Click on the link below to access our comprehensive database of European institutions that offer Information Technology related MA and MSc programmes taught in the English language:
Management/Information Systems/IT
Technology Management
MIS professionals find their expertise in demand in virtually every sphere of business and non-business activity. They might be charged with optimising a factory floor information system, developing a new information product, or evaluating an organisation’s overall strategic plan. They might undertake these sorts of activities for a financial services firm, non-profit/not-for-profit consultancy, government department, or distribution company. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the new world of MIS is its pervasiveness – the need for senior executives and others not in IT to understand the value of information technology. This is now true in virtually every field, not just high tech, financial services, and the like.
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Numerous substantial trends continue to drive this field, including:
• the push toward open-source and/or ready-made software
• increasing reliance on software the firm leases or borrows rather than owns
• the shift from separate systems for each function (accounting, distribution, etc) to enterprise systems (such as supply chain management systems)
• use of information systems to support and drive decisions throughout an organisation
• dramatically increased use of information technology by sectors (healthcare, manufacturing, government) traditionally considered tech laggards
• development of new information products and services
• concerns about data confidentiality
• continuing tension among general management, IT management, and user management
• increasing technical complexity
• utilisation of the Internet to expand business opportunities.
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Most courses are one year in length. Although some are offered entirely on-campus, others are offered partly or fully online. A more important difference, perhaps, is the extent to which they emphasise:
• technology
• management
• organisational change
• specific industries (such as financial services or healthcare).
In the past, programmes emphasised the technical side of this field and aimed to develop students’ skills in programming, systems analysis and design, database analysis and design, etc. Later on, programmes added a managerial overlay to this technical work. Modern programmes, however, generally combine the technical and managerial. Some go further, in recognition of the organisational and strategic impact of information technology. These programmes explicitly try to develop both a more high-level understanding of organisations’ strategic situation and needs and the students’ ability to communicate to non-technical managers about technological issues and their implications.
Calculus, statistics, and basic computer skills are often required. Some programmes require those without prior work experience to complete substantial extra coursework as part of their degree programme.
Many programmes also look for:
• an undergraduate degree in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics or, perhaps, management, depending upon the programme’s focus
• practical IT skills, whether something as simple as an ability to use the Microsoft Office Suite or as sophisticated as object-orientated programming experience
• those programmes that look for those equally interested in the business and the technology aspects of organisations may require an undergraduate degree in business or some postgraduate-level business coursework.
Information technology continues to affect how people and organisations interact, compete, co-ordinate, and so on – both internally and externally. The result of this continuing change is substantial and growing demand for people who:
• understand the relationship between people, organisational processes, and technology
• speak the languages of marketing and finance as well as that of electrical engineers
• understand the technology to be able to develop and communicate the plan for a firm’s information infrastructure.
At a junior level, you will be expected to define and then solve business problems. At a more senior level, you will be expected to understand how the different parts of a process or organisation fit together – in both business and technological terms.
Typical job titles
• Test designer
• Sales engineer
• Data analyst
• Project officer
• Project manager
• Web developer
• Account executive
• Innovation consultant
• Marketing manager (for technological products)
• Product development manager
• Risk analyst
• System analyst
• System architect
• Internet security consultant
• IT analyst
• Product implementation associate
• Technology analyst
• Software engineer
• Technical marketing engineer
• Business intelligence systems developer
• Quality assurance engineer
• Application engineer
• Knowledge management officer
• British Computer Society
• British Institute of Technology & E-Commerce
• Information Technology Association of America
• Software & Information Industry Association (US)
• Association of Information Technology Professionals (US)
Those who wish to get a high-level view of the subject have several good choices. A simple guide for CEOs to know how to talk to and manage their chief information officers – or is it the other way round? – is presented in Mark D Lutchen’s Managing IT as a Business: A Survival Guide for CEOs (John Wiley & Sons). It focuses on how to link IT and corporate strategies, as well as how to define technology needs and risks. A more in-depth overview of these issues is presented in Lynda M Applegate et al’s Corporate Information Strategy and Management (McGraw-Hill). Those needing a more in-depth view of the business issues, however, should consult Stephen Haag and Maeve Cummings’ Information Systems Essentials (McGraw-Hill), which covers a wide range of issues and technologies, with a notably hands-on approach.
The Economist magazine’s periodically revised Pocket Information Technology, Pocket Internet, and Pocket Telecommunications books provide useful overviews and glossaries of their respective fields.
Those needing to get their programming up to snuff can consult Y Daniel Liang, Introduction to Java Programming (Prentice Hall) or other similar titles.
This field is uniquely subject to obsolescence, so the above publications should not be favoured if something much more up-to-date is available.
E-commerce, accounting, and supply chain management have substantial overlaps with MIS. Consult the discussions of these subjects for more information.
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Click on the link below to access our comprehensive database of European institutions that offer Information Technology related MA and MSc programmes taught in the English language:
Management/Information Systems/IT
Technology Management
