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A View of the State of

Information Systems and e-Commerce Undergraduate

Education in Canada

Mihail Cocosila Alain Ross Houda Trabelsi

Athabasca University, Faculty of Business

AU Collaborative Research Forum

April 30, 2010

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Agenda

o Introductiono Research motivationo Research objectiveso Theoretical groundso Methodologyo Key findingso Discussiono Limitationso Future research

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Introduction

• In recent years Information Systems (IS) and e-Commerce education have been subject to a worldwide crisis in enrolment.

• A suggested response to the downturn has been to redesign programs, as IS and e-Commerce are comparatively young fields.

• Assessing the education in IS and e-Commerce should be done on a regular basis since they are dynamic and relatively immature.

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Research Motivation

• State of IS and e-Commerce education in various parts of the world has become an important topic of study.

• A 2007 special issue of the Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS) journal looked at the state of IS education in eight different countries.

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… Research Motivation

• Having a clear image on academic education offerings may significantly impact various stakeholders:o prospective or current students; o alumni; o job placement agencies; and, o public and private sponsoring agencies.

• A university’s educational offerings also affect:o capacity to attract new faculty;o collaboration and research work of existing faculty with

other scholars; and, o overall image of the institution.

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Research Objectives

• Scope: Get a baseline understanding of the IS and e-Commerce undergraduate programs and courses offered in universities across Canada.

• First part of a larger project.

• Research questions:o RQ1: Which universities in Canada are offering

undergraduate education in Information Systems and e-Commerce?

o RQ2: What are the elements of convergence and divergence in the Information Systems and e-Commerce undergraduate education curricula in universities across Canada?

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Theoretical Grounds

• A panel at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2007 identified two main themes for increasing enrolments:o marketing (i.e., increase the attractiveness and awareness);o curriculum (i.e., align programs and courses with industry’s

needs).

• Defining curriculum for IS and e-Commerce education is a challenging task because of the:o continuous evolution of information and communication

technology;o changes in the life of organizations; and,o immaturity of the IS and e-Commerce fields (lack of

consensus about their boundaries, even).

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… Theoretical Grounds

• Additional challenges:o a variety of driving forces or obstacles in various parts of

the world;o different environmental and situational factors; and,o diversity caused by wide geographical spread even within

the same country.

• Although the issues that real-life organizations are facing could be similar, academia’s attempts to answer them may not lead to analogous programs and courses.

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Methodology

• Develop a data collection template for documenting relevant courses and programs.

• Study web sites of all universities (either public or private not-for-profit) registered with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

• Identify business, administration, management or information science schools that are the most likely to offer IS or e-Commerce undergraduate education.

• Identify undergraduate degrees, certificates or courses offered on IS or e-Commerce topics.

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... Methodology

• Use IS 2002 Curriculum Presentation Areas and Courses as starting point.

Content Area Content

Prerequisite Courses ensuring students have sufficient knowledge of desktop applications such as word processing, spreadsheets and browsers

Information Systems Fundamentals

Overview courses of the IS field, introducing students to Information Systems and the information technologies which underlie these

Information Systems Theory and Practice

Courses which teach students about the underlying theories and concepts that motivate IS practice and connect IS to organizational strategy

Information Technology Courses which deal specifically with the technologies that support organizational Information Systems

Information Systems Development

Courses that deal with systems analysis and design

Information Systems Deployment and Management

Courses which teach students about how Information Systems are managed and integrated within the organization; courses in this area include those teaching project management

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Key Findings

46 of the 69 universities registered with the AUCC offered programs, certificates or courses in IS or e-Commerce (Spring 2009).

