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So I'm trying to figure out what I want to major in. I don't have to declare for a while, but I am rather interested in business, and as such I have to take all the prerequisite courses that one must take to apply to the business school. I'm mainly eying Information Systems, but Supply Chain Management sounds interesting as well.
I'm a big computer geek, love working with them, but when I took a computer science class in high school (for a year) I realized that programming and hardcore software-related things really weren't for me. IS, from what I've gathered from alumni, isn't as intensive as computer science and can lead to some pretty great jobs right out of school.
So yeah, does anybody here have experience with either Info Systems or Supply Chain Mgmt?
My son is looking into majoring in either Information Systems or Information Technology and from what I understand the job market for both fields is very positive. From looking at lots of colleges, most of the respected ones still have a fair amount of programming. This is one of the top runners in my son's search: The iSchool at Drexel University I like it because of the co-op program.
I did not major in these areas, but I've taken coursework in both as part of my MBA studies. I also like computers/technology...and I have previous coursework in programming. However my IS class was a lot of theory; we would utilize MS Visio to help create our IT systems maps....but that was about it. For the Suppl Chain Management course...again it was a lot of theory. Although we did so a very cool manufacturing simulation. We did not write the program, but we were responsible for loading in the appropriate data in order to obtain the desired production results.
Again this was just my experience taking the required courses that were a part of my MBA. But yes, I was surprised about how much theory you are taught, and how little you actually get to utilize the computer and technological tools.
I studied IS as an undergraduate and have experience in both IS and as a logistician specializing in procurement, warehousing, and distribution-the very definition of supply chain management, although my experience was with the government, so it was a little skewed. Later in life I got into a little more esoteric field that is more akin to a very 'lite' form of electrical engineering (pm me and I'll explain if it matters).
The way I have always viewed IS is that it is "computer science without the math, or the science." It's more like implementation of equipment and applications that were designed by engineers. Take box x, apply y settings, integrate into network, and stand back and hope your planning was correct.
It's certainly *not* as difficult as computer science, but along with being not as difficult-it's probably more useful.
However, it can be easy to get caught up in what is essentially a personal preference argument. Example: Droid vs. iPhone. Get a tech guy who likes one arguing about which is most useful, and it can be holy hell. It's like kicking a dead whale down the beach: frustrating, tedious, and ultimately pointless, because he's already made up his mind, even though *both* have very solid merits.
Another thing I've noticed about both straight engineers, and hard core techies: they can not, to save their lives, clearly communicate concepts. I think many deliberately make those concepts harder than necessary because deep down that supposed complexity, and the ability to manipulate it, gives them a charge. They don't mind others knowing how, but do mind someone trying to keep a concept simple.
Most aren't even as hard as the techies make them out to be-or at least the hard part can be conceptualized away. For a field that these days nearly completely depends on a conceptual, simplified model (the OSI model), it is amazing they make the ways to use the layers out to be so hard.
For the business functions, those people usually can communicate clearly, and the function is pretty cut and dried. Either you correctly planned the distribution and x boxes got to Albequerque with 10% loss rate, or you didn't. The fuel was either there, or it wasn't. In both cases, there were a finite number of ways to do it, some more reasonable than others, and that's where experience and judgment come in. Success and failure is very easy to see-not that it's easy, but it's very real and impact is pretty simple to measure in most cases.
Honestly, I liked them both, and they do have better than average growth prospects. Also, it's uncommon to like either, which is one of the reasons that employment is pretty good-not enough US citizens pick either up as a career field. To choose, just picture where you'd like to be 20 years from now: do you want to be in charge of distribution for a mid-size company, or in charge of a tech support section providing IT support? Or a senior technician/manager working in either?
The degree I'm currently working on is geared towards supply chain management and so far I'm loving it. I've been involved in purchasing/procurement for many years through a few different companies and it's something that just clicked with me... I get the theories fairly easily and can apply them to real life situations without much effort.
On the other hand, SCM can be ridiculously stressful which isn't for everyone. I suppose it just comes down to what you like doing. I really enjoy procurement as a career so I went for it, but it's certainly not for everyone.
