A Customized ERP/SAP Model for Business Curriculum Integration

Journal of Information Systems Education, Fall 2004 by Johnson, Todd, Lorents, Alden C, Morgan, James, Ozmun, Jon

ABSTRACT

The use of ERP systems can provide a variety of benefits in a business school curriculum. Among the most important benefits is the ability of ERP systems to serve as a focal point for integration of knowledge across functional areas. This paper describes one school's experience with the use of ERP systems in core business classes with particular focus on a promising integration technique based upon the development of a hypothetical example company. A common general description of the company's products, organizational structure, and operations is used across multiple core courses. An SAP instance is populated with sample data designed to illustrate key concepts and case study style materials are used to set the context for analysis of the company's data.

Keywords: Business Curriculum, ERP, SAP, Curriculum Integration

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Need for Integration in Business School Curriculum

Over 15 years ago Porter and McKibbin (1988) emphasized the need to adapt business curriculum to assure that we develop graduates with an integrated understanding of business processes and the ability to work effectively in teams to solve key business problems. Closs and Stank (1999, p. 59) note that business has abandoned the "vertical, functional organizational structure characteristic of traditional procurement, manufacturing and physical distribution operation in favor of a more horizontal, cross-functional structure." They suggest that business school curricula need to mirror this change.

In response to this need, a number of researchers have proposed a redesign of the core business curriculum to break down disciplinary silos (Stover et. al., 1997; Ryan and Luthy, 2000; Bailey, Chow and Haddad, 1999). The University of Idaho (Stover and Byers, 2002), Babson College (Gwin and Gwin, 2000), and a number of other schools have made systematic changes across their entire business core intended to achieve a higher level of integration.

Other integration efforts have focused on a subset or "block" of courses within the core (Still and Petty, 2000) and have often centered on a theme, such as, experiential learning (Michaelson, Hobbs and Snead, 2000) or entrepreneurship (Kennedy and Russell, 2002). Frings, Prinzinger and Schneider (2000) suggest that block level integration can take on a number of forms requiring varying degrees of coordinated faculty effort. A highly coordinated approach might require joint teaching of formerly separate classes with team teaching and a single grade. At the lowest level of required coordination, a block program might simply require the coordination of definitions and examples and the use of integrating cases across otherwise independently taught classes. Block level integration can be undertaken with substantially less college wide faculty buy-in and thus may be a catalyst for incremental curriculum change.

1.2 ERP Systems as a Theme for Integration

Hammer (1999) contends that the use of ERP software forces firms to become integrated enterprises that demand strong understanding of key business processes and very high levels of teamwork. Gale (2002) suggests that "when used appropriately ERP software integrates information used by the accounting, manufacturing, distribution, and human resources departments into a seamless computing system." Further, a survey by Duplagia and Astani (2003) found that integration of function areas' information systems was the most important reason for firms adopting ERP systems and a number of studies of the impact of ERP systems have found cross-functional integration to be a key to a successful implementation (Palinswamy and Taylor, 2000; Prmkumar, 2000; Shanmugam, Forcht and Busing, 2000).

The effectiveness of ERP systems as an integrating mechanism in business suggests that ERP software might successfully be used as an integrating mechanism in business college curricula. In discussing the ERP related curriculum at Louisiana State University, Watson and Schneider (1999) suggest that "after a few years of a traditional stove-pipe business education, students still have trouble understanding how all the components of an integrated system fit together." They go on to argue that almost any ERP-based exercise is inherently cross-functional but that in-depth ERP-based case studies are needed to fully realize the cross-functional integration potential of ERP.

The use of ERP as an integrating theme has been proposed at the MBA level (Rivetti, Schneider and Bruton, 1999). In addition, a number of studies have discussed the use of ERP across a varying number of classes and disciplines in the undergraduate business curriculum (Wagner, Najdawi and Otto, 2000; Becerra-Fernandez, Murphy and Simon, 2000; Corbitt and Mensching, 2000; Hawking Shackleton and Ramp, 1999). A recent study by Bradford, Vijayaraman and Chandra (2003) has surveyed schools to identify reasons for adopting or not adopting ERP for classroom use, as well as, examining how ERP is implemented in those schools that have adopted it.