Integrating Enterprise Decision-Making Modules into Undergraduate Management and Industrial Engineering Curricula

Journal of Information Systems Education, Fall 2004 by Strong, Diane M, Johnson, Sharon A, Mistry, Jamshed J

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a framework we have developed for teaching enterprise decision-making using Enterprise Decision-Making Modules linked together through a common case scenario. Each module is situated in an organizational process, e.g., the supply chain and order fulfillment process, and involves students in hands-on decision-making using an Enterprise System (ES) to provide an integrated, process-oriented, data-rich environment typical of modern organizations. Our framework differs from other approaches to integrating ES into curricula because it is designed to teach students to work in an integrated process-oriented environment without changing to an integrated process-oriented curriculum and because it introduces decision-making modules across management and engineering curricula while minimizing the ES knowledge required of faculty and the classroom time devoted to ES skills. The paper also describes our Oracle-based technical infrastructure, the project plan and management, as well as our methods for assessing student learning. It reports results from our successful pilot study testing the feasibility of this approach with two decision-making modules in two classes, and also describes Phase 2 of the project, currently underway, which involves additional faculty and modules and tests student understanding of working in an integrated, data-rich environment.

Keywords: Enterprise systems, decision-making, curriculum, teaching, integration

1. INTRODUCTION

Today's organizations are structured around integrated business processes (e.g., product development, supply chain and order fulfillment) that require close coordination among employees across functions and around the world. Yet, engineering and business schools still teach as though students will work in organizations structured solely around functionally-based silos (e.g., engineering, production, and marketing).

Organisations use Enterprise Systems (HS), also called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, e.g., SAP, Oracle Applications or similar computer systems, to provide an integrated view of their many organizational processes through linked applications built upon a common database. Two-thirds of mid- and large-sized companies are using or implementing integrated enterprise systems (Scott and Shepherd, 2002). Despite ES support, companies continue to struggle to create robust processes for developing new products and delivering existing products to customers quickly and consistently. As both design and production activities are sourced internationally, the ability to understand and analyze data from an ES is increasingly important for achieving real-time control of global processes. Companies need employees who are able to use integrated ES data to make decisions (Davenport et al., 2002), to understand the impact these decisions have throughout integrated processes, and to recognize opportunities for improving integrated process performance. Yet, our students rarely see integrated computer applications. They do not understand integrated process operations and supporting data and they lack the ability to work in an integrated, data-rich environment.

Our project responds to this need for engineering and business students who can contribute to enterprise-wide initiatives in today's process-oriented, ES-based organizations. We have developed a framework for teaching enterprise decision-making that is based around a set of ES-based modules, called Enterprise Decision-Making Modules, linked through a common case scenario. These modules engage students in making decisions in the , integrated, process-oriented, data-rich environments common in today's organizations. We describe our framework and three-phase project plan in this paper, as well as report on two pilot modules that have been tested in undergraduate engineering and management courses. For these pilot modules, we examined the impact on student understanding of traditional functional topics.

The primary focus of our modules is on decision making in the context of new product development and supply chain and order fulfillment processes, supported by the use of an ES. This contrasts with other ES educational projects that focus on learning the ES functionality itself. The assumption underlying our modules is that management or business students, as well as industrial, manufacturing, and design engineers, should have the ability not only to use an ES and but also to understand the sources and uses of the integrated data in that ES, because this is the environment in which they are likely to work.

Our framework, with embedded decision-making modules, is a significant improvement over current educational practice because it responds to industry needs, addresses barriers to ES implementation in universities, and employs effective educational pedagogy. Industry needs more essavvy professionals who understand business processes, integrated data and decision-making. Our modules employ an ES as a way to make the abstract concept of integration concrete, by having students examine where data come from, how decisions link to business processes, and how decisions impact the organization and its suppliers, customers, and partners. Our modular approach is flexible and feasible with respect to faculty resources. In addition, the decision-focused modules encourage hands-on exploration and experiential learning, contributing to student learning.