Course Descriptions

Information Processing and Communication
COB 300, 657-2326

IPC 510 Managerial Communication 3 cr.  Provides a background for understanding the processes of communication behavior in the organizational context.  The primary objective is to think more complexly about the communication issues related to organizations.  Secondary objectives include improving verbal and written performance related to these concepts.

IPC 520 End-User Data Management 3 cr.  Allows students to develop expertise in software packages useful in managing, analyzing, and presenting information.  This is the first of a 2-course sequence.  Much of what is learned in this course will be useful in other courses, such as, Organizational Information Systems, Research Methods, Managerial Decision Making and the Research Practicum.

IPC 530 Managerial Decision Making 3 cr.  Focuses on the nature of decision making by the individual manager, the conditions/events around the actual point of commitment and the impact of any specific decision on personal as well as organizational success.

IPC 540 Research Methods 3 cr.  Prepares students in the program to perform meaningful business research, analyze research data effectively, and report the results of the research and analysis.

IPC 550 Organizational Information Systems 3 cr. Pre-requisite: IPC 520.  Allows the students to develop expertise in accessing and using information from three basic information systems.  Depending on the specific software used, much of the information from End-User Data Management may be applied in this course, e.g., SQL, Import/Export, Graphics and perhaps Report Writing.  This is a “hands-on” course in which students will be introduced to specific software in each area and then asked to form teams to do projects in an area of special interest.  Focus on how to capture, select, report, and utilize information to facilitate decision-making.

IPC 560 Empowerment in Productive Organizations 3 cr. Prerequisite: IPC 540.  Brings together critical information from diverse subject areas.  The focus is on ideas emerging (or re-emerging) which help to improve performance in organizations, and how they are applied in today’s forward-looking firms.  A portion of the course will be spent discussing the development of crucial concepts which led to today’s innovative practices.
IPC 570 Service Marketing 3 cr.  Focuses on practical techniques for defining and meeting the needs of each set of an organization’s external and internal customers.  Emphasizes the key drivers of service:  empowered employees; creating a culture of service; customer-focused information systems; incentives for customer service; and the leadership roles of senior, middle, and lower levels of management.

IPC 580 Information as a Strategic Resource 3 cr. Provides a comprehensive examination of the important contingencies that affect the impact of information technology investments on organizations as a whole.  Topics related to the inter-relationships among information technology, organizations, and economic activity are evaluated via a combination of readings, discussions, and case studies.

IPC 590 Internship V 1-6 cr. Prerequisites: Approved internship application and approved internship contract.  Provides experience in a responsible managerial position in business where student is able to integrate and apply theoretical concepts.

IPC 595 Field Experience 3 cr. Prerequisite: IPC 510, 520, 530, 540 and concurrent requisites of 550, 570, 580.  Provides students an opportunity to practice the skills developed in courses taken earlier in the program.  Students will complete a course project in which they will collect the information required to make judgments, formulate hypotheses, evaluate hypotheses generated by others or discover new and better ways of doing things.

IPC 591 Independent Study V 1-6 cr. Prerequisites: Approved Independent Study application and Independent Study contract filed with the Office of Graduate Studies.  Provides an opportunity for students of superior academic standing to explore material not covered by regular graduate courses in the Business disciplines.

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