Exploring Process, Enterprise Integration and E-business Concepts in the Classroom: The Case of petPRO

Journal of Information Systems Education, Fall 2004 by Hajnal, Catherine A, Riordan, Robert

The course is currently designed for sections of approximately 70 students. This may not be large enough to satisfy class sizes in other institutions. The simulation could be expanded to accommodate greater numbers of students through the addition of more functional areas groups. The current number of area groups is 14. A maximum of 16 area groups is suggested with no more than 6 students per group bringing the possible section size to 96. Beyond this size, the quick report-outs and coordination across groups would become unruly.

Conversely, if the section has considerably less than 70 students, it may require dropping one or more of the functional areas. This is however not recommended given the cross-functional core process orientation of much of the discussion. At the same time, the exercises are designed for groups of 4-6. Reducing the group size may result in a heavier than intended workload for the smaller number of students.

While this paper has described the specific case of petPRO, the company simulation is not limited to that organization. Other schools wishing to try this simulation in their classrooms can create their own company. Having multiple layers to the organizational structure along with representation of multiple functional areas are the key elements. It is possible to use a services-based organization, however the use of a manufacturing company generally lends itself well to the kinds of process discussions and examples provided in the textbooks. In addition, the materials supporting the SAP training database reflects a manufacturing company.

The company simulation can be run without the course website if certain technology elements are dropped. For example, the corporate intranet portion of the course website provides the engine for the data sharing across functions. Either a more manual approach would need to be taken or this element would need to be dropped without the website. Leaving the website elements out does represent a logical first step in implementing this innovation to the classroom. The introduction of a company, the group hugs, and the corporate strategy announcements can serve as valid starting points for bringing process, enterprise integration and e-business concepts to the classroom.

Assessment of learning outcomes is anecdotal at this point. Attendance has been a problem in this course in the past. The new format has resulted in near full attendance at all sessions. The level of activity in the classroom suggests that students are grasping the complex concepts. They get down to business in their group hugs and are very serious about the discussion. An increased level of sophistication in exam answers has been noted by the instructors. A typical exam question now asks students to compare and contrast the procurement process in petPRO before and after the implementation of an enterprise system. Students can also be asked to comment on the advantages and disadvantages of data-sharing using the Access based method versus an enterprise data-sharing environment such as that found in R/3.