UMKC - The Bloch School

I'm Sidne Ward and I'm an associate professor of management information systems at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. I received my Ph.D. in management from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, then headed east to the Bloch School in 1995.

Since Fall 2008 I've been teaching MIS 402, Information Management. I previously taught BIS 302, Introduction to Management Information Systems. I love technology and really enjoy the chance to discuss everything from the uses of business intelligence in organizations to the impacts of new technology on organizations and society.

During the Spring 2010 term, I taught a new course for the Bloch School, MIS 415, Managing the Information Systems Resource. This was a great opportunity to delve into some topics in more depth for non-MIS undergraduate majors.

I also teach MIS 5529, Decision Support Systems (formerly BDS 528: Decision Support and Expert Systems) typically in the Spring. Decision support is a particular interest of mine. The course covers topics ranging from biases in the decision making process and groupthink to multi-attribute decision making to the use of Excel and Visual Basic for Applications for decision support.

In addition to decision support, I've conducted research on online auctions, the design of web-based applications and impacts on users, and information technology and education. I also have a keen interest in the impacts of information technology on individuals, organizations, and society. In particular, globalization and connections between countries have been facilitated and accelerated through information technologies and I want to explore this trend.

 

On a more personal note, I'm always ready to use my passport! I've been to more than 35 countries and I'm always read to visit additional places. For my first trip abroad I visited the Soviet Union and Poland back during the Iron Curtain days. Later, in college, I did the backpacking around Europe bit with friends a couple of times.

I visited South Korea for the 1988 Olympics. The next few years comprised a few short return trips to Europe. Then in 2003 I took a 5 week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia by myself and ended up riding more than 1,000 kilometers on the back of a motorcycle. In Spring of 2004, I guest lectured in Berlin, Germany and also visited Olomouc and Prague in the Czech Republic. During the summer of 2004 I took a trip to Thailand, Laos, and returned to Vietnam. In the spring of 2005 I taught a course at Euromed in Marseilles, France. Then in Summer of 2005 I visited Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. The trip included a couple of safaris, an upclose visit with mountain gorillas, and a dip in the Indian Ocean.

During Spring Break 2007, I participated in a site inspection visit to the Republic of Korea. The purpose of the trip was to explore opportunities for Bloch School students to visit the ROK as part of a Bloch study abroad program. The trip encompassed Seoul, Jeju Island, Busan, and Ulsan. Companies and organizations visited include Samsung, Hyundai, the stock exchange, and the US Embassy.

In 2007 I accompanied a group of Bloch students to Sweden and Finland for a short term study abroad program. Dr. Christina Heiss was teaching the course. I assisted with logistics during the trip. And afterwards, I headed to Russia on my own for a couple of weeks hitting St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Solovetsky Islands on the White Sea.

Then in 2008, I taught a section of a new course, "International Study in Business: Vietnam" during the Spring 2008 semester. The class was open to all Bloch School students. We met on three different Saturdays during the Spring semester then at the beginning of June we headed to Hanoi and HCMC in Vietnam for a week. We visited companies and organizations including the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Vina Capital, Manulife, Sacombank Securities, VietFund Management, Binh Thanh Hospital, Dentsu Vietnam, FPT, and VNPT.

In 2009 I completed a 7 month stay in Kathmandu, Nepal. As a Fulbright Scholar, I taught at the Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) during the Spring and Summer 2009 terms.

My next adventure was a trip to Shanghai, China with Bloch Study Abroad in May/June 2010. Dr. Marilyn Taylor taught the course and I accompanyied her and the students as an additional facilitator. A highlight of the trip was attending Expo 2010 Shanghai, China.

After that, I returned to Nepal during Summer 2010 to teach and conduct research at KUSOM again. I also attended the Americas Conference on Information Systems in Lima, Peru and made side visits to Machu Picchu and the Amazonian rainforest.

During Summer 2011 I taught the International Study in Business: China course. The Dr. Rong Ma and I accompanied the students on the Bloch Study Abroad trip to Shanghai and Beijing in China with an optional post-trip to Hong Kong. Later in the summer I visited KUSOM in Nepal again as well as the Manipur Institute of Management Studies at Manipur University in Imphal, India. At both locations I guest lectured in the MBA program. I also worked with my research collaborator Dr. Binod Shrestha at KUSOM.

For Summer 2012, I'll be teaching the China course again and taking Bloch Study Abroad students to Beijing with an optional post-trip to Shanghai. I will also accompany Dr. Marilyn Taylor and her students to Hong Kong with an optional pre-trip to be determined (we're thinking maybe Bangkok, Thailand).

I also love any and all technology. I've been using the Internet since 1991 and had my own web page since 1994. I love exploring social networking sites such as Twitter and FourSquare, or subscribing and listening to podcasts.

Contact me at: wards@umkc.edu

Perhaps you can't say "yes" to every opportunity that comes along. But if you say "no" to every opportunity, you'll lead a boring life.
 

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