This is an archived copy of the 2014-16 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management

The information in parentheses after a course number is the Texas Common Course Numbering (TCCN) designation. Only TCCN designations that are exact semester-hour equivalents of University courses are listed here. Additional TCCN information is given in Appendix A .

Management Information Systems: MIS

Lower-Division Courses

MIS 301. Introduction to Information Technology Management.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Explores how information technology helps to achieve competitive advantage and improve decision making, business processes, operations, and organizational design. Uses a cross-functional perspective to recognize the role of technology across business activities of management, finance, marketing, human resources, and operations. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Management Information Systems 301 and 301H may not both be counted.

MIS 301H. Introduction to Information Technology Management: Honors.

Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program. Explores how information technology helps to achieve competitive advantage and improve decision making, business processes, operations, and organizational design. Uses a cross-functional perspective to recognize the role of technology across business activities of management, finance, marketing, human resources, and operations. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Management Information Systems 301 and 301H may not both be counted.

MIS 302F. Introduction to Information Technology Management.

Restricted to nonbusiness students. Explores how information technology helps to achieve competitive advantage and improve decision making, business processes, operations, and organizational design. Uses a cross-functional perspective to recognize the role of technology across business activities of management, finance, marketing, human resources, and operations. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May not be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Management Information Systems 302F and 311F may not both be counted.

MIS 304. Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Programming skills for creating easy-to-maintain systems for business applications. Object-oriented and structured methodologies with Visual Basic. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.

MIS 310 (TCCN: BCIS 1305). Introduction to Management Information Systems.

Basic computer terminology, hardware and software, communications technology, graphics, systems analysis and design, and issues arising out of the rapidly evolving field of information systems. Students are expected to achieve a working knowledge of personal computer software, including operating system software and environments, as well as spreadsheets, analytical graphics, databases, and presentation software. Hands-on experience with the Internet and use of electronic mail. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.

Upper-Division Courses

MIS 325. Database Management.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Beginning and intermediate topics in data modeling for relational database management systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.

MIS 333K. Web Application Development.

Restricted to students in a business major. Concepts and practices of information systems. Advanced programming techniques used to generate menu-driven applications. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 304 and 325.

MIS 140S, 240S, 340S, 440S, 540S, 640S, 740S, 840S, 940S. Topics in Management Information Systems.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office or the school's BBA Exchange Programs. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

MIS 353. Internship in Management Information Systems.

Restricted to students in a business major. Focuses on students' career goals through academic discussion and evaluations, while placing students in professional internships with public and private enterprises. Internship and discussion hours to be arranged. Only one of the following may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration: Accounting 353J, Business Administration 353, 353H, Finance 353, Management 353, Management Information Systems 353, Marketing 353, Operations Management 353. May not count toward the student's major requirement. Offered on the pass/fail basis only. Prerequisite: Completion of forty-five semester hours of college coursework and consent of the departmental internship coordinator.

MIS 366P. Management Information Systems Practicum.

Restricted to students in a business major. Students apply skills in their major area and focus on additional project management skills through group projects conducted in a professional setting. Students may work with a private or a public enterprise. The equivalent of three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Forty-five semester hours of college coursework and consent of instructor.

MIS 373. Topics in Management Information Systems.

Restricted to students in a business major. Provides in-depth treatment of business data processing concerns such as database management, telecommunications, and development of commercial systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Varies with the topic.

