This paper presents the results of a survey of AACSB schools of business regarding the extent to which international topics are included in information systems and technology courses. The survey found certain characteristics of the internationalization of such courses that can be used as guides for determining how international topics might be incorporated into an information systems curriculum

Nickerson, Robert

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Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)AMCIS 1999 Proceedings Americas Conference on Information Systems(AMCIS)December 1999International Content in Information Systems andTechnology Courses at AACSB Schools ofBusinessRobert NickersonSan Francisco State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis1999This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in AMCIS 1999 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationNickerson, Robert, "International Content in Information Systems and Technology Courses at AACSB Schools of Business" (1999).AMCIS 1999 Proceedings. 110.http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis1999/110313International Content in Information Systems and TechnologyCourses at AACSB Schools of BusinessRobert C. NickersonCollege of BusinessSan Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco, CA 94132rnick@sfsu.eduAbstractThis paper presents the results of a survey of AACSBschools of business regarding the extent to whichinternational topics are included in information systemsand technology courses.  The survey found certaincharacteristics of the internationalization of such coursesthat can be used as guides for determining howinternational topics might be incorporated into aninformation systems curriculum.IntroductionAs businesses increasingly compete in the globalmarketplace, information systems in internationalbusinesses become more important.  Such systems requirespecial consideration because of the economic, cultural,political, and legal differences among countries.  Theproblems associated with global information systems arenot only technical, but also organizational andenvironmental.  While business students today need to beeducated in traditional international business subjects suchas international marketing and finance, they also need tobe prepared in the international problems and issuesassociated with information systems and technology.Recognizing this need, a project to explore theinternationalization of the information systems curriculumin the College of Business at San Francisco StateUniversity was incorporated into a Business andInternational Education (BIE) grant from the Departmentof Education.  As part of this project, a survey wasconducted of AACSB schools of business to assess theextent to which international topics are included ininformation systems and information technology (IS/IT)courses at these schools.  This paper presents the resultsof that survey.Related WorkOnly limited previous work on internationalization ofIS/IT courses has been reported in the literature.  Carmeland DeLone (1997) describe the internationalization ofthe entire MIS curriculum at American University.  ElSawy and Kumar (1998) discuss their experiencesteaching IS management for global operations at theUniversity of Southern California.  Goslar and Deans(1994) present the results of surveys of IS faculty in U.S.and foreign universities regarding internationalization ofthe IS curriculum.  Deans and Loch (1998) compare theresults of the Goslar and Deans (1994) survey of U.S.universities with a follow-up survey of the sameuniversities.  Khosrowpour and Loch (1993) cover manyaspects of global IT education in chapters contributed byvarious authors.  One chapter by Palvia (1993) presentsthe results of a survey that assesses teaching and researchneeds in global information systems at MIS departments.Survey Design and AdministrationThe survey instrument was divided into five parts.(Because of space limitations, the survey instrument is notincluded in this paper.  A copy of it is available from theauthor.)  Part I of the survey examined the generalapproach used to present international topics in IS/ITcourses at respondent schools.  Part II was answered onlyby those respondent schools that do not coverinternational topics in IS/IT courses and explored thereasons for this situation.  Part III was answered by thoserespondent schools that cover international topics in IS/ITcourses and examined the courses and the internationaltopics included in those courses.  Parts IV and V of thesurvey provided background data on the respondentschools.The survey and a cover letter were sent to the deans ofall 335 AACSB accredited U.S. schools of business in theSpring of 1998.  Instructions in the cover letter requestedthat the dean pass the questionnaire on to the individualwho could best answer the questions.  