4. Develop skills in working

with others as a member of

a team, and

5. Cultivate an interest in

learning more about BI.

Methods

A variety of methods will be

used to help students achieve

the learning objectives identified

above. Narrated lectures, the

textbook and course materials

are the sources of domain

knowledge. Case studies involv-

ing SAP products provide expe-

riential learning opportunities. A

team project allows develop-

ment and enhancement of team

skills. The project also helps

develop students into research-

ers. Online discussion boards

and course blogs create a learn-

ing community that promotes

both self-directed and collabora-

tive learning.

Prerequisite

BIS 601.

This course is a study of business

intelligence (BI) and how BI chal-

lenges can be addressed from the

use of SAP products. By turning

voluminous data into actionable

insight, BI greatly increases an

organization’s competitiveness.

Objectives

Students will master the vocabu-

lary of BI and become experienced

developers and users of SAP BI

products. In addition, students will

develop team skills and a capacity

for lifelong learning, two critica l

attributes of highly successful busi-

ness professionals. Specially, upon

completion of this course, the

student will be able to:

1. Articulate the architecture of

SAP Business Warehouse

(BW),

2. Construct components of a

BW instance,

3. Produce business intelligence

using SAP BI tools,

Course Description

Assessment: total 700 points

Syllabus

B IS 656 Business Intel l i gence

using SAP Software Dr. Mark Hwang

Professor, Information

Systems

Email:

mark.hwang@cmich.edu

http://mark-

hwang.strikingly .com

Phone: 989-774-5900

Office: Grawn 302B

Office hours: online

Highlights:

Active learning

activities 2

Teamwork tips 3

Research pointers 4

Schedule 6

Support info 7

Summer 2017

Required Text:

Palekar, A., Patel, B, and Shiral-kar, S. (2015). SAP BW 7.4 -

Practical Guide . SAP Press.

ISBN: 978-1-49321-191-3

2

Assignments with varying

weights will be g iven through-

out the semester. The tentative

assignments and their due dates

are noted in the course sched-

ule. These are individual assign-

ments. Read the entire assign-

ment before you start working

through it. The objective is to

learn the concepts involved

rather than the keystrokes

needed to complete the tasks.

Exams will include questions

related to these assignments to

test your understanding.

Team Project

You will complete a team project

to do an in-depth analysis of a

business intelligence problem . You

may use SAP BW Layers de-

scribed in chapter 2 as a starting

point. Some potential topics in-

clude report ing and analysis, plan-

ning, and advanced analyt-

ics. Project deliverables:

1) research proposa l, 2) research

paper, and 3) team presentation.

Exams

Two exams, one mid-term and

one final, will be given . Both ex-

ams will include objective and

short answer questions. Each ex-

am will cover a ll assigned readings

and class work through the class

before the exam. Selected sample

questions created by students (see

course blogs below) will be includ-

ed on the exams. A make-up exam

will be given only if a valid , docu-

mented excuse is prov ided.

not just say “I agree” or “that is

a good point”. A response

should be an insightful analysis, a

follow-up question, or construc-

tive suggestions. Keep think-

ing—how can I add something

useful? Maybe you’ve had an

experience or read something

simila r that you can share with

the class.

SAP Assignments

Participation ...

you have similar issues or if you

have a potential solution. You

may also use the discussion board

to network with your fellow

learners and explore issues relat-

ed to your career.

Course Blogs

To reflect on learning and conduct

self-assessment, students will post

weekly entries to course b logs.

They will describe the most im-

portant thing that they have

learned from the assigned read-

ings, the one question that re-

mains and one sample exam ques-

tion. Students are also required to

respond to others’ comments,

questions and sample exam ques-

tions to benefit from collaborative

learning. Selected sample exam

questions (with modifications) will

be included on actual exams. Your

initial post should be made by

Class partic ipation is an integral

component of this course. Being

an online class, participation will

take place in online discussion

boards and course blogs.

Discussion Boards

If you have any questions or

problems with the course,

please post them to the discus-

sion board. Please respond if

“It is the one who

does the work who

does the learning.”

(Doyle, 2008) Participation

Active Learning Activities

Thursday of each week so that

others have time to comment,

ask for c larif ication, and answer

questions, etc.

Course Blog Responses

Each week you are responsible

for responding to a minimum of

two postings of your fellow

classmates. We can all learn

from each other. However, try

3

Preparation – Were they

prepared when they

came to a meeting?

Contribution – Did they

contribute productively

to group discussion and

work?

Respect for others’ ideas

– Did they encourage

others to contribute

their ideas?

Flexibility – Were they

flexible when

disagreements occurred?