Topic 6: Advanced Application of Software Development. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 333K and consent of instructor.
Topic 8: Advanced Data Communication Systems. Development issues for intranet- and internet-based systems. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 365.
Topic 9: Health Care Management. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 325.
Topic 12: Technical Consulting. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 304 and consent of instructor.
Topic 13: Information Technology for Supply Chains. Same as Operations Management 337 (Topic 4). Provides an understanding of how information technology is used to coordinate supply chain activities across different industries. Students work in teams and undertake hands-on exercises to learn how to plan and coordinate operations. Management Information Systems 373 (Topic 13) and Operations Management 337 (Topic 4) may not both be counted. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301 with a grade of at least C-.
Topic 14: Web Systems Development. Concepts underlying Web development tools, page and site design, and building Web-based business sites. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 304 and 325.
Topic 15: Systems Analysis for E-Business. Applications of technology for creating e-business systems and process redesign. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 325.
Topic 16: Information Technology Security, Privacy, and Survivability. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: For business majors, Management Information Systems 333K or the equivalent; for others, consent of instructor.
Topic 17: Data Mining for Business Intelligence. Introduces the data mining process and primary data mining techniques employed to extract intelligence from data and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of data mining techniques applied to challenges in various business domains. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Statistics 309 or 309H.
Topic 18: Business Process Excellence. Provides in-depth coverage of business process change and management with information technology (IT) in today's organizations. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 19: Enterprise Computing. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 333K.
Topic 20: Managing the Future. Addresses the management of uncertainty. Introduces managerial concepts and methods for structuring decisions about the uncertainties in the future of industries, products, markets, and technologies. Includes scenario analysis, technology roadmaps, and dynamic innovation models. Students work in teams and undertake hands-on exercises aimed at developing a set of alternative futures for industries and technologies. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Topic 21: Open Innovation.
Topic 22: IT Audit and Security. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 23: Social Media Analytics. Introduction to social network analysis for business value using statistical optimization and decision theory; and foundation for analyzing online search and conversation data for market sensing, sentiments, product quality, reputation, recommendations, and brand awareness. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.
Topic 24: Mobile Apps and Web Services. An overview of mobile and web services technology models and architectures. Management Information Systems 365 and 373 (Topic 24) may not both be counted. Additional prerequisite: Management Information System 333K.

MIS 374. Business System Development.

Restricted to students in a McCombs School of Business major. Provides foundation in business system analysis, project management, planning, design, and implementation, using basic business knowledge and computer skills. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Seventy-five semester hours of college coursework, including Management Information Systems 333K.

MIS 375. Strategic Information Technology Management.

Restricted to students with a major in business. Designed to develop an understanding and appreciation for the role of information technology in the context of a firm's strategy. Explores the impact of information technology on the economy and business performance, the emergence of electronic business applications and organizational and market transformation, and the nature of technology-driven business models and strategies. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

MIS 179, 379. Independent Research in Management Information Systems.

Restricted to students in a business major. Conference course. Only two of the following may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration: Accounting 179C, 379C, Business Government and Society 179, 379, Finance 179C, 379C, International Business 179C, 379C, Legal Environment of Business 179, 379, Management 179C, 379C, Management Information Systems 179, 379, Marketing 179C, 379C, Operations Management 179, 379, Real Estate 179C, 379C Risk Management 179, 379. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 304 and 325 with a grade of at least B- in each, and consent of instructor; and written approval before the first meeting of the course from the department chair's office, on forms provided for that purpose.

Operations Management: O M

Lower-Division Courses

Upper-Division Courses

O M 335. Operations Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. The operations or production function and the skills required for analyzing and solving related problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Operations Management 335 and 335H may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Credit or registration for Business Administration 324 or 324H and credit or registration for Statistics 309 or 309H.

O M 335H. Operations Management: Honors.

Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program. An investigation of the operations or production function, and the skills required for analyzing and solving related problems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Operations Management 335 and 335H may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Business Administration 324 or 324H and Statistics 309 or 309H.

O M 337. Special Topics in Operations Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. Analysis of contemporary management problems. Three lecture hours or two lecture hours and one laboratory/discussion hour a week for one semester. Management 337 and Operations Management 337 may not both be counted unless the topics vary. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Varies with the topic.

Topic 1: Total Quality Management. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: For business majors, Operations Management 335 or 335H with a grade of at least C-; for others, admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering.
Topic 2: Supply Chain Modeling and Optimization. Formulating models of decision-making situations, the appropriate use of quantitative techniques, and finding solutions to the models that optimize objective measures of merit using readily available computer software. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Credit or registration for Operations Management 335 or 335H.
Topic 3: Procurement and Supplier Management. Strategic issues in procurement and supplier management; review of competitive analysis and benchmarking; the purchasing role in fulfilling a firm's operational and competitive strategies; supplier evaluation, development, and relationship management; negotiating with suppliers for results; and commodity planning. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Operations Management 335 or 335H with a grade of at least C-.
Topic 4: Information Technology for Supply Chains. Same as Management Information Systems 373 (Topic 13). Provides an understanding of how information technology is used to coordinate supply chain activities across different industries. Students work in teams and undertake hands-on exercises to learn how to plan and coordinate operations. Management Information Systems 373 (Topic 13) and Operations Management 337 (Topic 4) may not both be counted. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301 with a grade of at least C-.
Topic 5: Project Management. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Additional prerequisite: Seventy-five semester hours of coursework, including Operations Management 335 or 335H with a grade of at least C-.