The biggest issue is that you can't really dabble in the courses here without being in the business school :/ thanks for all the info so far though!!! Very helpful.
This sounds like something you could teach yourself fairly quickly, meaning it's not really a tangible skill. There's a reason CS is harder; I would imagine you come out of it with skills.
Management is not a skill and it never will be. It's a place where the lost gather. Try to come out of school as an impressive person instead of another dude with a bogus degree that didn't take hard classes. The goal of college should be self-employment, wisdom, skills; not some management position that gives you just enough not to quit.
If I could re-do college I would become fluent in another language, hands down. Possibilities are limitless with such a skill.
This sounds like something you could teach yourself fairly quickly, meaning it's not really a tangible skill. There's a reason CS is harder; I would imagine you come out of it with skills.
If you're simply addressing info tech/CS vs. supply chain management, I have no dog in that hunt. I've already said, SCM is simply not rocket science. It's pretty common sense stuff. It is satisfying because of the reality check involved that I outlined-did the stuff get there or not? There's your litmus you may not get in management, or marketing.
Now, if you're trying to flog CS vs. IT because IT is not a "tangible skill", read on:
If you're implying CS is harder than IT, that is true-full stop.
If you're implying CS is more marketable than IT, that is false from my perspective.
Pure mathematics or physics are intensely hard majors; try getting a job outside academia with them. Engineers, who apply mathematical and physical laws to solve problems, are usually in demand.
The same equation applies reasonably well to CS and IT. A CS guy may know the theory of getting to third normal form incredibly well. An IT guy may have actually had classes and an internship on how to implement a database. A CS guy may be able to implement tight, efficient C++ code. An IT guy may actually know how to maintain COBOL, which is verbose beyond anything reasonable, and in no universe would be considered "efficient"-guess which is STILL more prevalent in most legacy systems?
I actually manage both CS types and IT types at my work. CS guys are just amazingly smart; they make great researchers on the appendices which are used to back up factual assertions, but that nobody ever reads.
IT guys actually write the reports, because they both know the tech just well enough to present it clearly to the decision making authority, and can write and present in plain English. I can also trust them to go to a meeting with people outside the organization in my place and know when to shut their darned mouths and color, because that's not the place to argue the finer points of technology.
The way I have always viewed IS is that it is "computer science without the math, or the science." It's more like implementation of equipment and applications that were designed by engineers. Take box x, apply y settings, integrate into network, and stand back and hope your planning was correct.
It's certainly *not* as difficult as computer science, but along with being not as difficult-it's probably more useful.
Another thing I've noticed about both straight engineers, and hard core techies: they can not, to save their lives, clearly communicate concepts. I think many deliberately make those concepts harder than necessary because deep down that supposed complexity, and the ability to manipulate it, gives them a charge. They don't mind others knowing how, but do mind someone trying to keep a concept simple.
(Cut to pull out relevant points)
Completely agree with everything quoted. My undergrad was in IS, and I call it computer science lite too. It's the merger of a general business degree with computer science. My university did require 3 programming classes (VB, ASP.net, and SQL), but that's it. The rest of the CS side was giving you the background info so you could understand what programming was capable of (or how to read someone else's program) without actually teaching the languages. (It would have been a waste of time to learn dozens of languages anyway, as in my current job I design/code in SAP's ABAP, which no university I know of teaches to their undergrads. The company sent us to SAP training to learn that)
What IS teaches you above and beyond anything else is how to talk to people. I can talk to the client in layman's terms to figure out what they want, then turn around and translate that into technical requirements and designs for my developers to code. It's CS for social butterflies.
The job outlook is great. My company has a benchmark of the # of IS majors to hire each year, and struggles to reach it--there just aren't enough IS grads.
I majored in Information Systems for my undergrad career. From speaking with peers who have graduated with either an IS or Management IS degree, programs do vary. Our program had students learn in-depth economics/accounting, various technological concepts, and some general business courses. IS is for those that do not wish to get sucked into programming or development work yet still wish to work with technology. Additionally, many IS folks play a liaison role between the "business" and "tech" guys in a number of companies.
IS graduates, again depending on the curriculum offered, can pursue a variety of career paths... Here are some ideas:
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