IMS5028 Customer relationship management systems - Semester 2 , 2007

Caulfield

• Rob Meredith

Caulfield

• Marcus Gibson

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed IMS9001, IMS9003, or equivalent

Students should have a working knowledge of the Systems Development Lifecycle, Data Modelling and Systems Analysis(IMS9001) and general database design skills and data modelling (IMS9003).

No other background knowledge is required for the unit; however knowledge of material covered in other units of the MIMS Business Intelligence stream (IMS5005 DSS, IMS5026 Data Warehousing and IMS5004 OLAP and Business Intelligence) would be advantageous.

Relationships

IMS5028 is an elective unit in the Master of Information Management and Systems (MIMS) degree and associated degrees.

Unit leader

Lecturer(s) :

Tutor(s) :

Teaching and learning will be undertaken through:

• Lectures
• Occasional seminars
• Assignment work (both group and individual)
• Set readings and reflections in a blog you will create for this unit
• Personal reading and study

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week	Topic	Key dates
1	Introduction to Business Intelligence and CRM concepts and definitions.
2	Analytical CRM and Data Warehousing
3	Customer Data Warehouse Design
4	Customer data analysis techniques
5	Data Mining for CRM
6	Integrating Data Mining for CRM with Business Processes	assignment1 due
7	Integrating Data Mining for CRM with Business Processes
8	CRM in Organisations
9	Trends in CRM
10	Student Presentations	assignment 2 due, student presentations
Mid semester break
11	Student Presentations	student presentations
12	Guest Lecturer	portfolio due
13	Revision

Prescribed text(s) and readings

There are no required texts for this unit.  See below for a set of recommended texts that, should you choose to purchase them, will be useful in your study.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Recommended texts:

Buttle F., Customer Relationship Management Concepts and Tools, Elsevier, 2004

Berry M., Linoff G., Mastering Data Mining, The Art and Science of Customer Relationship Management, Wiley, 2000

Groth, R., Data Mining, Building Competitive Advantage, Prentice-Hall

Todman C., Designing a Data Warehouse Supporting Customer Relationship Management, Prentice Hall,2001

Zikmund, R., McLeod, R. & Gilbert, F., Customer Relationship Management, Integrating Marketing Strategy and Information Technology . Wiley.

Other references:

Berson, A., Smith, S., & Thearling, K. Building Data Mining Applications for CRM. McGraw- Hill, London
Kimbal R., Ross M., The Data Warehouse Toolkit, second edition, Wiley, 2002

Due to the breadth and novelty of the area, there is no single text that adequately covers the subject. Students are expected to read widely. Additional relevant sources of information will be given as appropriate.

Required software and/or hardware

The unit will make use of several packages including Microstrategy and other software which will be accessible online.

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Students will need access to a Windows-based personal computer with an internet connection (broadband strongly recommended), modern web browser and the Monash VPN software (https://secure.monash.edu/its/vpn/).

Students may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook, and from the ITS website at http://www.its.monash.edu.au

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

• Weekly lecture slides in pdf format
• Seminar topics and material for discussion
• Weekly set readings
• Discussion forums
• Live chatroom
• Exercises and other study material
• Access to past exams
• This unit guide outlining information and assessment policies for the unit

All of which will be accessible through the unit's MUSO site (see below for access details).

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through the MUSO (Monash University Studies Online) site. You can access this site by going to:

1. a) https://muso.monash.edu.au or
2. b) via the portal (http://my.monash.edu.au).

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then the MUSO hyperlink.

In order for your MUSO unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example :

• MUSO supported browser
• Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site:

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Unit assessment policy

This unit is assessed with two assignments, a two hour closed book examination and regular blog posts that you will make throughout the semester.  To pass the unit, you must:

• Attempt both assignments and the examination
• Achieve no less than 40% of the possible marks for the assignment material and 40% of the possible marks in the examination
• Achieve no less than 50% of the possible marks overall

Assignment tasks

• Assignment Task

  Title :

  Assignment 1: Research Paper

  Description :

  A research paper on one of several suggested topics. This is an individual assignment.

  Weighting :

  25%

  Criteria for assessment :

  Assessment in the assignment will be made according to the following criteria, all with equal weighting:

  • Clear introduction
  • Logical structure
  • Critical analysis and understanding of the topic
  • Literature utilised (range, relevance, quality and number)
  • Conclusions drawn
  • Quality of writing

  Due date :

  Week 8 of Semester, during class

• Assignment Task

  Title :

  Assignment 2: case study or product review

  Description :

  This is a group assignment. Your group will investigate a CRM analytical product, or conduct a case study of a CRM analytical project. You will present your findings to the class, and produce a study guide of materials that will be distributed to other students.

  Weighting :

  15%

  Criteria for assessment :

  Assessment of the assignment will be made according to the following criteria:

  • Evidence of preparation
  • Quality of presentation
  • Quality of Content
  • Ability to handle questions
  • Quality of study guide

  Due date :

  Weeks 10/11 (depending on schedule for presentations)

• Assignment Task

  Title :

  Student Blog

  Description :

  Each week, students will be given a paper to read, topic to investigate, exercises or other tasks on which they will reflect.  These reflections will be posted to a blog which the student will create.  We suggest using the Blogger platform (http://www.blogspot.com), but any blogging platform may be used, so long as the blog can be accessed online.

  Details of student blogs (URL) will be collected in Week 2 and made available, via the unit's MUSO site, to other students. Teaching staff and other students will comment on each post made.

  This is not an assessment task, but if, at the end of the semester, the teaching staff believe that students have made at least 7 on-time, substantive and reflective posts, 10 marks will be awarded towards your final grade.

  Weighting :

  10%

  Criteria for assessment :

  If at least seven (7) posts meet the following criteria:

  • On-time - that is, posted no later than one week after the respective task is given. One week means before 9pm of the following Wednesday.
  • Substantive and reflective - the posts are not simply a recounting of the task, but show evidence of thought, opinion and reflection

  10 marks will be awarded towards your final grade.

  Due date :

  Each post must be submitted to the blog prior to 9pm of the following Wednesday of when the task was given.

Examinations

• Examination

  Weighting :

  50%

  Length :

  2 hours

  Type ( open/closed book ) :

  closed book

Assignment submission

Assignments (other than the student blog) will be submitted via paper submission to your lecturer. Do not email submissions - email submissions will not be accepted.  It is your responsibility to ensure that your assignment has been received

Assignments should be submitted on or before the due date. In the absence of other instructions, all assignments are to be submitted to the lecturer at the end of the lecture for the week that the assignment is due. All printed assignment work must be word processed and meet the standards set out in the assignment. All assignments must include an appropriate signed assignment coversheet.

Assignment coversheets

Appropriate assignment coversheets for Assignments 1 (individual) and 2 (group) must be attached to submitted assignments.  Coversheets can be downloaded from http://infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/assignments/

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer at your campus at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Late assignment

Assignments submitted after the due date without an approved extension may be accepted (up to one week late) at the discretion of your lecturer, but will be penalised at the rate of 10% of total available assignment marks per day (weekends count as one day).

Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not be accepted.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at: http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/academicpolicies/policy/assessment.html

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

• Faculty of Information Technology Student Service staff, and / or
• your Unit Coordinator, or
• Disabilities Liaison Unit

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Special consideration in the awarding of grades is also possible in some circumstances. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.