Grading will be conducted on a total point basis. The number of possible points will be used to arrive at

a percent score. Conversion from percent to letter grade is as follows:

Note: The total points needed to get any letter grade are NOT negotiable. There is no

extra credit to earn after grades are posted; nor are there round-ups to a better grade.

Rubrics

Course Blogs

Teamwork or collaborative learning is a critical skill. See

the tutorial link below to get started. Each team member

should be evaluated by the criteria using a peer

evaluation form as shown below.

Grading

Teamwork

See this tutorial

on teamwork!

>= 93% (651 points) A >= 77% (539 points) C+

>= 90% (630 points) A- >= 73% (511 points) C

>= 87% (609 points) B+ < 73% (511 points) E

>= 83% (581 points) B

>= 80% (560 points) B-

Group #: ____ Points Awarded:

1. Name: Ann 30

Comments:

2. Name: April 35

Comments:

3. Name: June 35

Comments:

Your Name: Total: 100

Category/points 0-1 points 2-4 points 5-6 points

1 main point/1 ques-

tion/1 sample exam

question

Demonstrates

little or no under-

standing of the

assigned content

Demonstrates a

basic understand-

ing and shows crit-

ical thinking relat-

ed to the assigned

content

Shows an excel-

lent understand-

ing and reflection

of knowledge

from the assigned

content

0 points 1-2 points 3-4 points

responses Does not respond

to others’ posts

Posts shallow con-

tributions to dis-

cussions (i.e.

agrees or disa-

grees); does not

enrich discussion

Demonstrates

thorough analysis

of others' posts;

contributes new

perspectives, sub-

stantive follow-up

questions or addi-

tional learning

resources

4

Rubrics

Research Proposal

To be a lifelong learner

means becoming a self-

directed researcher. For

the team project, you will

submit a research proposa l,

which will concisely

delineate the proposed

paper’s topic, organization,

and content . The rubric for

the research paper is

shown on the next page.

Grading

Research

CMU Main Library: nice place if

you can visit

Or take a virtual tour

Visit CMU library

website to start

your library

research

Below average Substantial

problems; items are

vague, irrele-

vant or inef-

fective

Meets expecta-tions

of the assign-ments but key

components

could be

stronger

Above average A few flaws

but meets general ex-

pectations

and presents solid

knowledge of issues with

good explana-

tions

Excellent Few or no

flaws; demon-strates keen

insights, ex-

planations,

analysis, etc.

Points

TITLE & Title Page are ap-

propriate

0-1

ORGANIZA-TION

A brief outline is

developed

and de-

scribed

0-2

REFERENCE LIST

> 10 schol-arly jour-

nal arti-

cles listed in APA

style

0-2

5

Grading

Below average Substantial problems; items are vague, irrele-vant or ineffec-tive

Meets expecta-tions of the assign-ments but key components could be stronger

Above average A few flaws but meets general expectations and presents solid knowledge of is-sues with good explanations

Excellent Few or no flaws; demonstrates keen insights, explanations, analysis, etc.

Points

TITLE & Title Page are ap-propriate

0-2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Main points of the re-port are briefly but clearly summarized

0-5

INTRODUCTION Paper topic and im-portance to the field is clearly stated Key terms defined; includes relevant back-ground information Thesis clearly states the paper’s purpose.

0-12

CURRENT PRACTICE Paper clearly states current state of prob-lems or issues. References are rele-vant to the problem and appropriately cit-ed. Discusses approaches that could address the issues. Main topic sentences are used to organize information.

0-14

ANALYSIS Information is clearly presented, with enough detail. References are rele-vant and appropriately cited. Pros and cons of each approach are explored thoroughly. Predictions for future follow logically from the information. Recommendations follow from information presented.

0-18

CONCLUSION Main ideas, predic-tions, and recommen-dations are summa-rized briefly and clear-ly.

0-5

APA style; appropriate cita-tion

0-7

SWE Standard Written English use

0-7

TOTAL POINTS

0-70

Rubrics (Research Paper)

6

Course Schedule

All assignments are to

be submitted via links

embedded in

Blackboard

Week Topic/Reading Assignment Assignment Due Due Date Points

1 An Introduction to Business Intelli-

gence (P1)

Project proposal/

reference list

5/07/2017 5

SA P Bus inessObjects Dash-

boards

A1 (Dashboard) 5/07/2017 40

Course blog 5/07/2017 10

2 SA P NetWeaver Business Ware-house Overview (P2)

A2 (Analyzer) 5/14/2017 45

BW Reporting and Analysis (P10) Course blog 5/14/2017 10

3 BEx Query Designer (P9) A3 (Query Designer) 5/21/2017 45

Course blog 5/21/2017 10

4 InfoObjects and Master Data (P3) A4 (InfoObjects) 5/28/2017 40

Course blog 5/28/2017 10

Mid-Term Mid-Term Exam 5/28/2017 100

5 DataStore Objects (P4) A5 (DSO) 6/04/2017 35

Course blog 6/04/2017 10

6 InfoCubes (P5) A6 (InfoCubes) 6/11/2017 35

Course blog 6/11/2017 10

7 Advanced Features (P15) A7 (Expert Analytics) 6/18/2017 35

Data Mining Course blog 6/18/2017 10

Project Presentation Project Presentation 6/18/2017 15

8 Data Analytics A8 (Analysis for Office)

A9 (Lumira)

