User education for a computerized environment

Abstract

Business organizations control the information systems development process through three mechanisms - steering committees, project leaders and user representatives. These roles serve to guide an experiential approach to the education of MBA students. Computer technology has had a major effect on the way people work. It has changed the economics of paperwork, the nature of the data flow in organizations, and the relationships between people on the job. This impact is also recognized in College and University curricula. Elements of computer literacy are required in almost all schools of business. These courses usually require the student to learn a programming language such as Basic or Fortran. But knowledge of one programming language is not sufficient to prepare people for successful roles in an increasingly computerized environment. They need familiarity with these roles prior to entry to the organization. Organizations have evolved strategies for allocating and controlling the computer resource. Since universities intend to prepare students for this technical world, it is necessary to look at these processes. These organizational processes can serve to guide instructors in the classroom setting. In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the organizational setting. Then the various roles are described. Finally, we place it within the framework of a MIS course and discuss the parallels between a course and an organization.