SJU:Decision and System Sciences

Associate Professors: Gupta, Herschel (Chair), Klimberg, Malhotra, Rahmlow (Emeritus)

Objective | Decision & Systems Sciences Major |
Business Intelligence Minor | Major/Minor Courses |

The DECISION & SYSTEMS SCIENCES MAJOR goes beyond the traditional information systemsmajor by focusing on technology-related activities that enhance organizational transactions, sense making, and decision making. Graduates of this program can work in the information systems field or any other business discipline where strong technology and business intelligence skills are needed. Hence, the DSS major is designed to equip the 21 st century manager or analyst with the relevant skills to succeed in a technology-driven, data-intensive world. Majors acquire general business skills plus knowledge and experience in programming, systems analysis & design, process analysis, database management, decision support system s, query and reporting, online analytical processing ( OLAP ), data mining, statistical analysis, quantitative analysis, forecasting, project management, competitive intelligence, knowledge management, business intelligence, supply chain, CRM, and tele communications and enterprise security. Technology employed in the DSS curriculum includes Microsoft Office, Oracle, SAP, SPSS Clementine, and Visual Basic.

The BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE MINOR is designed to enhance the skill set of both Business and Arts & Sciences majors so that they are fundamentally better equipped to succeed in a data-intensive world. Organizations typically gather information in order to assess their operating environment , to conduct marketing research or customer relationship management, and to perform competitor analysis . Organizations accumulate business intelligence in order to gain sustainable competitive advantage , and regard such intelligence as a valuable core competence .

GER Common Courses (See Curricula): Six courses

GER University Distribution (See Curricula): Fourteen courses, including

Mathematics - one of the following two-course sequence:

Social/Behavioural Science:

GER Electives: Any three courses

Business Foundation: Ten courses, including

Decision and Systems Sciences Major Concentration: Seven courses

DSS 1011 Introduction to Information Systems 3 credits

This course provides the student with an introduction to information systems and information technology as it is applied in the 21 st century. Students will explore the fundamentals of information technology and gain a basic fluency in information technology tools, Microsoft Office tools and web usage. In addition, students will develop their fundamental business communication skills, oral and written presentation, and business analytic skills, summarizing and displaying data.

DSS 1013 Introduction to Information Systems: The Road to RIO 3 credits (old version)

This version of "Introduction to Information Systems" is intended for Honors students (See Honors Department Listing for HON -1713) and for interested Information Systems majors. This course explores the fundamentals of information technology from more than one viewpoint. We explore many of the historical, social, cultural and ethical issues connected with information technology as well as the core technology concepts. Students will gain basic fluency in the information technology tools and examine one of the issues above in depth.

DSS 1311 Business Statistics 3 credits

This course covers probability concepts as well as descriptive and inferential statistics. The emphasis is on practical skills for a business environment. Topics include probability distributions, estimation, one-sample and two-sample hypothesis testing, inferences about population variances, and chi-square test of independence. Students will also become familiar with spreadsheet applications related to statistics and with statistical software. Prerequisite: DSS 1011, MAT 1151-1161.

HON (DSS) 1723 Business Statistics – HONORS: Candles in the Dark-Illuminating Data 3 credits

This version of "Business Statistics" is intended for Honors students. This course is intended for students who wish to have an enriched experience in Business Statistics. The goal is for each student to develop a high level of competency in solving practical problems in the business world and to lay a firm quantitative foundation for future study. Topics include: descriptive statistics, probability, discrete and continuous random variables, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. Heavy emphasis is placed on casework and team projects. Content is covered on a “need to know” format. Prerequisites: DSS 1011, MAT 1151-1161 or MAT 1351-1361 Satisfies DSS 1311 for Business majors or minors

DSS 2011 Quantitative Methods for Business 3 credits

Every organization, must manage a variety of processes. In this course the student will development an understanding of how to evaluate a business process. Additionally, the art of modeling, the process of structuring and analyzing problems so as to develop a rational course of action, will be discussed. The course integrates advanced topics in business statistics--linear and multiple regression and forecasting, production and operations management--linear programming and simulation, and project management. Excel software is used for problem solving. Prerequisite: DSS 1311.