O M 140S, 240S, 340S, 440S, 540S, 640S, 740S, 840S, 940S. Topics in Operations Management.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office or the school's BBA Exchange Programs. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

O M 353. Internship in Operations Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. Focuses on students' career goals through academic discussion and evaluations, while placing students in professional internships with public and private enterprises. Internship and discussion hours to be arranged. Only one of the following may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration: Accounting 353J, Business Administration 353, 353H, Finance 353, Management 353, Management Information Systems 353, Marketing 353, Operations Management 353. Offered on the pass/fail basis only. Prerequisite: Completion of forty-five semester hours of college coursework and consent of the departmental internship coordinator.

O M 366P. Operations Management Practicum.

Restricted to students in a business major. Students apply skills in their major area and focus on additional project management skills through group projects conducted in a professional setting. Students may work with a private or a public enterprise. The equivalent of three lecture hours a week for one semester. Management 366P and Operations Management 366P may not both be counted. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Completion of at least forty-five semester hours of college coursework, and credit or registration for Operations Management 335 or 335H.

O M 367. Strategic Supply Chain Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. Management of manufacturing process technology in international competition. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Operations Management 335 or 335H.

O M 368. Logistics and Inventory Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. Analysis of the entire flow of information, materials, and services from suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customer. Includes logistics, supplier selection, and inventory management, using case studies, optimization, and simulation. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Offered on the letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: Operations Management 335 or 335H.

O M 179, 379. Independent Research in Operations Management.

Restricted to students in a business major. Conference course. Only two of the following may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration: Accounting 179C, 379C, Business, Government, & Society 179, 379, Finance 179C, 379C, International Business 179C, 379C, Legal Environment of Business 179, 379, Management 179C, 379C, Management Information Systems 179, 379, Marketing 179C, 379C, Operations Management 179, 379, Real Estate 179C, 379C, Risk Management 179, 379. Prerequisite: Eighteen semester hours of coursework in business and economics, six of which must be upper-division; Management 336, 336H, Operations Management 335, or 335H with a grade of at least C-; and consent of instructor and written approval from the department chair's office on forms available for that purpose.

Risk Management: R M

Lower-Division Courses

Upper-Division Courses

R M 140S, 240S, 340S, 440S, 540S, 640S, 740S, 840S, 940S. Topics in Risk Management.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office or the school's BBA Exchange Programs. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

R M 357E. Introduction to Risk Management.

Principles of risk management for individuals and organizations, financial aspects of insurance companies and markets, industry structure, managerial aspects of underwriting and pricing, and public policy issues. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.

R M 369K. Managing Employee Risks and Benefits.

Risk management issues involving financial consequences of life and health contingencies, health care finance, company management, pension planning, economics of industry structure, and public policy issues. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.

R M 376. Quantitative Methods in Finance.

Explores quantitative methods and techniques in optimization and simulation, and their use in financial decision making. Discusses theory and application in portfolio selection, options and other derivative pricing, index tracking, risk measures, volatility estimating. Specific topics will include linear, quadratic, nonlinear, and integer programming; dynamic programming; robust optimization; Monte Carlo methods and variance reduction techniques. Emphasis will be placed on problem solving with advanced computational programming languages. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

R M 377. Property-Liability Risk Management and Planning.

Analysis of property-liability risks of businesses, risk management tools, risk financing, and insurance contracts for financial planning purposes; investment and underwriting operations, market structures, and insurance regulation. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.

R M 179, 379. Independent Research in Risk Management.

Restricted to students in a McCombs School of Business major. Conference course. Only two of the following may be counted toward the Bachelor of Business Administration: Accounting 179C, 379C, Business Government and Society 179, 379, Finance 179C, 379C, International Business 179C, 379C, Legal Environment of Business 179, 379, Management 179C, 379C, Management Information Systems 179, 379, Marketing 179C, 379C, Operations Management 179, 379, Real Estate 179C, 379C, Risk Management 179, 379. Prerequisite: Eighteen semester hours of coursework in business and economics, including Risk Management 357E; consent of instructor; written approval before the first meeting of the course from the department chair's office, on forms provided for that purpose.