Seventy (20.9%)completed questionnaires were returned and analyzed.The remainder of this paper summarizes the responsesreceived from the survey.  Because of space limitations,detailed tables with the results of the survey are notincluded in this paper.  An expanded version of this paperwith the tables and the survey instrument is available fromthe author.314 Characteristics of Respondent SchoolsAlmost all schools offer BA/BS (97.1%) and/or MBA(98.6%) degrees.  About one-third of the schools (34.8%)have a PhD/DBA program.  Most schools offer an IS/ITdegree program or concentration at the baccalaureate(94.3%) and/or masters (83.0%) level.  About one-third ofthe schools (32.1%) provide such a program at thedoctorate level.All but one of the schools indicated that their IS/ITdepartments were housed in the school of business.  Themean number of IS/IT faculty reported was 20.4.  Anaverage of 8.4 undergraduate and 6.4 graduate IS/ITcourses were offered by the respondent schools.IS/IT Course OfferingsA few schools (9.1% UG [undergraduate], 10.3% GR[graduate]) do not have IS/IT courses and some that havesuch courses (27.3% UG, 16.2% GR) do not coverinternational topics in the courses.  Approximately two-thirds of the schools (62.1% UG, 69.1% GR) coverinternational topics in IS/IT courses by integrating thesetopics into selected courses.  Some schools (9.1% UG,19.1% GR) offer separate global IS/IT courses, more so atthe graduate level than at the undergraduate level.(Percentages, which are of total number of respondents tothis question, do not total 100% because multiple answerswere allowed.)Of those schools that do not cover international topicsin IS/IT courses, the most common reason given for notdoing so was that the topics were not relevant (40.0%),followed by lack of resources (26.7%), lack of qualifiedfaculty (26.7%), and lack of faculty interest (26.7%).Only one school plans to offer in the future a separateIS/IT course covering international topics.  That course isplanned for the graduate level.  Six schools plan tointegrate international topics into existing IS/IT courses inthe future, with the courses split evenly betweenundergraduate and graduate levels.International Coverage in IS/IT CoursesRespondents at schools that cover international topicsin IS/IT courses were asked to rate the importance ofdoing so.  81.3% of the respondents to this question feltthat covering international topics in IS/IT courses at theundergraduate level was somewhat or very important.96.0% felt this way for IS/IT courses at the graduate level.Consistent with these percentages, the mean response atthe undergraduate level (3.979 on a scale from 1 [veryunimportant] to 5 [very important]) was less than themean response at the graduate level (4.540), and thestandard deviation was higher (0.910 UG, 0.788 GR).At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, therespondents at schools that cover international topics inIS/IT courses somewhat or strongly preferred thatinternational topics be integrated into selected IS/ITcourses (77.3% UG, 65.3% GR).  Somewhat or strongpreference for covering international topics in separateIS/IT courses was higher at the graduate level than at theundergraduate level (16.0% UG, 22.4% GR).International Topics in IS/IT CoursesRespondents at schools that cover international topicsin IS/IT courses were asked to rate the importance, on a 1to 5 scale, of covering each of sixteen international topicsin IS/IT courses for undergraduate and graduate businessstudents and in IS/IT courses for undergraduate andgraduate IS students.  Use of the Internet for globalapplications was rated first or second in importance for allcourses.  International business concepts, informationtechnology for GIS (global information systems),telecommunications technology and issues for GIS, andglobal alignment of business and IS strategy were alsorated highly for all courses.  Managing GIS was ratedhighly in the courses for IS students but less so in thecourses for business students.  Global applications infunctional areas was rated highly in courses for businessstudents but less so in courses for IS students.All topics received higher mean responses for graduateIS students than for all other types of students.  All butone topic received higher mean responses for graduatebusiness students than for undergraduate businessstudents.  All topics received higher mean responses forundergraduate IS students than for undergraduate businessstudents.Respondents were asked to list up to four IS/ITcourses at their schools that included international topicsand to check the topics covered in the courses from thesame list of sixteen topics discussed previously.  Thesecourses were analyzed to identify four general types ofcourses:• Course A:  An IS/IT course at the undergraduatelevel that integrates international topics with otherIS/IT topics.