2019-2020 / INFO0934-8

Information Technology Management

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Master in business engineering (120 ECTS)5 crédits 
 Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...)5 crédits 

Lecturer

Samedi Heng, Ashwin Ittoo

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

In this course, students will 

  • Be introduced to information systems and their use in managing organizations, particularly ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems
  • Acquire hands-on experience with a real-life, well-known ERP software package, namely SAP S/4 HANA, for managing core business processes
  • Acquire hands-on experience with Business Process modeling (BPMN 2.0), which are essential when designing or implementing information systems.
  • Acquire hands-on experience with Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and Database Management Systems. The Java programming language will be used for OOP and SQL standard for database management.
  • Be introduced to blockchains and their applications to cryptocurrencies. 
Topics include
 ERP systems: 
  • Information Silos/Legacy systems and the need for Enterprise Information Systems
  • Enterprise Information Systems and Organizational Structure
  • Types of Enterprise Information Systems (ERP, SCM, CRM)
  • ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems architecture and modules
  • ERP trends and evolution 
Business Processes: 
  • Business Process Modeling with BPMN 2.0 
  • Business Process Analysis
  • Business Process Redesign
Business Process Implementation in SAP S/4HANA
  • Overview of some key business processes: Materials Management, Sales and Distribution, Finance and Control
  • Mapping of business processes to ERP system architecture and modules
  • Work with some core modules of SAP S/4HANA: SD, MM, FI,... 
Database Management Systems (DBMS):  
  • Relational database management systems
  • Data normalization
  • SQL statements for data manipulation (including practical)
  • Rise of NoSQL and examples of NoSQL databases
Introduction to Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies:
  • Public key encryption, digital signatures
  • Cryptographic Hash Functions
  • Proof of work, Incentives
  • Ethereum
  • Bitcoin exchanges
  • Smartcontracts
Big Data Management & Infrastructure
  • Invited speaker from Industry 
IoT Management
  • Invited speaker from Industry 
Introduction to AI Technologies & Trends
  • Overview of Deep Neural Networks (RNN and CNN)
  • Image Recognition
Object Oriented Programming (OOP) in Java 8:
  • OOP paradigm (vs. other programming paradigm such as "functional" languages)
  • OOP and its relation to UML objects/classes and databases
  • Revision of basic programming constructs (loops, conditionals, variables and types)
  • Classes (and objects) in Java (constructors, methods)
  • Inheritance
  • Java API
  • Data Structures in Java (Lists, Maps) (if time permits)
Project: students will have to model, reengineer, and implement selected business processes, using SAP 4/S HANA, BPMN2.0, Java and MySQL.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

  • Recognize the fundamental role of information systems, in particular, ERP systems, in ensuring the proper running of organizations
  • Devise a strategy to optimize an organization's business processes with information systems
  • Able to analyse and model Business Process with BPMN 2.0 
  • Understand fundamental core Business Process implemented in SAP S/4HANA
  • Lead or actively participate in information systems implementations projects within organizations
  • Implement database-driven software applications to support/automate various business processes (or steps within) and to improve overall organizational performance
  • Use information systems to monitor and improve quality control and performance
  • Communicate effectively to various stakeholders (software vendors, developers and end-users)
  • Adapt to trends and evolutions in information systems, especially those brought about by Big Data and other technological phenomena such as the IoT
  • Communicate effectively to various stakeholders (software vendors, developers and end-users)

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Course candidates should have taken (and passed) information systems courses of their earlier years, in particular, INFO0076-1: Informatique pour ingénieurs de gestion

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Practical sessions/help sessions
  • Project

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

  • Lectures (resources: notes, articles will be on lol@)
  • Practical sessions and additional help sessions will be organized
  • Students are invited to join some MOOCs for a particular topic
  • Please note that attendance is compulsory for lectures and practical. Please contact the lecturer beforehand if you are unable to attend a lecture or practical

Recommended or required readings

Selected chapters from  

  • Enterprise Systems for Management, by Motiwalla and Thompson, Pearson 2012
  • Integrated Business Processes with ERP Systems, by Magal and Word, Wiley, 2012
  • Java: The Complete Reference, by Schildt, 2014
  • Fundamentals of Business Process Management, by Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J., Reijers, H., Springer 2018

Assessment methods and criteria

The course will follow a continuous assessment system. The final grade will be based on a series of assignments during the course and a final written examination. Details:  

  • Project on implementing a practical case of an information system (SAP S/4 HANA, BPMN 2.0, Java and SQL): 40%~50%
  • Written examination: 50%~60%
Note that the weights for the different components above are tentative and will be finalized in due course.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Ashwin Ittoo, ashwin.ittoo@uliege.be  Samedi Heng, samedi.heng@uliege.be Eddy Heins, eddy.heins@uliege.be Julie Jamar, julie.jamar@uliege.be

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session

Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning

Mr. Ittoo's part of the course coincided with the confinement period, starting on 18/3. All corresponding lectures, from that date onwards, were recorded as video lectures, and made available via the course website on Lol@.
A separate video with the examinable topic and revision was also made available.
Guest lectures were cancelled.
 
Mr. Heng's part of the course has been finished before the confinement. Q&A can be done via email and videocoference. 

Assessment subjects

For Mr. Ittoo's part, the topics to be covered for the examination are discussed in a video, made available on the course website on Lol@. This video also serves as a revision for Mr. Ittoo"s part.
For Mr. Heins' part, you will be given programming questions. You need to understand the various concepts introduced (e.g. loops, conditionals, objects and classes, structures/ArrayList), except JavaFX and Java-MySQL interfacing. You will not be writing programs on your computers (using Eclipse) but on your answer sheets (which will be online).

For Mr. Heng's part:


  • ERP/SAP: Open questions and technical questions on SAP are not concerned
  • BPMN: Open questions on BPMN, modeling a BPMN diagram from a description of a business process. Signavio is a recommended tool.

Assessment methods

  • Homework: MOOC on BPMN, Modeling a BPMN diagram, SAP S/4HANA (SD and MM): 10%
  • Project on Global Bike (Project data in SAP + Java and MySQL implementation + Report): 50%
  • Online (Remote) Written Exam (Open questions + Modeling a BPMN diagram): 40%

Contacts

Ashwin Ittoo ashwin.ittoo@uliege.be
Samedi Heng samedi.heng@uliege.be
Eddy Heins eddy.heins@uliege.be 
Julie Jamar julie.jamar@uliege.be
 

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session

Assessment subjects

Similar to the first session: theory(Ittoo's part), programming (Heins' part) and BPMN/SAP (Heng's part)


  • Students who have made homework and project, the distribution of the score is as follows: 10% for homework, 50% for project and 40 % for final exam.
  • Students who have not made homework and project: 100% for final exam.

Assessment methods

- Oral online exam via the Lifesize video-conferencing system.
- The corresponding Lifesize URL will be communicated on lol@, at least 1 week before the exam date, together with other examination details.
- Participants should ensure that they have a properly functioning laptop/PC with a camera and a good and reliable Internet connection.

Contacts

Ashwin Ittoo ashwin.ittoo@uliege.be
Samedi Heng samedi.heng@uliege.be
Eddy Heins eddy.heins@uliege.be 
Julie Jamar julie.jamar@uliege.be

Items online

Lecture Notes
Lecture Notes