Tag: Management Information Systems

Buche wins Props for Profs

Mari Buche was selected as this week's winner of Props for Profs.

The Props for Profs program through the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning asks students to nominate an instructor who has gone over and above the typical in their teaching or mentoring duties for students. This is the third teaching recognition that Buche has received (this semester alone) after being nominated for the 2014 Greek Life Outstanding Faculty Award and winning the Teacher of the Year Award in the School of Business and Economics earlier this semester.

Props for Profs winner Mari Buche is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems in the School of Business and Economics. Buche was nominated by two students, both of whom commented on her willingness to listen and her concern for her students. The nominators called her a “kind soul” who is both “passionate and knowledgeable about everything she teaches.” Her willingness to listen to students and consider their perspectives, the fact that she occasionally “brings cookies and other treats” and her ability to make learning fun were also emphasized.

Both Buche and her nominators will receive a $5 gift certificate to purchase a snack or drink at the Library Café or several other locations on campus.

If you know a prof who has gone over and above, send some props today and maybe you’ll be next week’s winner.

Mari Buche voted 2014 Teacher of the Year

SBE Undergrads voted Mari Buche 2014 Teacher of the Year.

Each year the student body within the School of Business and Economics elects one faculty member as Teacher of the Year. Mari Buche has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the coveted award.  When asked what this award means, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems said, “I am deeply humbled by this award. It is terrific to know that the students appreciate my dedication and commitment to teaching and learning. This recognition is validation that the time I invest in my courses is well spent!”

During her time at Michigan Tech, Buche has proven to be a great asset to the School of Business and Economics.  This is the third teaching award that she has received since joining the faculty at Michigan Tech in Fall 2003. “It never gets old” Buche said playfully before adding “each award is sincerely appreciated.” It is obvious that Buche enjoys sharing her passion for continuous learning, especially in the areas of technology and innovation.

Spearheaded by Buche, the Management Information Systems faculty have purposefully integrated experiential learning projects into the curriculum to ensure that graduates have a taste of the entire “soup to nuts” process of IT project development. Recruiters are routinely impressed by graduates of Michigan Tech, citing their ability to add value to projects from Day One! It’s all about the skills and talent our students bring to the workplace from their time working on real world systems projects as undergraduates.

The School of Business and Economics continues to innovate- through our curriculum and industry partnerships, we align our degree programs with the ever-changing business environment. “In particular, I try to be a role model for women considering STEM fields. MIS combines the fascination of computing and information systems with business acumen and interpersonal communication,” Buche said. The powerful combination of technical and soft skills cannot be overstated.

Michigan Tech has recently announced the roll out of new graduate programs including a Masters in Accountancy and a Master of Data Sciences. These degree programs will create additional opportunities for our students while making them highly marketable and cutting edge. Successful graduates will realize lucrative careers, and many will achieve their dream jobs.  The School of Business and Economics perpetually strives for excellence and superior quality, ensuring both rigor and relevance as we incorporate new technologies enriching academia.

Thanks Mari for all you do for our School of Business and Economics and your students!

Business Intelligence Students Partner with Revenue Management Solutions

Students in Michigan Tech’s Business Intelligence class (MIS3400) spent less time hitting the books this semester and more time focused on an innovative, real-world project that was the result of an industry partnership with Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) headquartered in Tampa, Florida. In this upper-level class, the skills learned in previous courses were put to the test as five teams of students were provided access to a warehouse of test data from a simulated Michigan client. The assignment was to create meaningful business information from the mountain of data, and to formulate strategic recommendations for the coming fiscal year. And, creativity was a required element.

Before the project began, students chose critical roles within their teams – e.g. Consultant, Analyst, and/or Developer. During the final class session of the semester, the teams presented their prototypes and recommendations in person to the client liaison/RMS representative. Following the team presentations Ashley Johnson encouraged the students to seek out internships if they enjoyed the work performed in the class. She also commended the groups for communicating openly with her as a client throughout this scenario.

“You have done great work here,” said Ashley. “As you move forward in your careers, remember to add this to your resume, that you have created a data warehouse and are comfortable analyzing big data sets. This is exactly the type of work I would expect to see in my office,” said Ashley Johnson, Data Analytics Manager with RMS.

The student teams were told to approach the project as if the transactional data were collected from an actual client’s business enterprise. The two years’ worth of data were used to analyze performance in relation to the competition, item profitability, top product-drivers, etc. The expectation was that students learn database software skills including data extract/transform/load (ETL) using the SQL Server suite of applications, as well as Microsoft Visual Studio, Excel,  Access, and other Windows 7 software for completing the final proposal. This activity provided experiential learning that mirrors the work performed by IS/IT professionals in industry today. Lessons learned will be incorporated in the next course offering as we strive for continuous improvement of our innovative MIS curriculum.

Anne Herron Visits MIS Students

Associate Professor Mari Buche and Anne Herron collaborate to benefit MIS students.

The School of Business and Economics got a visit from Anne Herron this week, who came to campus to speak with Associate Professor Mari Buche’s Business Intelligence class.  Having graduated from Michigan State with a B.S. in Chemistry, Anne started her professional career working for DOW Chemical as an analytical chemist in polymer sciences.  After leaving DOW, Anne has remained at Allis Information Management, Inc. (AIM) for fifteen years and has climbed the ladder to the role of Vice President and co-owner of the company.  Her responsibilities include work in client/project development, and managing a team of information researchers and analysts.    

