Learning Goals and Objectives

The Department of Information Systems, Law and Operations is a multi-disciplinary department with that has learning goals and objectives for information systems/operations management and law perspectives:

Information Systems and Operations Management - Learning Goals and Objectives

Goal 1

Skills and competencies in information systems and operations management to contribute to an organization upon entry.

Goal 2

Command of the conceptual frameworks of information systems and operations management.

Goal 3

Knowledge of the processes of organizations and the key role that information systems play.

Goal 4

Capability and initiative to lead organizations through technological changes,

Goal 5

Discernment of, and responsible approaches to, ethical issues in technology use by society, organizations and individuals.

Law - Learning Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Students will demonstrate an informed understanding of the law and social responsibility relevant to managing an organization domestically and internationally.

• Objective 1.1: Students will be able to describe how the American legal system operates, including alternatives to litigation.
• Objective 1.2: Students will be able to describe how lawyers and judges engage in legal reasoning and to identify and evaluate a judge's argument.
• Objective 1.3: Students will be able to explain how the law responds to complex social issues, including employment discrimination, securities issues, and issues related to cyberspace.
• Objective 1.4: Students will be able to explain the corporate governance system, including the law related to agency.
• Objective 1.5: Students will be able to explain principles of private law (e.g., tort law and contract law) and public law (e.g., employment law, securities law).
• Objective 1.6: Students will be able to explain how ethical norms underlie judicial decisions.
• Objective 1.7: Students will be able to explain how those in control of the organization's assets, operations and management take into consideration the company's local and global impacts on society and the environment, often informed by the opinions of multiple affected stakeholders in their decision-making.

Goal 2: Students will apply higher-order critical and analytical thinking skills when responding to legal and/or ethical dilemmas.

• Objective 2.1: Students will be able to identify an author's argument, including the author's issue, conclusion, and reasons in support of the conclusion.
• Objective 2.2: Students will be able to systematically evaluate an argument, searching for ambiguous words, reasoning fallacies, faulty evidence, and significant information an author has omitted.
• Objective 2.3: Students will be able to identify the ethical norms or value priorities that underlie a particular argument.
• Objective 2.4: Students will be able to use integration skills to identify and explain relationships among concepts.

Goal 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to apply an informed understanding of the law and social responsibility to individual, organizational, and social issues.

• Objective 3.1: Students will able to identify appropriate applications of legal principles to solving social and managerial problems.
• Objective 3.2: Students will be able to articulate how legal and social responsibility principles can be used to explain social issues and inform public policy.
• Objective 3.3: Students will be able to explain how organizational decision makers create and maintain an ethical and socially responsible organizational governance system and culture.
• Objective 3.4: Students will be able to explain how and why corporate social responsibility extends beyond legal compliance and how business interacts with civil society organizations to establish acceptable levels of corporate responsibility.
• Objective 3.5: Students will be able to describe the fundamental concept or goal of sustainable development as it applies to commerce and conservation.

Goal 4: Students will be able to effectively communicate understanding and application of legal and ethical concepts in a variety of formats.

• Objective 4.1: Students will be able to demonstrate effective writing skills in a range of appropriate formats, including essays, legal briefs, case studies, papers, memoranda and other forms of composition.
• Objective 4.2: Students will recognize the use of different techniques for specific purposes and be able to demonstrate effective written communication for varied purposes of research, information, explanation, persuasion, defense of a position, and similar objectives.
• Objective 4.3: Students will be able to demonstrate effective oral communication skills in various formats in diverse settings.
• Objective 4.4: Students will be able to demonstrate familiarity with the use and meaning of the language of the law and concepts of legal and social responsibility in a business context.

Goal 5: Students will be able to weigh evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and recognize and understand the complexity of individual and societal diversity.

• Objective 5.1: Students will be able to recognize the necessity for ethical behavior in using legal means to achieve business objectives.
• Objective 5.2: Students will be able tolerate ambiguity and realize that legal explanations will often be complex and tentative.
• Objective 5.3: Students will be able to recognize and respect human diversity and understand that legal explanations may vary across populations and contexts.
• Objective 5.4: Students will understand how privilege and power may affect the law.
• Objective 5.5: Students will appreciate the student-citizens role in influencing the continuing evolution of the law.

Goal 6: Students will develop innovative thinking skills that enable them to use knowledge to bring about something new.

• Objective 6.1: Students will be able to describe how thinkers work creatively.
• Objective 6.2: Students will be able to use techniques to create new ideas, including problem evaluation reformulation and classic brainstorming.
• Objective 6.3: Students will recognize the evolutionary nature of law and social responsibility, appreciate the need for continuous self-education in the area, and learn skills to perpetuate and broaden their knowledge of the changing legal and social obligations of business.