Statistics: STA

Lower-Division Courses

STA 309. Elementary Business Statistics.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Training in the use of data to gain insight into business problems; describing distributions (center, spread, change, and relationships), producing data (experiments and sampling), probability and inference (means, proportions, differences, regression and correlation). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Economics 329, Statistics 309, 309H. Prerequisite: Mathematics 408D, 408L, or 408S.

STA 309H. Elementary Business Statistics: Honors.

Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program. Training in the use of data to gain insight into business problems; describing distributions (center, spread, change, and relationships), producing data (experiments and sampling), probability and inference (means, proportions, differences, regression and correlation). Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Economics 329, Statistics 309, 309H. Prerequisite: Twenty-four semester hours of college credit, including Mathematics 408D, 408L, or 408S.

Upper-Division Courses

STA 140S, 240S, 340S, 440S, 540S, 640S, 740S, 840S, 940S. Topics in Statistics.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office or the school's BBA Exchange Programs. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

STA 371G. Statistics and Modeling.

Restricted to students in a McCombs School of Business major. Focuses on methods used to model and analyze data. Explores multiple regression models and their application in the functional areas of business, time-series models, decision analysis and the value of information, and simulation-based methods. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, 375H. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301, 301H, or 310; Statistics 309 or 309H; and credit or registration for Business Administration 324 or 324H.

STA 371H. Statistics and Modeling: Honors.

Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program. Focuses on methods used to model and analyze data. Explores multiple regression models and their application in the functional areas of business, time-series models, decision analysis and the value of information, and simulation-based methods. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, 375H. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301, 301H, or 310; Mathematics 408D, 408L, 408M or 408S; Statistics 309 or 309H; and credit or registration for Business Administration 324 or 324H.

STA 372. Topics in Statistics.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing and Statistics 309 with a grade of at least C-.

Topic 1: Statistical Computer Packages.
Topic 2: Sampling.
Topic 3: Statistical Decision Making for Business.
Topic 4: Multivariate Statistical Analysis.
Topic 5: Financial and Econometric Time Series Modeling. Applied skills course that focuses on statistical forecasting methods used in business. Subjects may include Box-Jenkins models; exponential smoothing models; ARCH/GARCH models for varying volatility in financial returns; seasonal adjustment of time series; tests for nonstationarity of time series; and modeling multiple time series. Each subject is illustrated with real data using series such as interest rates and stock returns. Additional prerequisite: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, or 375H.
Topic 6: Optimization Methods in Finance. Focuses on deterministic and stochastic optimization methods used to analyze problems in finance, including linear, nonlinear, quadratic, and integer programming, and dynamic and stochastic programming. Additional prerequisite: Mathematics 408D, 408L, or 408M.
Topic 7: Computational Finance. A systematic introduction to the analysis and implementation of numerical methods used in finance. Covers numerical techniques used in derivative pricing and optimal asset allocation, such as Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo simulation, methods for solving partial differential equations, and dynamic programming. Additional prerequisite: Mathematics 408D, 408L, or 408M.
Topic 8: Time Series Forecasting Models. An applied skills approach to statistical forecasting methods used in business. Topics may include seasonal adjustment of time series; exponential smoothing models; ARCH/GARCH models for varying volatility in financial returns; diffusion models for new product forecasting; Box-Jenkins models; and modeling multiple time series. Each topic is illustrated with real data. Additional prerequisite: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, or 375H.

STA 375. Statistics and Modeling for Finance.

Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business. Methods used to model and analyze data, especially as applied to problems related to finance. Explores regression models, time-series models, decision analysis and simulation-based methods. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, 375H. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301, 301H, or 310; Mathematics 408D, 408L, 408M or 408S; Statistics 309 or 309H; and credit or registration for Business Administration 324 or 324H.

STA 375H. Statistics and Modeling for Finance: Honors.

Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program. Methods used to model and analyze data, especially as applied to problems related to finance. Explores regression models, time-series models, decision analysis and simulation-based methods. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Only one of the following may be counted: Statistics 371G, 371H, 375, 375H. Prerequisite: Management Information Systems 301, 301H, or 310; Mathematics 408D, 408L, 408M or 408S; Statistics 309 or 309H; and credit or registration for Business Administration 324 or 324H.

STA 376. Intermediate Statistics.

Restricted to students in a business major. Analysis of forecasting techniques and theory; macroeconomic models; long-range and short-term forecasting; forecasting for the firm, using case material. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Statistics 309 or 309H.