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BA Accounting (FT)
INF09108
Information Systems for Business and Accounting (ISBA) Coursework Assessment - Issued August 2010
Submission Date: 10th September 2010
Please submit your coursework to the SCOPE counter.
The maximum word length of this assignment is 2,500 words, excluding the list of references and any appendices. Details of the marking scheme are attached. Your final document must use the formal structure detailed in this document and you should look at academic papers in the library to get an idea of the approach and style required.
This is a formal piece of work and is worth 100% of the assessment for this 10 credit module. It is an individual assignment. Copying and collusion are serious offences and will be dealt with through the Academic Conduct Guidelines.
“Information systems are one of the major tools available to business managers for achieving operational excellence, developing new products and services, enhanced customer and supplier intimacy, exploiting digital markets and achieving competitive advantage”
You are required to select from the above quotation any ONE of the business objectives identified (e.g. achieving operational excellence) and undertaking independent research of theory (e.g. books, journal articles, internet) and practice (e.g. examples and case studies), you should select an organisation that has used information system to achieve that business objective. You should ensure that you analyse and discuss the following elements as part of your submission (see assessment sheet & marking guidelines also)
a. Describe the major factors in your example such as the organisation, its environment and the overall elements and characteristics & technology of the information system.
b. Using the various business models such as the work by Porter, analyse the strategic challenges and opportunities that the information system seeks to address. Ensure you discuss the application of at least two different business models.
c. Specific to the organisation and IS that you have selected, discuss ONE of the following
1 Specific security issues presented by the Information System.
2 Problems and challenges in the development of the Information System.
3 Enhancements to the decision making process achieved by the Information System.
You may use any materials that you can find apart from the core course text. Most suitable relevant materials are likely to be articles in scholarly journals, published case studies, and/or academic books. You must undertake your own research to find journal articles and cases. Additionally you may find useful many articles and books that analyse the growth of e-commerce/ e-business; enterprise information systems (EIS/ERP); supply chain management systems (SCM) customer relationship management systems (CRM) and the various issues and problems that have arisen. Do please note that all sources that you refer to must be formally acknowledged in the list of references as well as being referenced appropriately within the body of the essay – see below.
Caution – Please note the following important points
1. Material that is mostly copied from the core course text will not be viewed kindly and such submissions are most likely to result in a fail grade.
2. As this is the only assessment for this module it is important that the marker should be able to distinguish between your work and views and those of others. Consequently it is important that when you refer to the work of others that you reference it properly. Your submission will be closely scrutinised for plagiarism and collusion. Please refer to the plagiarism section on the last page of the student guide that was issued to you at the beginning of the lecture.
3. Any evidence of plagiarism or collusion will result in a fail grade and the matter referred to the Academic Conduct Office
Preparation of the essay.
You are urged to write as concisely as possible. Submissions should be in Arial font, 11pt, with 2.54cm margins (left & right), and on one side of the paper only – similar to this document. The essay should be stapled once in the top left hand corner; no other binding or coverings should be used. Make sure that you put the module details, your matriculation number, your name, your course, and the module tutors name on the front page of your submission. All pages should be numbered consecutively including the title page and should show the author’s matriculation number. The suggested submission structure is outlined below.
Introduction
This is where you introduce the topic to be discussed and state the main areas and examples that you will be addressing.
Main text:
The text should begin on a new page. This is where you should discuss the main points of the topic (it is advisable that you relate your work to the three parts of the coursework task set out above (i.e. parts a – c above)
Conclusion
This should also begin on a new page and should briefly summarise the main points arising from your evaluation and discussion of the topics, and provide some concluding observations.
References
The Harvard System of referencing should be used in the text, e.g. (Smith, 2003). All literature cited in the text should be arranged in alphabetical order at the end under the References heading. The following examples illustrate the style to be followed.
An article in a journal is referenced as follows
Keil, M., Tiwana, A. & Bush, A. (2002) Reconciling user and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Delphi study. Information Systems Journal, 12, 103-120.
A book is referenced as follows
Avison, D. & Fitzgerald, G. (2002) Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead.
A Chapter in a book is referenced as follows
essay Willcocks, L. & Fitzgerald, G. (1996) IT outsourcing and the changing shape of information systems function. In: Information Management: The Organisational Dimension, Earl, M.J. (ed.), pp. 270-294. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Illustrations and tables should be shown as follows
Tables and figures should use the Arial font (or Helvetica if you don't have Arial). They should be referred to in the text as Figures using Arabic numerals, e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2, etc. in order of appearance.
Appendices
Only put material in appendices that you actually refer to in the main part of the essay
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