• Course B:  A separate global information systemscourse at the undergraduate level.• Course C:  An IS/IT course at the graduate levelthat integrates international topics with otherIS/IT topics.• Course D:  A separate global information systemscourse at the graduate level.Courses that did not fall into one of these types were notanalyzed.315Consistent with respondents’ preferences, courses thatintegrate international topics with other IS/IT topics(Courses A and C) were the most common (40.0% A,45.7% C); separate global information systems courses(Courses B and D) were offered at fewer schools (7.1% B,17.1% D).  (Percentages are of all survey respondents.)Courses of all types use lecture and case approaches,although the case approach is least common in Course A.Of those schools offering Course A or C, about three-fourths (78.6% A, 71.9% C) require the respective courseof business students.  Of those schools offering Course Aabout eighty percent (82.1%) require it of IS students; ofthose schools offering Course C about half (53.1%)require it of IS students.  Of those schools offering CourseB or D, few require either course.  Course B was notrequired of business students in any school and of ISstudents in one school.  Course D was required ofbusiness students in one school and of IS students in twoschools.The topics covered in each course were analyzed.  Useof the Internet for global applications, internationalbusiness concepts, telecommunications technology andissues for GIS, information technology for GIS, globalalignment of business and IS strategy, and GISorganization are covered in at least half of all four coursesat the respondent schools.  These topics are the same asthe respondents’ preferred topics, with the addition of GISorganization.DiscussionThe survey responses provide indications of the extentof and approach to internationalization of IS/IT courses atAACSB schools of business.  The majority of schoolscover international topics in IS/IT courses and do so byintegrating the topics into selected courses.  The schoolsthat do not cover international topics in IS/IT courses doso primarily because they feel the topics are not relevant.The majority of the respondents at schools that coverinternational topics in IS/IT courses felt that doing so atboth the undergraduate and graduate levels was important.Also, the majority prefer that international topics beintegrated into selected IS/IT courses at both theundergraduate and graduate levels.Use of the Internet for global applications,international business concepts, information technologyfor GIS, telecommunications technology and issues forGIS, and global alignment of business and IS strategywere the most preferred topics in IS/IT courses amongthose offering IS/IT courses that cover internationaltopics.  Topics commonly covered in actual IS/IT coursesinclude these topics plus the topic of GIS organization.ConclusionThe survey results reported in this paper provideinformation to assist in the internationalization of IS/ITcourses at colleges and universities.  The survey foundcertain characteristics of the internationalization of suchcourses that can be used as guides for determining howinternational topics can be incorporated into aninformation systems curriculum.  The details of suchincorporation must, of course, be left to the facultyinvolved with the curriculum design at each institution.ReferencesCarmel, E., and DeLone, W.  “‘Internationalizing’ theentire MIS major:  The Management of GlobalInformation Technology (MoGIT) major at AmericanUniversity,” Proceedings of the Inaugural Conference ofInformatics in Multinational Enterprises, WashingtonDC, October 1997.Deans, P. D., and Loch, K. D.  “A LongitudinalAssessment of Trends Toward Internationalization of theInformation Systems Curriculum,” Journal of Educationfor MIS (5, 1), 1998.El Sawy, O. A., and Kumar, K. R.  “Making the WorldYour Oyster:  Experiences from Teaching InformationSystems Management for Global Operations,” Journal ofGlobal Information Technology Management (1, 1),1998, pp. 27-44.Goslar, M. D., and Deans, P. C.  “A Comparative Study ofInformation System Curriculum in U.S. and ForeignUniversities.”  Data Base (25, 1), February 1994, pp. 7-20.Khosrowpour, M., and Loch, K. D. (eds.).  GlobalInformation Technology Education:  Issues and Trends,Idea Group Publishing, Harrisburg, PA, 1993.Palvia, P.  “Assessment of Global IT Education in theUnited States,” in Global Information TechnologyEducation:  Issues and Trends, Khosrowpour, M., andLoch, K. D. (eds.)., Idea Group Publishing, Harrisburg,PA, 1993.

International Content in Information Systems and Technology Courses at AACSB Schools of Business

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International Content in Information Systems and Technology Courses at AACSB Schools of Business

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