Anne said that her background in chemistry developed her analytical thinking skills, which translated well into the business world.  She was able to offer the perspective of someone working in the industry, coveted by students interested in ways to apply what they learn in their classes.  Under the umbrella of business intelligence, Anne discussed competitive intelligence and how crucial it is to offering companies competitive advantages.  She discussed her company’s focus on guidance for good business practices to optimize opportunity and minimize threats; noting that external and internal information is assessed through research, analysis, and dissemination of information affects everything in the marketplace.  This emphasis on competitive intelligence for companies is something that is leading to an increase in career opportunities for students with degrees in the area of management information systems and related fields.

Management Information Systems students are employed in some of the following professions upon graduation: business data analyst ($55,626), business intelligence specialist ($108,937), and application systems architect ($97,000).  The salaries for the aforementioned jobs are the median national salaries for each position according to salary.com.

After Anne’s lecture, Mari Buche said, “Having a representative from a successful intelligence company come in and talk to our students about career opportunities and industry expectations is a great supplement to coursework for our students.”    AIM boasts a 98% client re-engagement rate which is evidence of their superior performance and customer satisfaction.  Guest lecturers such as Anne Herron offer Tech students a great opportunity to pick the brains of successful people working in their desired field. 

The School of Business and Economics got a visit from Anne Herron this week, who came to campus to speak with Associate Professor Mari Buche’s Business Intelligence class.  Having graduated from Michigan State with a B.S. in Chemistry, Anne started her professional career working for DOW Chemical as an analytical chemist in polymer sciences.  After leaving DOW, Anne has remained at Allis Information Management, Inc. (AIM) for fifteen years and has climbed the ladder to the role of Vice President and co-owner of the company.  Her responsibilities include work in client/project development, and managing a team of information researchers and analysts.    

Anne said that her background in chemistry developed her analytical thinking skills, which translated well into the business world.  She was able to offer the perspective of someone working in the industry, coveted by students interested in ways to apply what they learn in their classes.  Under the umbrella of business intelligence, Anne discussed competitive intelligence and how crucial it is to offering companies competitive advantages.  She discussed her company’s focus on guidance for good business practices to optimize opportunity and minimize threats; noting that external and internal information is assessed through research, analysis, and dissemination of information affects everything in the marketplace.  This emphasis on competitive intelligence for companies is something that is leading to an increase in career opportunities for students with degrees in the area of management information systems and related fields.

Management Information Systems students are employed in some of the following professions upon graduation: business data analyst ($55,626), business intelligence specialist ($108,937), and application systems architect ($97,000).  The salaries for the aforementioned jobs are the median national salaries for each position according to salary.com.

After Anne’s lecture, Mari Buche said, “Having a representative from a successful intelligence company come in and talk to our students about career opportunities and industry expectations is a great supplement to coursework for our students.”    AIM boasts a 98% client re-engagement rate which is evidence of their superior performance and customer satisfaction.  Guest lecturers such as Anne Herron offer Tech students a great opportunity to pick the brains of successful people working in their desired field.

Management Information Systems Class Partners with RMS

Business Intelligence students to work with Revenue Management Solutions on a Project to gain real world experience in MIS.

MIS 3400 Business Intelligence is giving students what all undergraduates look for, practical experience in the classroom that can be translated into the real world.  For the first time, students taking this course will have the opportunity to partner with Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) to work on a project proposal and a mock client contract that resembles work being done currently by international consulting firms.  This opportunity has been made available by utilizing Associate Professor of Management Information Systems (MIS), Mari Buche’s, excellent networking skills.  She reached out to Ashley Johnson, a 2008 MIS and Marketing alumna and RMS employee, and the idea for the partnership was born.

Johnson noted that even in the three years since she graduated from Tech, there have been updates to the curriculum to meet industry needs.  This course is particularly advanced because it gets practical experience into the classroom to students from a variety of disciplines.  The students were given a project proposal that is supportive of the Business Intelligence curriculum, and they will compete in five or six teams of three to four students.  All of the groups will be working on the same client contract.  They will each need to present a deliverable, in the form of either a Microsoft Excel decision support tool or web portal, while functioning under a team structure with positions including: consultant, analyst, and developer. A combination of technical and business skills will be required to produce the desired outcome.

Through this partnership, RMS will provide SBE students with a dedicated server, demonstrations of BI applications, and access to project specific sales data for student manipulation. In return, RMS is looking for an innovative data warehouse design that can meet the Tampa-based company’s increased demand for decision support services based on transaction level data.  For this project MIS 3400 students will be required to develop and document implementation of a new data system that fuels business decisions for any retail or restaurant company.  By the end of the semester, each group will have achieved the following objectives:

  • Data Assessment Document
  • Data Dictionary
  • Entity-Relationship Model
  • Dimensional Model
  • Extract-Transform- Load Process Document
  • System Prototype
  • System Proposal Document

This project is still in the early stages, with the students only just being introduced to the project and made aware of the client expectations at the RMS Project Kick-Off event this week; however, Johnson and RMS are excited about the opportunity to work with Buche and Michigan Tech students who are creative and innovative.  I’m sure the feeling is mutual.