6/25/2017 20

35

Project Report Project Report 6/25/2017 70

Final Exam Final Exam 6/25/2017 100

Course blog 6/25/2017 10

Total 700

P: Palekar et al. (2015); Intro to BI, SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, Data Mining and Data

Analytics are slides posted in Blackboard.

Use VMWare Viewer

to access all class

software

7

CBA priority helpdesk phone:

1-877-279-0011

This number will take you to the

front of the queue.

Helpdesk hours of Operation,

(Eastern Standard Time, adjusted

for daylight savings time .

M-R: 7 am - midnight

F: 7 am - 6 pm

Sat: 12 pm - 6 pm

Sun: 12 pm - midnight

1. Be a successful on line student. It takes great effort to be a successful online student. You have to be

self-motivated and self-disciplined to keep yourself on schedule with reading, assignments, projects,

etc. You do have to devote time from your busy family and work schedule to work on the course

so you won't fall behind. A rule of thumb is that a 3 credit hour class requires 6 hours of work per

week. I would recommend setting aside at least one hour per day for study. Start each week by

viewing lectures and reading the textbook. This way you will finish the initial studying by midweek,

and can make your first post ing to the discussion board and course blog. Use the remaining time to

work on SAP assignments, the team project, and make additional post ings.

2. Communication is a key. Communication channel is always open between me, you, and among our-

selves. It is very, very important that we keep connected and interact with ourselves. If you have any

questions, feel free to use email, discussion board, chat, or phone to contact me or class-

mates. Learning takes place in a community.

3. Netiquette: All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email

messages, threaded discussions and chats. Respect each other in discussion board and chat ses-

sions. Please write your name at the end of discussion postings and email messages so we know

who has contributed to the learning process.

4. CMU E-mail. It is very important that you access your Central Michigan University (cmich) e-mail

often. All the email messages sent from this class go to your cmich.edu account.

5. Responding to email. I will check my email daily and respond to course related questions within 24–

48 hours. If I f ind those questions relevant and important to others, I will post them on the An-

nouncement page.

6. Announcements. I highly recommend you to read Announcements every other day. All important

reminders, updates, quest ions and answers, etc. a re posted there because this is the first page when

you log into the class. If you happen to miss any days, please click tabs "View Last 7 days" or "View

Last 30 days" to get yourself caught up with what has been going on with the class.

7. Turning assignments in. All assignments should be turned in via the assignment hyperlink in each

weekly folder. Every submission must include a cover page; a sample is shown at the end of this

document. Each week's work must be completed by midnight Sunday Eastern Time. Late assign-

ments are reduced at a rate of 10% per day late, up to a maximum of two days late. No

credit will be given for assignments that are more than two days late.

8. Deadlines. Odd things happen in cyberspace—submissions get lost, servers disconnect temporarily ,

and logins fail. Do not wa it for the last minute to do your work. Allow time to meet deadlines. You

are responsible for getting the work submitted on time.

9. Feedback on your assignment submission. Please check feedback on the graded assignments in your

gradebook by clicking the hyperlinked score. If you have any difficulty finding comments, plea se read

instructions under the Tutorial link.

10. Check your grades. I will post your grades on discussion responses, assignments, etc. as soon as I

can. If you find any errors or missing scores in your gradebook, please feel free to email me.

11. Intellectual Dishonesty: Students will adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards. All

submitted assignments would consist of only the student’s own work. Seeking help from fellow stu-

dents is encouraged; however, never a sk others to do your work nor let others copy yours. If

cheating is suspected , everybody involved will receive a z ero for the assignment. Violators will be

prosecuted to the maximum extent allowed by the University policy.

12. CMU provides students with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational

programs, activities, or services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations to participate

in class activ ities or meet course requirements should contact the instructor as early as possib le.

Post SAP assignment

issues on Blackboard so

that others may be aware

or may be able to help. If

no resolution in 24 hours,

email the instructor.

I can also reset SAP

password. If you have

other technical (non-SAP)

issues, call the help desk

shown below when they

are open. If not; email

the instructor.

Course Policies

Support

CMU help desk

link is here

8

Sample Cover Page

Assignment name

Student name

Student number

MM/DD/YYYY

BIS 656 Business Intelligence using SAP Software