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…Key Findings

University School/FacultyProgram

Undergraduate with IS/e-Commerce

major

Bachelor of IT/IS/e-Commerce as a

joint under-graduate degree

Bachelor of IS/e-Commerce

Certificate/Diploma in IS/e-

Commerce

British Columbia

University of British Columbia

Sauder School of Business

X X

University of the Fraser Valley

Business Administration X

Simon Fraser University Faculty of Business Administration

X

Thompson Rivers University

School of Business and Economics

X

Alberta

University of Alberta School of Business X X

Athabasca University Faculty of Business X X X

University of Calgary Haskayne School of Business

X

IS and e-Commerce undergraduate programs offered by universities in Canada 

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…Key Findings

University School/FacultyProgram

Undergraduate with IS/e-Commerce

major

Bachelor of IT/IS/e-Commerce as a

joint under-graduate degree

Bachelor of IS/e-Commerce

Certificate/Diploma in IS/e-

Commerce

Ontario

Algoma University X X

Brock University Faculty of Business X

Carleton University Sprott School of Business X

Laurentian University School of Commerce and Administration

X X

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Faculty of Business and Information Technology

X X

Royal Military College of Canada

X

Ryerson University Ted Rogers School of Management

X

York University Schulich School of Business

X

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…Key FindingsUniversity School/Faculty

ProgramUndergraduate

with IS/e-Commerce major

Bachelor of IT/IS/e-Commerce as a joint under-graduate degree

Bachelor of IS/e-Commerce

Certificate/Diploma in

IS/e-Commerce

QuebecBishop's University The Williams School of

Business and Economics

X X

Concordia University John Molson School of Business

X

HEC Montreal Business School X X

Université Laval Faculty of Business Administration

X X

Université du Québec a Montreal

École des sciences de la gestion

X X X

Université du Québec a Chicoutimi

X X X

Université de Sherbrooke

Faculté d’Adminstration X X

Prince Edward IslandUniversity of Prince Edward Island

School of Business X

Nova ScotiaAcadia University Fred C. Manning School

of BusinessX X

Cape Breton University Shannon School of Business

X X X

St. Francis Xavier University

Schwartz School of Business

X X X

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…Key Findings

• Assessment of IS and e-Commerce courses fitting to the six major IS 2002 Curriculum Presentation Areas and Courses:• Prerequisite (9.7%);• Information Systems Fundamentals (17.0%);• Information Systems Theory and Practice (11.5%);• Information Technology (16.1%);• Information Systems Development (11.4%);• Information Systems Deployment and Management

Processes (11.5%); and,• Other (23%).

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Discussion

Answers to the research questions

• RQ1 (universities in Canada offering undergraduate education in Information Systems and e-Commerce)o 46 academic institutions from all provinces represented at

AUCC;• 26 universities offer undergraduate degrees and certificates;• 20 universities offer elements of IS and e-Commerce education

at the course level, within other undergraduate degrees of business, administration or management schools in general;

o did not identify independent schools of Information Systems/Sciences, fully separate from schools of management or business administration.

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…Discussion

Answers to the research questions

• RQ2 (elements of convergence and of divergence in the Information Systems and e-Commerce undergraduate education curricula across Canada) o Convergence - 77% of the assessed IS and e-Commerce

courses fell into one of the six major IS 2002 Curriculum Presentation Areas and Courses;

o Divergence - most frequent ‘other’ courses:• Strategy of e-Commerce;

• Accounting informatics;

• Legal issues in IS/e-Commerce;

• Enterprise systems; and,

• Selected topics.

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…Discussion

• Implications of this study:o provides awareness of IS and e-Commerce undergraduate

programs and courses in Canada;o allows objective comparisons between schools and

programs, without attempting to classify or to assess their quality;

o shows need for incorporating more e-Commerce topics into IS curricula due to evolution and diversification of e-Commerce;

o shows necessity of updating and extending the IS 2002 framework to answer the rapid changes in this type of education knowledge.

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Limitations

• Targets only business, administration, management or information systems/sciences schools.

• Some information may have been missed even within the schools or departments examined.

• Despite authors’ effort for objectivity, evaluation of courses as fitting to one category or another remains ultimately a subjective assessment process.

• Course categorizations are based on course catalogue descriptions and not course outlines.

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Future Research

• Extend the analysis to other, more technical, schools as possible outlets of IS and e-Commerce education.

• Improve and align the course curriculum categories with newer developments.

• Conduct a Canada-wide survey on the IS and e-Commerce undergraduate education offerings.

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Message to Remember

Due to the rapid changes in the communication and information technology, in the perceptions on its use

as well as in the general business context, we recommend repeating such studies periodically.

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Paper accepted at ASAC 2010

Thank you! Questions?

Mihail CocosilaAthabasca University, Faculty of Business

mihailc@athabascau.ca