HON (DSS) 2723 Quantitative Methods for Business: Modeling Tools for Thinking 3 credits

This course is intended for students who wish to have an enriched experience in Quantitative Methods for Business. In this course the student will development an understanding of how to evaluate a business process. Additionally, the art of modeling, the process of structuring and analyzing problems so as to develop a rational course of action, will be discussed. The course integrates advanced topics in business statistics—two sample hypothesis testing, linear and multiple regression and forecasting, production and operations management--linear programming and simulation, and project management. Prerequisite: DSS 1311 or equivalent. Satisfies DSS 2011 for Business majors or minors .

DSS 2211 Programming 3 credits

This course will provide a hands-on introduction to Visual Basic language syntax and use, Rapid Application Development (RAD) using a Windows-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE), object-oriented and event-driven programming, and methods and guidelines to plan for and evaluate the usability of a software interface design. Prerequisite: DSS 1011. Note: Any non-trivial computer programming language course (e.g.: JAVA, C++, COBOL) may be taken in place of Visual Basic. The department will review any course substitute. Students do not need permission to substitute CSC 1401 for this course.

DSS 2311 Database Management 3 credits

The course provides an in-depth understanding of the database environment. Besides covering the important process of database design, this course comprehensively covers the important aspects of relational modeling including SQL and QBE. Students will be required to design and develop a database application using a modern fourth generation language system. Prerequisite: DSS 1011

DSS 2411 Systems Analysis and Design 3 credits

This course will introduce the student to structured project management concepts, techniques, and applications through exploration of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Lectures, in-class discussions, and real-life examples will be used to build a toolkit of project management, technology evaluation, and post-mortem critique skills. These skills will prove extremely valuable to students in a professional Systems Analyst role upon graduation. Prerequisite: DSS 1011.

DSS 2511 Communication Technologies & Enterprise Security 3 credits

This course examines the new realities of telecommunications, reflecting today’s most critical issues, trends, and technologies. In addition, since a wired world has major consequences for organizations, the course examines security concerns that require firms to develop strategies to protect data and its communication. Prerequisite: DSS 1011.

DSS 2711 Decision Support System Modeling 3 credits

We will build a basic understanding of supply chain issues and learn to model some of the problems encountered in supply chain management. This course will introduce methods for creating user-friendly applications and models in Excel by taking advantage of the powerful macro language for Microsoft Office, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The skills to analyze and present the results in a non-technical matter will be developed through a series of practical exercises. Prerequisites: DSS 2011 and 2311.

DSS 2721 Advanced Decision-Making Tools 3 credits

This course focuses on the application of decision-making tools used to develop relationships in large quantities of data for more than two-variables. Comprehension of when to use, how to apply, and how to evaluate each methodology will be developed. This course will additionally provide an introduction to data mining tools. Data Mining consists of several analytical tools, such as neural networks, decision trees, evolutionary programming, genetic algorithms, and decision trees, used to extract knowledge hidden in large volumes of data. An understanding of how these data mining tools function will be developed so as to provide insight into how to apply these tools. Statistical and data mining software will be used. Prerequisites: DSS 2011 and 2311.

DSS 2731 Integrated Case Project 3 credits

Business Intelligence is a process for professionally gathering, processing and disseminating decision-making information to business leaders. Business intelligence (BI) encompasses a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data to help enterprise users make better business decisions. This course is a project course in which student groups will take large sets of data and transform the data into business intelligence. Topics covered will include how to download data from large systems, learn about the design of large data bases; get a clearer view of what information is valuable to different users; learn how to drill down, perform a process analysis, develop a decision-making model, and present orally with written analysis of the strategic implications of their model. Corequisites: DSS 2711 and 2721.