The Decision Sciences and Information Systems (DS & IS) Unit prepares students for leadership in the information age. The Unit focusses on the modelling, management, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The DS & IS Unit is comprised of two complementary areas:
- Decision Sciences (DS) focusses on modelling and interpreting data for decision making.
- Information Systems (IS) deals with the modelling, developing, management, use and manipulation of data to drive business processes and decisions.
Our courses provide students with analytic frameworks and tools that are useful for most majors in the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Core courses offered at both levels across multiple majors include: Quantitative Methods, Operations Management, Computer Applications, Productivity and Quality Management, Systems Analysis and Design, Introduction to Project Management and Managerial Economics.
The courses in the DS & IS Unit are broadly applicable and interdisciplinary in nature and often form the core of other undergraduate majors. The Operations Management and Management Information Systems (MIS) (offered at the Mona Western Jamaica Campus) degree programmes are the two undergraduate majors that fall within the direct purview of the Unit. Courses offered in the MIS major include Object-Oriented Programming, Database Design and Business Application, Data Structures, Computing Methods, and Management Information Systems I.
With a degree in Operations Management, graduates are ready to enter careers in business, aiding in efficiency, communication and product management. Operations Management majors can work across a range of industries including: hospitals, warehouses, offices, banks, retail stores and production facilities. MIS majors are armed with skills to work in both the private and public sectors or take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities such as the development of Computer Apps with business applications. Careers in the MIS major include: Web Designer, Network Engineer, Small Business Owner, IT Consultant, IT Technical Support Officer, MIS Instructor and MIS Support Manager.
The Master of Science in Computer Based Management Information Systems (CBMIS) and the Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (L&SCM) are the two graduate programmes that fall within the purview of the DS & IS Unit. The CBMIS is one of the premier MSc. programmes in MSBM and is jointly offered by MSBM and the Department of Computing in the Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona. Many graduates of the CBMIS programme have pursued doctoral studies in IS and other related areas at UWI as well as at other international universities. It is no surprise to see graduates of the CBMIS programme pursue a career in academia; employed as active, productive, and contributing members of faculty in MSBM and the wider UWI. The L&SCM programme is a more recent offering - first offered in 2018 - and is one of the more popular programmes offered by MSBM.
Both graduate programmes are offered part-time in modular form, i.e., students register either for two (2) or three (3) courses over a 6-8-week period, with a 1-2-week break before the start of another set courses. The Programmes are offered at convenient times for the working cohort, i.e., evenings and weekends.
The DS & IS Unit is undergirded by a highly qualified and rich complement of faculty members, with diverse research portfolios, much of which is applied in the various courses taught and in the supervision of the final projects of the CBMIS and L&SCM programmes. This diversity, comingled with the infusion of current and relevant knowledge, extend to the other programmes offered across the various MSBM Units, supporting one of the MSBM’s core values: EXCELLENCE.
Undergraduate Programmes