6 ECTS credits
158 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1016852BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
For students of the Master of International Business, there are no prerequisites. For students Business Economics: Students who want to enroll for this course, must have passed ‘Business Information Systems' and ' Intermediate Microeconomics' and must have obtained at least 30 ECTS-credits on bachelor level. Voor studenten Handelsingenieur die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, moeten geslaagd zijn voor ‘Bedrijfsinformatica’ en ‘Micro-economie’ en voor minstens 30 ECTS-credits op bachelorniveau.
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department and involved faculties/organizations
Business Technology and Operations
Applied economics
Educational team
Ellen Van Droogenbroeck (course titular)
Sam Verboven
Emilie Grégoire
Activities and contact hours

36 contact hours Lecture
18 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
104 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The IT modeling part of this course introduces a range of concepts, methods and modeling approaches that are being employed by business analysts in the industry, who are operating on the interface between the business and the IT department, in order to analyze and describe requirements with regards to the design, functionalities, development and implementation of business information systems. Topics that will be covered include the Unified Modeling Language (UML), meta-modeling, process modeling using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), and data modeling using the Entity Relationship (ER) model.

The goal of IT Economics is to provide a review of some of the important economic factors affecting IT industries as well as users of IT (both companies and individuals). Factors that will be discussed are:

  • the specific cost structure of information goods and its implications for the market structure;
  • pricing of information goods in general and software in particular: (first-degree) price discrimination, versioning, bundling, etc.
  • switching costs and lock-in;
  • network externalities and critical mass;
  • compatibility and standards wars.
Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Papers, newspaper clippings, handouts made available, Canvas
Handbook (Recommended) : The Economics of Information Technology, An Introduction, Varian H., Farrell C. and Shapiro C., Cambridge University Press, 9780521605212, 2004
Handbook (Recommended) : UML Distilled, A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, Fowler M., 3de, Addison Wesley, 9780321193681, 2004
Handbook (Recommended) : BPMN Method and Style, With Bpmn Implementer's Guide, Silver B., 2de, Cody-Cassidy Press, 9780982368114, 2011
Additional info

Additional material such as papers, newspaper clippings, handouts, etc. will be made available through Canvas.

Presence during guest lectures is mandatory, presentations by guest lecturers are an integral part of the course material.

Teaching Methods

  • Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
  • Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
  • Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

Part “IT Modeling”

Lecture: 18 hours (6 x 3 hours)

Practical: 18 hours (6 x 3 hours)

  • solving exercises in group

Self: 70 hours

  • keeping up with the course material during the semester and run through background info, amounting to 4 hours per lecture: 24 hours (6 x 4 hours)
  • individual preparation of exercises, amounting to 3 hours per practical: 18 hours (6 x 3 hours)
  • preparation exam: 24 hours (3 days of 8 hours)

Part “IT Economics”

Lecture: 18 hours (6 x 3 hours)

Self: 34 hours

  • keeping up with the course material during the semester and run through background info, amounting to 3 hours per lecture: 18 hours (6 x 3 hours)
  • preparation exam (incl. solving exercises on Canvas): 16 hours (2 days of 8 hours)
Learning Outcomes

General competencies

This course consists of two distinct but related parts. The first part concerns IT modeling.  The second and most theoretical part discusses the basic economics of information technology.

In the IT modeling part of the course, students should at the end of the course have a good understanding of the different uses of the Unified Modeling Language, among which meta-modeling, and be able to apply a conceptual data modeling technique (entity-relationship modeling) to capture and describe the basic information requirements for an enterprise domain, as well as to use a process modeling technique (BPMN) to capture and analyze business processes.

For the IT economics part, students should at the end of the course have a good understanding of the economics of information and the economics of networks. They should be able to recognize relevant concepts and theories when presented with real-life situations about the IT sector, and they should be able to critically discuss the pros and cons of strategies followed by IT companies.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam: IT Model with a relative weight of 65 which comprises 65% of the final mark.

    Note: Written closed book exam on 65% of total
  • Written Exam: IT Econ with a relative weight of 35 which comprises 35% of the final mark.

    Note: Written closed book exam on 35% of total

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written exam (closed book) on 100% of total (65% IT modeling and 35% IT economics), only if the student obtains at least 35% on every part, namely IT Modeling and IT Economics. If not, the lowest partial grade denotes 100% of the total.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Verkort traject na vooropleiding Professionele bachelor Bedrijfsmanagement met Afstudeerrichting Accountancy-fiscaliteit of Financie- en verzekeringswezen (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Verkort traject na vooropleiding Professionele bachelor Bedrijfsmanagement met Afstudeerrichting Logistiek Management of Professionele bachelor toegepaste informatica (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Verkort traject na vooropleiding Professionele bachelor Bedrijfsmanagement met Afstudeerrichting Marketing (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Verkort traject na vooropleiding Industriële wetenschappen of Ingenieurswetenschappen (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Business and Technology
Master of International Business: Standaard traject
Preparatory Programme Master of Science in Business Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)