David E. Douglas

The Current State of Business Intelligence in Academia: The Arrival of Big Data

In December 2012, the AIS Special Interest Group on Decision Support, Knowledge and Data Management Systems (SIGDSS) and the Teradata University Network (TUN) cosponsored the Business Intelligence Congress 3 and conducted surveys to assess academia’s response to the growing market need for students with Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics (BA) skill sets. This panel report describes the key findings and best practices that were identified, with an emphasis on what has changed since the BI Congress efforts in 2009 and 2010. The article also serves as a “call to action” for universities regarding the need to respond to emerging market needs in BI/BA, including “Big Data.” The IS field continues to be well positioned to be the leader in creating the next generation BI/BA workforce. To do so, we believe that IS leaders need to continuously refine BI/BA curriculum to keep pace with the turbulent BI/BA marketplace.

End-user training and computing effectiveness in public agencies: An empirical study

This study reports on the effectiveness of end-user computing (euc) following an end-user training program in a public agency. An end-user training model based on research in euc, information centers, and end-user training, was used as part of the euc program. Over a two-year horizon, more than one hundred employees participated in the training program. As a result, approximately 90 application systems were developed with some 40 currently under development. Effectiveness measures resulting from an evaluation by end users and supervisors indicated that the training program and euc strategy were effective. A 24 percent increase in productivity, a savings of approximately 7.6 hours per week, and a high degree of satisfaction resulted from the euc program.

Equity perceptions as a deterrent to software piracy behavior

Software piracy is a problem for the software industry. An estimated world-wide piracy rate of 35%, representing approximately a

Multivariate regression metamodel: a DSS application in industry

31 billion dollar loss in 2004 was reported by the second annual Business Software Alliance (BSA) and International Data Corporation (IDC) piracy study. This high rate shows piracy to be a significant global problem. Both BSA and the Software and Information Industry Association consider the impact of piracy to be a critical issue and have established web links to allow anonymous reporting of software piracy. Deterrents have been welcomed by software producers and others. Equity theory offers a possible explanation of software piracy behavior but no models have been shown to link equity constructs as having a direct influence on software piracy. We investigated the use of equity theory (fairness) as a deterrent to software piracy. Our results identified equity components that significantly influenced equity in the context of software piracy and further indicated that equity significantly influenced software piracy.

Object-oriented curricula in academic programs

Abstract A materials handling system simulation (written using GPSS/H) was developed to predict the Automated Guided Vehicle requirements necessary for a major manufacturer to maintain desired levels of production in one of its automobile assembly plants. Rather than use the simulation as a representational DSS and risk complicating the user interface, validated simulation outputs were collected and used to produce a multivariate regression metamodel. This metamodel formed the centerpiece of a narrow-scope suggestion model DSS used on the factory floor to aid in day to day allocations of resources. This article looks at the metamodel development methodology and offers this technique as an effective means of producing a suggestion model DSS from a more complex representational DSS.

Effectiveness of E-Learning Course Materials for Learning Database Management Systems: An Experimental Investigation

Object-oriented (OO) technology has permeated the field of systems development. Programming languages, analysis and design techniques, database management systems, and CASE tools increasingly reflect the growing influence of OO methods in development. Although OO is not the “silver bullet” that eliminates poor quality, over-budget and late software development projects, many see OO as the best solution to address these software development problems [8]. OO use has increased steadily in the past few years, with more growth expected in the future. As OO use increases, so too will the demand for OO developers. Existing developers can help fill this need, although retraining for OO software development is estimated to take as long as 18 months [11]. Another answer to the OO personnel shortage problem may be found in computer science (CS) and information systems (IS) degree programs. CS and IS degree programs stand poised to help organizations make the transition to OO by providing graduating students with OO skills. But, are CS and IS degree programs meeting the challenge? In early 1995 questionnaires were sent to CS and IS departments in the U.S. and Canada. Responses were received from 172 CS departments and 101 IS departments. The sample represents both private and public schools, large and small colleges, and programs of all sizes. The majority of the respondents are from colleges with less than 2,000 students and programs with less than 200 majors. Of 172 CS respondents, 152 (88%) teach OO topics, as shown in Table 1. Seventeen of the 20 respondents not teaching OO planned to adopt OO curricula; only three CS respondents did not plan to adopt it. Seventy-two of the 101 IS departments (71%) teach OO. Of the 29 not teaching OO, 17 plan to, while 12 have no plans to do so. The two main explanations given by

Changing the Academic Integrity Climate on Campus Using a Technology-Based Intervention

Many colleges and universities world-wide utilize the Internet as a vehicle for E-learning. A course on database management systems (DBMS) is a foundational course that underpins many information systems (IS) degree programs and is pivotal in determining the success of its graduates. Thus, pedagogies that improve the learning for students in a DBMS course are important to not only the faculty and students but to their employers as well. This paper describes the results of a designed experiment to measure the effectiveness of two pedagogical approaches in an e-learning environment. The results are mixed but provide evidence that providing the texts multiple choice questions with answers via the Internet improves performance on the final examination not only on the multiple choice questions but also on the theory questions. These new results need further testing in different environments but provide an initial improvement worthy of consideration for those teaching a DBMS class.

Big Data Panel at SIGDSS Pre-ICIS Conference 2013: A Swiss-Army Knife? The Profile of a Data Scientist

This article focuses on the use of a technology-based intervention to change academic integrity (AI) knowledge and attitudes. Using a sample of more than 5,000 freshman students drawn from two major midwestern universities in the United States over a 3-year period, an online intervention was used to determine whether AI knowledge and attitudes could be changed. Based the results of this study, AI knowledge and attitudes can be improved using an online intervention. These results contribute to a better understanding of the AI climate on campus and suggest that technology-based interventions can be used to enhance knowledge and change attitudes toward AI on campus.

An Online Graduate Certificate Credential Program at the University of Arkansas

The purpose of the big data panel was to provide a forum for exchange of ideas on curricula content in the area of data science and big data. The panelists were from a broad range of academic institutions designed to provide different perspectives. Industry perspectives are vital as they will the ones employing the graduates of these programs. Thus, the panel included an industry expert from a company that is a leader in data science and big data. Although there was agreement on selected skills as being foundational, it was recognized that a curriculum would not provide all the skills a data scientist would need for many big data projects—thus the team approach to projects.

A network model using the micro simulation language SIMAN

Business Analytics and Big Data have become a very popular topics in recent years. Many universities are gearing up to meet the reported demand people with these skills. This paper shares background, principles, and processes in the development of an online Business Analytics Graduate Certificate Credential program consisting of four graduate courses (each three semester hours). Innovative use of technology is incorporated into all four of the courses to ensure consistency and quality content across courses. The four courses are (1) IT Toolkit – designed to level students (especially those students who do not have an adequate IT background), (2) Decision Support and Analytics – an introduction to statistical analytics with a focus on what the data is telling us, (3) Database Management Systems – a focus on sourcing, preparing, storing and retrieval for data and (4) Business Intelligence – a focus on the discovery of knowledge from data and model development using data mining including social media. Included are the efforts, activities, software, hardware, concepts, teaching philosophy, and desired outcomes for the graduate credential certificate program. The paper should be very valuable to all those teaching or planning to teach in the Business Analytics area.