CS5204: Foundations in Management of Information Systems

 

CS5204 is an examination-based module that must be completed by all students who are pursuing an information systems (IS) PhD degree in the School of Computing.  All students who are admitted into the graduate program (GP) or PhD program in IS must attempt the examination no later than the end of the third semester of study at NUS.  In general, we encourage students to take the examination by the end of the second semester of study.

 

The purpose of CS5204 is to test students on essential knowledge in the management of information systems.  The students will be tested on classical MIS topics such as the contribution of IS to decision making, IS diffusion and implementation, IS strategy, and IS and business processes.  If a particular student wants to be tested on specific MIS knowledge outside this list (e.g., user psychology of IS, system development methodology, economic contributions of IS), he/she can propose a list of topics to the graduate division committee.  The request will then be reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis.

 

Scope and Format

 

The examination is 3-hour long, and open-book.  Students are allowed to bring any reading materials that they deem relevant for the examination.  The examination consists of four questions.  Each student needs to answer three out of the four questions of their choices, to the satisfaction of the examiners.  The special topics included in CS5204 vary semester-by-semester – these will be selected according to the current trends and state of development of the MIS field.  Topics that have been tested in the past include virtual team, knowledge management, negotiation support systems, and process reengineering.

 

Generally, a selected group of examiners will provide candidates with a set of relevant readings to tackle the specific questions / topics that they have set for the examination.  The set of readings vary across examinations in different semesters, meaning candidates will need to read different papers / book articles if they take the examination in different semesters.

 

Core Readings

 

The following reading is necessary for CS5204 regardless of which semester you take the examination.

 

 

In addition, supplementary readings related to the questions in a specific semester will be given to students by the graduate division at the beginning of the semester.  These supplementary readings should provide the necessary foundational knowledge for students to tackles the examination questions, but the questions WILL NOT directly come from the readings.

 

Preparation

 

CS5204 is a self-study module.  Generally, the assigned readings should be sufficient to prepare students for the examination.  However, if students want to further advance their knowledge in different Management of Information Systems topics, the following graduate-level modules are highly recommended:

 

 

Sample Questions