this book, he was the co-author of Learning to Program with VB6, 2nd edition, and he has co-authored a lab manual published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2006. His primary area of research is in developing algorithms to support decision making. In particular, Dr. Piercy explores decision models which include multiple conflicting objectives. Dr. Piercy has recently been named as the Director for the Masters of Internet Technology program at the University of Georgia. When not teaching or writing, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Estelle, and his son, Nicolas.

Patrick G. McKeown is Professor Emeritus of Management Information Systems in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. Until his retirement in 2003, he was the founding head of that department. He was on the faculty at the University of Georgia for 27 years. Before that, he taught at the State University of New York at Albany for three years and was an adjunct faculty member at New York University. He has a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has published close to 50 articles in the areas of management science and information systems and has also written more than 30 textbooks in these areas. He is a Fellow of the Text and Academic Authors Association, only one of 15 such honorees out of an organization of over 1,000 textbook authors. In addition, in 2003, he was given the Lifetime Service Award by the UGA MIS Alumni Association and had a student scholarship created in his name by the UGA MIS Department. He is also a member of University of Georgia Teaching Academy. Dr. McKeown was a Fulbright Scholar in Portugal in 1998 at the Catholic University of Portugal and has taught internationally at universities in France, Finland, South Africa, and New Zealand. He is married to his wife of 39 years, Carolyn, the father of two grown children, and the grandfather of Keegan and Katie Jane. He splits his time between Fort Myers Beach, FL and Athens, GA.

James L. Norrie, B.Com (McMaster) - Accounting/Systems, M.Ed (Brock) - Adult Education & Organization Development and M.A.Sc. ( Waterloo), Ph.D. (RMIT, Australia), James is an Assistant Professor and the current Director of the School where he teaches in the areas of Introductory IT, Advanced Project Management, IT Strategy, Systems Design & Analysis, Managing Process & Performance Improvement and Business Ethics. James also undertakes applied research, speaks regularly at industry events and consults to numerous companies in these areas with a particular focus on aligning Business & IT strategy to eliminate business risk and improve organization performance.
Prior to joining the faculty, James was both an entrepreneur and successful executive with a 10+ year track record of creating, growing or managing high-tech and e-business ventures, most recently as President of an internet-based company. In addition to his Ryerson appointment, James serves either as an independent member or Chairman of either the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of several corporate and one charitable Board.